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OnthemorningofFebruary4,2014,Iwasintroducedtoemployees as Microsoft’s third CEO alongside Bill GatesandSteveBallmer,theonlyCEOsinMicrosoft’sforty-yearhistory.

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Dedication

Tothetwofamiliesthathaveshapedmylife:Anu,ourparentsandourchildren;andmyMicrosoftfamily

Contents

CoverTitlePagePhotoCopyrightDedication

ForewordChapter1:FromHyderabadtoRedmondChapter2:LearningtoLeadChapter3:NewMission,NewMomentumChapter4:ACulturalRenaissanceChapter5:FriendsorFrenemies?Chapter6:BeyondtheCloudChapter7:TheTrustEquationChapter8:TheFutureofHumansandMachinesChapter9:RestoringEconomicGrowthforEveryoneAfterword

SourcesandFurtherReadingIndexAcknowledgmentsAbouttheAuthorAboutthePublisher

Foreword

ByBillGates

I’veknownSatyaNadellaformorethantwentyyears.Igottoknowhiminthemid-nineties,whenIwasCEOofMicrosoftandhewasworkingonourserversoftware,whichwasjusttakingoffatthetime.Wetookalong-termapproachtobuilding the business, which had two benefits: It gave the company anothergrowthengine,anditfosteredmanyofthenewleaderswhorunMicrosofttoday,includingSatya.Later I worked really intensely with him when he moved over to run our

efforts tobuildaworld-classsearchengine.WehadfallenbehindGoogle,andouroriginalsearchteamhadmovedon.Satyawaspartofthegroupthatcameinto turn things around. He was humble, forward-looking, and pragmatic. Heraisedsmartquestionsaboutourstrategy.Andheworkedwellwiththehard-coreengineers.So it was no surprise to me that once Satya becameMicrosoft’s CEO, he

immediatelyputhismarkonthecompany.Asthetitleofthisbookimplies,hedidn’t completelybreakwith thepast—whenyouhit refreshonyourbrowser,some of what’s on the page stays the same. But under Satya’s leadership,Microsoft has been able to transition away from a purely Windows-centricapproach.Heledtheadoptionofaboldnewmissionforthecompany.Heispartof a constant conversation, reaching out to customers, top researchers, andexecutives.And,mostcrucially,heismakingbigbetsonafewkeytechnologies,like artificial intelligence and cloud computing, where Microsoft willdifferentiateitself.ItisasmartapproachnotjustforMicrosoft,butforanycompanythatwants

to succeed in the digital age. The computing industry has never been more

complex.Today lots of big companies besidesMicrosoft are doing innovativework—Google,Apple,Facebook,Amazon, and others. There are cutting-edgeusersallaroundtheworld,notjustintheUnitedStates.ThePCisnolongertheonlycomputingdevice,oreventhemainone,thatmostusersinteractwith.Despite all this rapid change in the computing industry, we are still at the

beginning of the digital revolution. Take artificial intelligence (AI) as anexample.Think of all the timewe spendmanually organizing and performingmundaneactivities,fromschedulingmeetingstopayingthebills.Inthefuture,anAIagentwillknowthatyouareatworkandhavetenminutesfree,andthenhelpyouaccomplishsomethingthatishighonyourto-dolist.AIisonthevergeofmakingourlivesmoreproductiveandcreative.Innovationwillimprovemanyotherareasoflifetoo.It’sthebiggestpieceof

myworkwith theGatesFoundation,whichisfocusedonreducing theworld’sworstinequities.Digitaltrackingtoolsandgeneticsequencingarehelpingusgetachingly close to eradicating polio, which would be just the second humandiseaseeverwipedout.InKenya,Tanzania,andothercountries,digitalmoneyisletting low-incomeuserssave,borrow,and transfer funds likeneverbefore. Inclassrooms across the United States, personalized-learning software allowsstudents tomoveat theirownpaceandzero inontheskills theymostneedtoimprove.Ofcourse,witheverynewtechnology,therearechallenges.Howdowehelp

peoplewhosejobsarereplacedbyAIagentsandrobots?WilluserstrusttheirAIagent with all their information? If an agent could advise you on your workstyle,wouldyouwantitto?That iswhatmakesbooks likeHitRefresh so valuable. Satya has charted a

courseformakingthemostoftheopportunitiescreatedbytechnologywhilealsofacinguptothehardquestions.Andheoffershisownfascinatingpersonalstory,moreliteraryquotationsthanyoumightexpect,andevenafewlessonsfromhisbelovedgameofcricket.Weshouldallbeoptimisticaboutwhat’stocome.Theworldisgettingbetter,

andprogress is coming faster thanever.Thisbook is a thoughtful guide to anexciting,challengingfuture.

Chapter1FromHyderabadtoRedmond

HowKarlMarx,aSanskritScholar,andaCricketHeroShapedMyBoyhood

IjoinedMicrosoftin1992becauseIwantedtoworkforacompanyfilledwithpeople who believed they were on a mission to change the world. That wastwenty-five years ago, and I’ve never regretted it.Microsoft authored the PCRevolution, and our success—rivaled perhaps only by IBM in a previousgeneration—islegendary.Butafteryearsofoutdistancingallofourcompetitors,somethingwaschanging—andnotforthebetter.Innovationwasbeingreplacedby bureaucracy. Teamwork was being replaced by internal politics. We werefallingbehind.In the midst of these troubled times, a cartoonist drew the Microsoft

organization chart as warring gangs, each pointing a gun at another. Thehumorist’smessagewasimpossibletoignore.Asatwenty-four-yearveteranofMicrosoft, a consummate insider, the caricature really botheredme. But whatupsetmemorewasthatourownpeoplejustacceptedit.Sure,Ihadexperiencedsomeofthatdisharmonyinmyvariousroles.ButIneversawitasinsolvable.Sowhen IwasnamedMicrosoft’s thirdCEO inFebruary2014, I told employeesthatrenewingourcompany’sculturewouldbemyhighestpriority.ItoldthemIwas committed to ruthlessly removing barriers to innovation so we could getback to what we all joined the company to do—to make a difference in theworld.Microsofthasalwaysbeenatitsbestwhenitconnectspersonalpassiontoa broader purpose: Windows, Office, Xbox, Surface, our servers, and theMicrosoft Cloud—all of these products have become digital platforms upon

which individuals and organizations can build their own dreams. These werelofty achievements, and I knew that we were capable of still more, and thatemployeeswerehungry todomore.Thosewere the instincts and thevalues IwantedMicrosoft’sculturetoembrace.NotlongintomytenureasCEO,Idecidedtoexperimentwithoneofthemost

importantmeetingsIlead.Eachweekmyseniorleadershipteam(SLT)meetstoreview, brainstorm, andwrestle with big opportunities and difficult decisions.The SLT is made up of some very talented people—engineers, researchers,managers,andmarketers.It’sadiversegroupofmenandwomenfromavarietyofbackgroundswhohavecometoMicrosoftbecausetheylovetechnologyandtheybelievetheirworkcanmakeadifference.Atthetime,itincludedpeoplelikePeggyJohnson,aformerengineerinGE’s

militaryelectronicsdivisionandQualcommexecutive,whonowheadsbusinessdevelopment.KathleenHogan,aformerOracleapplicationsdeveloperwhonowleads human resources and is my partner in transforming our culture. KurtDelbene, a veteran Microsoft leader who left the company to help fixHealthcare.govduring theObamaadministration and returned to lead strategy.Qi Lu, who spent ten years at Yahoo and ran our applications and servicesbusiness—heheldtwentyU.S.patents.OurCFO,AmyHood,wasaninvestmentbankeratGoldmanSachs.BradSmith,presidentofthecompanyandchieflegalofficer,wasapartneratCovingtonandBurling—rememberedtothisdayasthefirst attorney in the nearly century-old firm to insist as a condition of hisemploymentin1986thathehaveaPConhisdesk.ScottGuthrie,whotookoverfrommeas leaderofourcloudandenterprisebusiness, joinedMicrosoft rightout of Duke University. Coincidentally, Terry Myerson, our Windows andDeviceschief,alsograduatedfromDukebeforehefoundedIntersé—oneofthefirstWebsoftwarecompanies.ChrisCapossela,ourchiefmarketingofficer,whogrewupinafamily-runItalianrestaurantintheNorthEndofBoston,andjoinedMicrosoftrightoutofHarvardCollegetheyearbeforeIjoined.KevinTurner,aformerWal-Martexecutive,whowaschiefoperatingofficerandledworldwidesales.HarryShum,wholeadsMicrosoft’scelebratedArtificial IntelligenceandResearchGroupoperation,receivedhisPhDinroboticsfromCarnegieMellonandisoneoftheworld’sauthoritiesoncomputervisionandgraphics.IhadbeenamemberoftheSLTmyselfwhenSteveBallmerwasCEO,and,

whileIadmiredeverymemberofourteam,Ifeltthatweneededtodeepenourunderstandingofoneanother—todelveintowhatreallymakeseachofustick—andtoconnectourpersonalphilosophiestoourjobsasleadersofthecompany.IknewthatifwedroppedthoseproverbialgunsandchanneledthatcollectiveIQandenergy into a refreshedmission,wecouldgetback to thedream that first

inspiredBillandPaul—democratizingleading-edgecomputertechnology.JustbeforeIwasnamedCEO,ourhomefootballteam—theSeattleSeahawks

—hadjustwontheSuperBowl,andmanyofusfoundinspirationintheirstory.TheSeahawks coach,PeteCarroll, had caughtmyattentionwith thehiringofpsychologist Michael Gervais, who specializes in mindfulness training toachievehigh-levelperformance.ItmaysoundlikeKumbaya,butit’sfarfromit.Dr.GervaisworkedwiththeSeahawkstofullyengagethemindsofplayersandcoachestoachieveexcellenceonthefieldandoff.Likeathletes,weallnavigateour own high-stakes environments, and I thought our team could learnsomethingfromDr.Gervais’sapproach.EarlyoneFridaymorningtheSLTassembled.Onlythistimeitwasnotinour

staid,executiveboardroom.Insteadwegatheredinamorerelaxedspaceonthefar-side of campus, one frequented by software and game developers. It wasopen,airy,andunpretentious.Goneweretheusualtablesandchairs.Therewasnospacetosetupcomputerstomonitornever-endingemailsandnewsfeeds.Ourphones were put away—jammed into pants pockets, bags, and backpacks.Insteadwesatoncomfortablecouchesina largecircle.Therewasnoplace tohide.Iopenedthemeetingbyaskingeveryonetosuspendjudgmentandtry tostayinthemoment.Iwashopeful,butIwasalsosomewhatanxious.ForthefirstexerciseDr.Gervaisaskedusifwewereinterestedinhavingan

extraordinaryindividualexperience.Weallnoddedyes.Thenhemovedonandasked for avolunteer to standup.Onlynoonedid, and itwasveryquiet andveryawkwardforamoment.ThenourCFO,AmyHood,jumpeduptovolunteerandwassubsequentlychallengedtorecitethealphabet,interspersingeveryletterwith a number—A1B2C3 and so forth. But Dr. Gervais was curious: Whywouldn’t everyone jump up? Wasn’t this a high-performing group? Didn’teveryonejustsaytheywantedtodosomethingextraordinary?WithnophonesorPCs to look at, we looked down at our shoes or shot a nervous smile tocolleagues. The answers were hard to pull out, even though they were justbeneaththesurface.Fear:ofbeingridiculed;offailing;ofnot lookinglike thesmartestpersonintheroom.Andarrogance:Iamtooimportantforthesegames.“Whatastupidquestion,”wehadgrownusedtohearing.ButDr.Gervaiswasencouraging.Peoplebegantobreathemoreeasilyandto

laugh a little. Outside, the grayness of the morning brightened beneath thesummersunandonebyoneweallspoke.Wesharedourpersonalpassionsandphilosophies.Wewereasked to reflect

onwhowe are, both in our home lives and atwork.Howdowe connect ourwork persona with our life persona? People talked about spirituality, theirCatholicroots,theirstudyofConfucianteachings,theysharedtheirstrugglesas

parentsandtheirunendingdedicationtomakingproductsthatpeoplelovetouseforwork andentertainment.As I listened, I realized that in all ofmyyears atMicrosoftthiswasthefirsttimeI’dheardmycolleaguestalkaboutthemselves,notexclusivelyaboutbusinessmatters.Lookingaroundtheroom,Ievensawafewtearyeyes.Whenitcamemyturn,Idrewonadeepwellofemotionandbegantospeak.I

hadbeenthinkingaboutmylife—myparents,mywifeandchildren,mywork.Ithadbeenalongjourneytothispoint.Mymindwentbacktoearlierdays:asachildinIndia,asayoungmanimmigratingtothiscountry,asahusbandandthefatherofachildwithspecialneeds,asanengineerdesigning technologies thatreach billions of peopleworldwide, and, yes, even as an obsessed cricket fanwholongagodreamedofbeingaprofessionalplayer.Allthesepartsofmecametogetherinthisnewrole,arolethatwouldcalluponallofmypassions,skills,andvalues—just asour challengeswouldcalluponeveryoneelse in the roomthatdayandeveryoneelsewhoworkedatMicrosoft.I told themthatwespendfar toomuch timeatworkfor itnot tohavedeep

meaning. If we can connect what we stand for as individuals with what thiscompanyiscapableof,thereisverylittlewecan’taccomplish.ForaslongasIcanremember,I’vealwayshadahungertolearn—whetheritbefromalineofpoetry, fromaconversationwitha friend,or froma lessonwitha teacher.Mypersonalphilosophyandmypassion,developedovertimeandthroughexposuretomanydifferentexperiences,istoconnectnewideaswithagrowingsenseofempathyforotherpeople.Ideasexciteme.Empathygroundsandcentersme.Ironically, it was a lack of empathy that nearly costme the chance to join

Microsoftasayoungmansometwentyyearsbefore.Lookingbacktomyowninterview process decades ago, I remember that after a full day of interviewswith various engineering leaders who tested my fortitude and my intellectualchops, ImetRichardTait—anup-and-comingmanagerwhowenton to foundCraniumgames.Richarddidn’tgivemeanengineeringproblemtosolveonthewhiteboardoracomplexcodingscenariototalkthrough.Hedidn’tgrillmeonmypriorexperiencesoreducationalpedigree.Hehadonesimplequestion.“Imagineyouseeababylayinginthestreet,andthebabyiscrying.Whatdo

youdo?”heasked.“Youcall911,”Irepliedwithoutmuchforethought.Richardwalkedmeoutofhisoffice,puthisarmaroundme,andsaid,“You

need some empathy, man. If a baby is laying on a street crying, pick up thebaby.”Somehow,Igotthejobanyway,butRichard’swordshaveremainedwithme

tothisday.LittledidIknowthenthatIwouldsoonlearnempathyinadeeply

personalway.Itwasjustafewshortyearslaterthatourfirstchild,Zain,wasborn.Mywife,

Anu,andIareourparents’onlychildren,andsoyoucanimaginetherehadbeenmuchanticipationofZain’sbirth.Withhelpfromhermom,Anuhadbeenbusilyequippingthehouseforanewhappyandhealthybaby.OurpreoccupationsweremorecenteredaroundhowquicklyAnumightreturntoherburgeoningcareerasan architect frommaternity leave.Like anyparent,we thought abouthowourweekendsandvacationswouldchangewhenweturnedparents.Onenight,duringthethirty-sixthweekofherpregnancy,Anunoticedthatthe

babywas notmoving asmuch as shewas accustomed to. Sowewent to theemergencyroomofa localhospital inBellevue.Wethought itwouldbejustaroutine checkup, little more than new parent anxiety. In fact, I distinctlyrememberfeelingannoyedbythewait timesweexperiencedin theemergencyroom. But upon examination, the doctors were alarmed enough to order anemergencycesareansection.Zainwasbornat11:29p.m.onAugust13,1996,allofthreepounds.Hedidnotcry.ZainwastransportedfromthehospitalinBellevueacrossLakeWashingtonto

SeattleChildren’sHospitalwithitsstate-of-the-artNeonatalIntensiveCareUnit.Anubeganherrecoveryfromthedifficultbirth.Ispentthenightwithherinthehospitalandimmediatelywent toseeZain thenextmorning.LittledidIknowthenhowprofoundlyourliveswouldchange.Overthecourseofthenextcoupleofyearswe learnedmoreabout thedamagecausedbyuteroasphyxiation,andhow Zain would require a wheelchair and be reliant on us because of severecerebralpalsy.Iwasdevastated.ButmostlyIwassadforhowthingsturnedoutformeandAnu.Thankfully,Anuhelpedmetounderstandthatitwasnotaboutwhathappenedtome.ItwasaboutdeeplyunderstandingwhathadhappenedtoZain, and developing empathy for his pain and his circumstances whileacceptingourresponsibilityashisparents.Being a husband and a father has takenmeon an emotional journey. It has

helpedmedevelopadeeperunderstandingofpeopleofallabilitiesandofwhatlove and human ingenuity can accomplish. As part of this journey I alsodiscovered the teachingsof India’smost famous son—GautamaBuddha. I amnot particularly religious, but I was searching and I was curious why so fewpeopleinIndiahavebeenfollowersofBuddhadespitehisorigins.IdiscoveredBuddhadidnotsetouttofoundaworldreligion.Hesetouttounderstandwhyone suffers. I learned that only through living life’s ups and downs can youdevelopempathy;thatinordernottosuffer,oratleastnottosuffersomuch,onemustbecomecomfortablewithimpermanence.Idistinctlyrememberhowmuchthe“permanence”ofZain’sconditionbotheredmeintheearlyyearsofhislife.

However, things are always changing. If you could understand impermanencedeeply, you would develop more equanimity. You would not get too excitedabout either the ups or downs of life. And only then would you be ready todevelop that deeper sense of empathy and compassion for everything aroundyou.Thecomputerscientistinmelovedthiscompactinstructionsetforlife.Don’tgetmewrong.Iamanythingbutperfectandforsurenotonthevergeof

achievingenlightenmentornirvana.It’sjustthatlife’sexperiencehashelpedmebuildagrowingsenseofempathyforanever-wideningcircleofpeople.Ihaveempathyforpeoplewithdisabilities.IhaveempathyforpeopletryingtomakealivingfromtheinnercitiesandtheRustBelttothedevelopingcountriesofAsia,Africa,andLatinAmerica.Ihaveempathyforsmallbusinessownersworkingtosucceed.Ihaveempathyforanypersontargetedwithviolenceandhatebecauseofthecolorofhisorherskin,whattheybelieve,orwhotheylove.Mypassionisto put empathy at the center of everything I pursue—from the products welaunch,tothenewmarketsweenter,totheemployees,customers,andpartnersweworkwith.Of course, as a technologist, I have seenhowcomputing canplay a crucial

roleinimprovinglives.Athome,Zain’sspeechtherapistworkedwiththreehighschoolstudentstobuildaWindowsappforZaintocontrolhisownmusic.Zainlovesmusicandhaswide-ranging tastes spanning eras, genres, and artists.Helikes everything from Leonard Cohen to Abba to Nusrat FatehAli Khan andwanted to be able to flip through these artists, filling his roomwithwhatevermusicsuitedhimatanygivenmoment.Theproblemwashecouldn’tcontrolthemusiconhisown—healwayshadtowaitforhelp,whichcanbefrustratingforhimandus.Threehighschoolstudentsstudyingcomputerscienceheardofthisproblemandwantedtohelp.NowZainhasasensoronthesideofhiswheelchairthathecaneasilytaphisheadagainsttoflipthroughhismusiccollection.Whatfreedomandhappinesstheempathyofthreeteenagershasbroughttomyson.That same empathy has inspired me at work. Back in our leadership team

meeting, towrapupmydiscussion, Ishared thestoryofaprojectwehad justcompletedatMicrosoft.Empathy,coupledwithnewideas,hadhelpedtocreateeye-gaze tracking technology,abreakthroughnaturaluser interface that assistspeoplewithALS (also known as LouGehrig’s disease) and cerebral palsy tohave more independence. The idea emerged from the company’s first-everemployeehackathon, ahotbedof creativity anddreams.Oneof thehackathonteamshaddeveloped empathyby spending timewithSteveGleason, a formerNFLplayerwhoseALSconfineshimtoawheelchair.Likemyson,Stevenowuses personal computing technology to improve his daily life. Believe me, Iknowwhat this technologywillmeanforSteve,formillionsaroundtheworld,

andformysonathome.Our roleson theSLTstarted to change thatday.Each leaderwasno longer

solelyemployedbyMicrosoft,theyhadtappedintoahighercalling—toemployMicrosoft in pursuit of their personal passions to empower others. It was anemotionalandexhaustingday,but it set anew toneandput inmotionamoreunified leadership team.At the end of the day,we all came to the same starkrealization:Nooneleader,noonegroup,andnooneCEOwouldbetheheroofMicrosoft’srenewal.Iftherewastobearenewal,itwouldtakeallofusandallpartsofeachofus.Cultural transformationwouldbeslowandtryingbefore itwouldberewarding.

***

This is abookabout transformation—one that is takingplace today insidemeand inside of our company, driven by a sense of empathy and a desire toempowerothers.Butmostimportant,it’saboutthechangecomingineverylifeaswewitness themost transformativewave of technology yet—one thatwillincludeartificial intelligence,mixedreality,andquantumcomputing.It’sabouthowpeople,organizations,andsocietiescanandmusttransform—hitrefresh—in theirpersistentquest fornewenergy,new ideas, relevance,and renewal.Atthe core, it’s about us humans and the unique qualitywe call empathy,whichwillbecomeevermorevaluableinaworldwherethetorrentoftechnologywilldisruptthestatusquolikeneverbefore.ThemysticalAustrianpoetRainerMariaRilkeoncewrotethat“thefutureentersintous,inordertotransformitselfinus,long before it happens.” As much as elegant computer code for machines,existential poetry can illuminate and instruct us. Speaking to us from anothercentury,Rilkeissayingthatwhatliesaheadisverymuchwithinus,determinedbythecourseeachofustakestoday.Thatcourse,thosedecisions,iswhatI’vesetouttodescribe.Inthesepages,youwillfollowthreedistinctstorylines.First,asprologue,I’ll

sharemyowntransformationmovingfromIndia tomynewhome inAmericawith stops in the heartland, in Silicon Valley, and at a Microsoft then in itsascendancy.ParttwofocusesonhittingrefreshatMicrosoftastheunlikelyCEOwhosucceededBillGatesandSteveBallmer.Microsoft’stransformationundermyleadershipisnotcomplete,butIamproudofourprogress.Inthethirdandfinalact,I’lltakeuptheargumentthataFourthIndustrialRevolutionliesahead,oneinwhichmachineintelligencewillrivalthatofhumans.We’llexploresomeheadyquestions.Whatwilltheroleofhumansbecome?Willinequalityresolveor worsen? How can governments help? What is the role of multinational

corporationsandtheirleaders?Howwillwehitrefreshasasociety?Iwasexcited towrite thisbook,butalsoa little reluctant.Whoreallycares

aboutmyjourney?WithonlyafewyearsundermybeltasMicrosoft’sCEO,itfelt premature to write about how we’ve succeeded or failed on my watch.We’vemadea lotofprogresssince thatSLTmeeting,butwestillhavea longwaytogo.That’salsowhyI’mnotinterestedinwritingamemoir.I’llsavethatformydotage.Butseveralargumentsconvincedmetocarveoutalittletimeatthisstageofmylifetowrite.Ifeltthetugofresponsibilitytotellourstoryfrommy perspective. It’s also a time of enormous social and economic disruptionaccelerated by technological breakthroughs. The combination of cloudcomputing,sensors,BigData,machinelearning,andArtificialIntelligence(AI),mixedreality,androboticsforeshadowssocioeconomicchangerippedfromthepagesofsciencefiction.Thereisawideandgrowingspectrumofdebateaboutthe implications of this coming wave of intelligent technologies. On the onehand,Pixar’sfilmWALL-Epaintsaportraitofeternalrelaxationforhumanswhorely on robots for the hard work. But on the other, scientists like StephenHawkingwarnofdoom.Themostcompellingargumentwastowriteformycolleagues—Microsoft’s

employees—and for ourmillions of customers and partners.After all, on thatcoldFebruarydayin2014whenMicrosoft’sboardofdirectorsannouncedthatIwouldbecomeCEO,Iputthecompany’scultureatthetopofouragenda.IsaidthatweneededtorediscoverthesoulofMicrosoft,ourreasonforbeing.Ihavecome to understand that my primary job is to curate our culture so that onehundredthousandinspiredminds—Microsoft’semployees—canbettershapeourfuture.Booksaresooftenwrittenbyleaderslookingbackontheirtenures,notwhilethey’reinthefogofwar.Whatifwecouldsharethejourneytogether,themeditations of a sitting CEO in the midst of a massive transformation?Microsoft’s roots, its original raison d’être,was to democratize computing, tomakeitaccessibletoeveryone.“Acomputeroneverydeskandineveryhome”wasour originalmission. It definedour culture.Butmuchhas changed.Mosteverydeskandhomenowhaveacomputer,andmostpeoplehaveasmartphone.Wehadsucceeded inmanyways,butwealsowere lagging in toomanyotherways.PCsaleshadslowedandweweresignificantlybehindinmobile.Wewerebehind in searchandweneeded togrowagain ingaming.Weneeded tobuilddeeper empathy for our customers and their unarticulated and unmet needs. Itwastimetohitrefresh.After twenty-twoyearsasanengineeranda leaderatMicrosoft, Ihadbeen

morephilosophicalthananxiousaboutthesearchprocessforanewCEO.Evenwith speculation swirling about who would succeed Steve, quite frankly, my

wife,Anu, and I largely ignored the rumors.At home,wewere just too busywithtakingcareofZainandourtwodaughters.AtworkIwasveryfocusedoncontinuing to grow a highly competitive business, the Microsoft Cloud. Myattitudewas that theboardwouldselect thebestperson. Itwouldbegreat if itwereme.ButIwouldalsobeequallyhappyworkingforsomeonetheboardhadconfidencein.Infact,aspartoftheinterviewprocessoneoftheboardmemberssuggestedthatifIwantedtobeCEO,IneededtobeclearthatIwashungryforthe job. I thought about this andeven talked toSteve.He laughedand simplysaid,“It’stoolatetobedifferent.”Itjustwouldn’tbemetodisplaythatkindofpersonalambition.WhenJohnThompson,whoatthattimewastheleadindependentdirectorand

headedtheCEOsearch,sentmeanemailonJanuary24,2014,askingfortimetochat, Iwasnotsurewhat tomakeof it. I thoughtheprobablywasgoing togivemeanupdateonwheretheboardwasinitsdecisionprocess.Andso,whenJohncalled thatevening,hefirstaskedmeif Iwassittingdown.Iwasnot.Infact,IwascalmlyplayingwithaKookaburracricketballasIusuallydowhentalkingonthespeakerphoneatwork.HewentontodeliverthenewsthatIwastobecomethenewCEOofMicrosoft.Ittookacoupleofminutestodigesthismessage.IsaidthatIwashonored,humbled,andexcited.Theywereunplannedwords,but theyperfectlycapturedhowI felt.Weeks later, I toldmediaoutletsthatweneededtofocusmoreclearly,movefaster,andcontinuetotransformourculture and business. But behind the scenes, I knew that to lead effectively Ineededtogetsomethingssquareinmyownmind—and,ultimately,inthemindsofeveryonewhoworksatMicrosoft.WhydoesMicrosoftexist?AndwhydoIexistinthisnewrole?Thesearequestionseveryoneineveryorganizationshouldask themselves. Iworried that failing to ask these questions, and truly answerthem, riskedperpetuatingearliermistakesand,worse,notbeinghonest.Everyperson,organization, andevensociety reaches apoint atwhich theyowe it tothemselves to hit refresh—to reenergize, renew, reframe, and rethink theirpurpose. If only itwere as easy as punching that little refresh button on yourbrowser. Sure, in this age of continuous updates and always-on technologies,hittingrefreshmaysoundquaint,butstillwhenit’sdoneright,whenpeopleandculturesre-createandrefresh,arenaissancecanbetheresult.Sportsfranchisesdo it. Apple did it. Detroit is doing it. One day ascending companies likeFacebookwillstopgrowing,andtheywillhavetodoittoo.And so letme start at the beginning—my own story. Imean,what kind of

CEOaskssuchexistentialquestionsaswhydoweexistinthefirstplace?Whyare concepts like culture, ideas, and empathy so important to me? Well, myfatherwasacivilservantwithMarxist leaningsandmymotherwasaSanskrit

scholar. While there is much I learned from my father, including intellectualcuriosityandaloveofhistory,Iwasalwaysmymother’sson.Shecareddeeplyaboutmybeinghappy,confident,andlivinginthemomentwithoutregrets.Sheworked hard both at home and in the college classroomwhere she taught theancient language, literature, and philosophy of India.And she created a homefullofjoy.Even so, my earliest memories are of my mom struggling to continue her

professionandtomakethemarriagework.Shewastheconstant,steadyingforcein my life, and my father was larger than life. He nearly immigrated to theUnited States, a faraway place that represented opportunity, on a Fulbrightfellowship to pursue a PhD in economics.But those planswere suddenly andunderstandablyshelvedwhenhewasselectedtojointheIndianAdministrativeService(IAS).Itwasearly1960s,andJawaharlalNehruwasIndia’sfirstprimeminister following Gandhi’s historic movement, which had achievedindependencefromGreatBritain.For thatgenerationentering thecivil serviceandbeingpartofthebirthofanewnationwasatruedreamcometrue.TheIASwasessentiallyaremnantoftheoldRajsystemleftbytheBritishtogovernaftertheUKturnedovercontrolofthecountryin1947.OnlyaboutahundredyoungprofessionalsperyearwereselectedfortheIAS,andsoataveryyoungagemyfather was administering a district with millions of people. Throughout mychildhood,hewaspostedinmanydistrictsacrossthestateofAndhraPradeshinIndia. I remembermoving from place to place, growing up in the sixties andearlyseventies inoldcolonialbuildings in themiddleofnowherewith lotsoftimeandspace,andinacountrybeingtransformed.My mom did her level best during all these disruptions to maintain her

teachingcareer,raiseme,andbealovingwife.WhenIwasaboutsix,myfive-month-oldsisterdied.Ithadahugeimpactonmeandourfamily.Momhadtogiveupworkingafter that. I thinkmysister’sdeathwas the laststraw.Losingher,combinedwithraisingmeandworkingtomaintainacareerwhilemyfatherwasworkinginfarawayplaceswasjusttoomuch.Shenevercomplainedtomeatallaboutit,butIreflectonherstoryquiteabit,especially in thecontextoftoday’sdiversityconversationsacrossthetechnologyindustry.Likeanyone,shewantedto,anddeservedto,haveitall.Butthecultureofherworkplace,coupledwith thesocialnormsof Indiansocietyat the time,didn’tmake itpossible forhertobalancefamilylifewithherprofessionalpassions.Among the children of IAS fathers, itwas a rat race. For some of the IAS

dads, simplypassing thegruelingentrance testmeant theywere set for life. Itwasthelasttesttheywouldeverhavetotake.ButmyfatherbelievedpassingtheIASexamwasmerelytheentrypointtobeingabletotakeevenmoreimportant

exams.Hewasaquintessentiallifelonglearner.Butunlikemostofmypeersatthattime,whosehigh-achievingparentsappliedtremendouspressuretoachieve,I didn’t face anyof that.Mymomwas just the opposite of a tigermom.Sheneverpressuredmetodoanythingotherthanjustbehappy.Thatsuitedmejustfine.Asakid,Icouldn’thavecaredlessaboutprettymuch

anything,except for thesportofcricket.One time,myfatherhungaposterofKarlMarx inmybedroom; in response,mymotherhungoneofLakshmi, theIndiangoddessofplentitudeandcontentment.Theircontrastingmessageswereclear:Myfatherwantedintellectualambitionforme,whilemymotherwantedme to be happy versus being captive to any dogma. My reaction? The onlyposterIreallywantedwasoneofmycricketinghero,theHyderabadigreat,M.L.Jaisimha,famousforhisboyishgoodlooksandgracefulstyle,onandoffthefield.Looking back, I have been influenced by both my father’s enthusiasm for

intellectualengagementandmymother’sdreamofabalancedlifeforme.Andeven today, cricket remains my passion. Nowhere is the intensity for cricketgreater than in India, even if the gamewas invented in England. I was goodenough to play formy school inHyderabad, a place that had a lot of crickettradition and zeal. I was an off-spin bowler, which in baseball would be theequivalent to a pitcher with a sharp breaking curveball. Cricket attracts anestimated 2.5 billion fans globally, compared with just half a billion baseballfans. Both are beautiful sports with passionate fans and a body of literaturebrimmingwith the grace, excitement, and complexities of competition. In hisnovel,Netherland, JosephO’Neilldescribes thebeautyof thegame, itselevenplayersconverging inunison toward thebatsmanand then returningagainandagain to their startingpoint, “a repetition or pulmonary rhythm, as if the fieldbreathed through its luminousvisitors.” I thinkof thatmetaphorof thecricketteam now as a CEO when reflecting on the culture we need in order to besuccessful.I had attended schools in many parts of India—Srikakulam, Tirupati,

Mussoorie,Delhi,andHyderabad.Eachleftitsmarkandhasremainedwithme.Mussoorie,forexample,isanorthernIndiancitytuckedintothefoothillsoftheHimalayas, around six thousand feet of elevation. Every time I see MountRainierfrommyhomeinBellevue,Iamalwaysremindedofthemountainsofchildhood—Nanda Devi and Bandarpunch. I attended kindergarten at theConventofJesusandMary.ItistheoldestschoolforgirlsinIndiabuttheyletboysattendkindergarten.Byagefifteen,wehadstoppedmovingandIenteredHyderabad Public School, which boarded students from all over India. I’mthankful forall themoves—theyhelpedmeadjustquickly tonewsituations—

butgoingtoHyderabadwastrulyformative.Inthe1970s,Hyderabadwasoutoftheway,notatallthemetropolisof6.8millionpeopleitistoday.Ireallydidn’tknoworcareabouttheworldwestofBombayontheArabianSea,butattendingboardingschoolatHPSwasthebestbreakIhadinmylife.AtHPSIbelongedtotheNalanda,orblueshouse,whichwasnamedforan

ancient Buddhist university. The whole school was multicultural: Muslims,Hindus, Christians, Sikhs all living and studying together. The school wasattendedbymembersoftheeliteaswellasbytribalkidswhohadcomefromtheinterior districts on scholarships. The chief minister’s son attended HPSalongside the childrenofBollywoodactors. Inmydorm therewerekids fromeverypartoftheIndianeconomicstrata.Itwasanamazinglyequalizingforce—amomentintimeworthremembering.Thelistofalumnitodayspeakstothissuccess.ShantanuNarayen,theCEOof

Adobe; Ajay Singh Banga, the CEO of MasterCard; Syed B. Ali, head ofCavium Networks; Prem Watsa, founder of Fairfax Financial Holdings inToronto; parliament leaders, film stars, athletes, academics, and writers—allcamefromthissmall,out-of-the-wayschool. Iwasnotacademicallygreatandnorwastheschoolknowntopushacademics.Ifyoulikedtostudyphysics,youstudiedphysics. Ifyoufelt like,oh,sciencewas tooboringandyouwanted tostudy history, you studied history. There wasn’t that intense peer pressure tofollowaparticularpath.After a few years at HPS my dad went to work at the United Nations in

Bangkok.Hewasn’t too fondofmy laid-backattitude.Hesaid, “I’mgoing topull you out and you should come do your eleventh and twelfth in someinternational school in Bangkok.” I said no chance. And so I just stuck toHyderabad.Everybodywasthinking,“Areyoucrazy,whywouldyoudothat?”ButtherewasnowayIwasleaving.Cricketwasamajorpartofmylifeatthattime.Attendingthatschoolgavemesomeofmygreatestmemories,andalotofconfidence.Bytwelfthgradeifyouhadaskedmeaboutmydreamitwastoattendasmall

college,playcricketforHyderabad,andeventuallyworkforabank.Thatwasit.Beinganengineerandgoing to theWestneveroccurred tome.Mymomwashappywith those plans. “That’s fantastic, son!” Butmy dad really forced theissue.Hesaid,“Look,you’vegottogetoutofHyderabad.Otherwiseyou’llruinyourself.”Itwasgoodadvicethen,butfewcouldpredictthatHyderabadwouldbecomethetechnologicalhubitistoday.Itwashardtobreakfrommycircleoffriends,butDadwasright.Iwasbeingprovincialwithmyambitions.Ineededsomeperspective.Cricketwasmypassion,butcomputerswereaclosesecond.WhenIwasfifteen,myfatherbroughtmeaSinclairZXSpectrumcomputerkit

from Bangkok. Its Z80 CPU had been developed in the mid-seventies by anengineerwholeftIntel,wherehehadbeenworkingonthe8080microprocessor,whichironicallywasthechipBillGatesandPaulAllenusedtowritetheoriginalversion of Microsoft BASIC. The ZX Spectrum inspired me to think aboutsoftware, engineering, and even the idea that personal computing technologiescouldbedemocratizing.IfakidinnowhereIndiacouldlearntoprogram,surelyanyonecould.I flunked the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) entrance exam, the holy

grail of all things academic formiddle-class kids growing up in India at thattime. My father, who never met an entrance test he did not pass, was moreamused than annoyed. But, luckily, I had two other options to pursueengineering. I had gotten into mechanical engineering at Birla Institute ofTechnology in Mesra and electrical engineering (EE) at Manipal Institute ofTechnology. IchoseManipalbasedonahunch thatpursuingEEwasgoing togetmeclosertocomputersandsoftware.Andfortuitouslythehunchwasright.Academically it put me on a pathway that would lead to Silicon Valley andeventually to Microsoft. The friends I made in college were entrepreneurial,driven,andambitious.Ilearnedfrommanyofthem.Infact,yearslaterIrentedahouseinSunnyvale,California,witheightofmyclassmatesfromManipalandre-created our dorm-room experience from college. Athletically, though,Manipal left a lot to be desired. Playing cricket was no longer my centralpassion. I played one match for my college team and hung up my gear.Computerstookcricket’splaceandbecamenumberoneinmylife.AtManipalItrainedinmicroelectronics—integratedcircuitsandthefirstprinciplesofmakingcomputers.Ididn’treallyhaveaspecificplanforwhatI’ddoafterfinishingmyelectrical

engineeringdegree.Thereismuchtobesaidformymother’sphilosophyoflife,which influenced how I thought about my own future and opportunities. Shealwaysbelievedindoingyourthing,andatyourpace.Pacecomeswhenyoudoyourthing.Solongasyouenjoyit,doitmindfullyandwell,andhaveanhonestpurposebehind it, lifewon’t failyou.Thathas stoodme ingood steadallmylife. After graduation, I had an opportunity to attend a prestigious industrialengineering institute in Bombay. I had also applied to a few colleges in theUnitedStates.Inthosedays,thestudentvisawasbitofacrapshoot,andfranklyIwas hoping it would be rejected. I neverwanted to leave India. But as fatewouldhaveit,Igotmyvisaandwasagainfacedwithsomechoices—whethertostay in India and do a master’s degree in industrial engineering or go to theUniversity of Wisconsin at Milwaukee for a master’s degree in electricalengineering. A very dear friend from HPS was attendingWisconsin studying

computer science, and so my decision was made. I entered the master’s incomputer scienceprogram atWisconsin.And I’m glad I did because itwas asmall department with professors who were invested in their students. I’mparticularly thankful to then department chair Dr. Vairavan and my master’sadvisorProfessorHosseiniforinstillinginmetheconfidencenottopursuewhatwaseasy,buttotacklethebiggestandhardestproblemsincomputerscience.If someonehadaskedme topoint toMilwaukeeonamapIcouldnothave

done it. But onmy twenty-first birthday, in 1988, I flew fromNewDelhi toChicagoO’HareAirport.Fromthereafrienddrovemetocampusanddroppedmeoff.WhatIrememberwasthequiet.Everythingwasquiet.Milwaukeewasjust stunning, pristine. I thought, god, this place is heaven on earth. It wassummer.Itwasbeautiful,andmylifeintheUnitedStateswasjustbeginning.SummerbecamewinterandthecoldofWisconsin issomethingtobehold if

you’vecome fromsouthern India. Iwasa smokerat the time and all smokershadtostandoutside.Therewereanumberofusfromvariouspartsoftheworld.The Indian students couldn’t stand the cold so we quit smoking. Then myChinese friends quit. But the Russians were unaffected by winter’s chill, andtheyjustkeptonpuffingaway.Sure, Iwouldgethomesick, like anykid,butAmerica couldnothavebeen

morewelcoming.Idon’tthinkmystorywouldbepossibleanywhereelse,andIam proud today to call myself an American citizen. Looking back, though, Isupposemystorymay sounda littleprogrammatic.The sonof an Indiancivilservantstudieshard,getsanengineeringdegree,immigratestotheUnitedStates,and makes it in tech. But it wasn’t that simple. Unlike the stereotype, I wasactuallynotacademically thatgreat. Ididn’tgo to theelite IndianInstitutesofTechnology (IITs) thathavebecomesynonymouswithbuildingSiliconValley.OnlyinAmericawouldsomeonelikemegetthechancetoprovehimselfratherthan be typecast based on the school I attended. I suppose that was true forearlierwavesofimmigrationaswellandwillbejustastruefornewgenerationsofimmigrants.Likemanyothers,itwasmygreatfortunetobenefitfromtheconvergenceof

several tectonic movements: India’s independence from British rule, theAmerican civil rights movement, which changed immigration policy in theUnited States, and the global tech boom. Indian independence led to largeinvestments in education for Indian citizens likeme. In theUnited States, the1965 Immigration andNaturalizationAct abolished the nation-of-origin quotaand made it possible for skilled workers to come to America and contribute.Beforethat,onlyaboutahundredIndianswereallowedtoimmigrateeachyear.WritingforTheNewYorkTimeson the fiftiethanniversaryof the immigration

act,historianTedWidmernotedthatnearly59millionpeoplecametotheUnitedStatesasaresultoftheact.Buttheinfluxwasnotunrestrained.Theactcreatedpreferences for those with technical training and those with family membersalreadyintheStates.Unknowingly,Iwastherecipientofthisgreatgift.ThesemovementsenabledmetoshowupintheUnitedStateswithsoftwareskillsjustbeforethetechboomofthe1990s.Talkabouthittingthelottery.During thefirstsemesteratWisconsin, I took imageprocessing,acomputer

architectureclass,andLISP,oneoftheoldestcomputerprogramminglanguages.Thefirstsetofassignmentswerejusthugeprogrammingprojects.I’dwrittenalittle bit of code but I was not a proficient coder by any stretch. I know thestereotypeinAmericaisthattheIndianswhoimmigrateareborntocode,butweallstartsomewhere.Theassignmentswere,basically,hereitis,gowriteabunchofcode.ItwastoughandIhadtopickitupquickly.OnceIdid,itwasawesome.I understood pretty early on that the microcomputer was going to shape theworld.InitiallyIthoughtitmightbeallaboutbuildingchips.Mostofmycollegefriends all went on to specialize in chip design and work at places with realimpactlikeMentorGraphics,Synopsys,andJuniper.I became particularly interested in a theoretical aspect of computer science

thatwas,atitsheart,designedtomakefastdecisionsinanatmosphereofgreatuncertaintyandfinitetime.Myfocuswasacomputersciencepuzzleknownasgraphcoloring.No,Iwasn’tcoloringgraphswithcrayons.Graphcoloringispartof computational complexity theory in which you must assign labels,traditionally called colors, to elements of a graph within certain constraints.Thinkof it thisway: Imaginecoloring theU.S.mapso thatno state sharingacommonborderreceivesthesamecolor.Whatistheminimalnumberofcolorsyou would need to accomplish this task? My master’s thesis was aboutdeveloping the best heuristics to accomplish complex graph coloring innondeterministic polynomial time, orNP-complete. In otherwords, how can Isolveaproblemthathaslimitlesspossibilitiesinawaythatisfastandgoodbutnotalwaysoptimal?Dowesolvethisasbestwecanrightnow,orworkforeverforthebestsolution?Theoreticalcomputersciencereallygrabbedmebecauseitshowedthelimits

to what today’s computers can do. It led me to become fascinated bymathematicians and computer scientists JohnVonNeumann andAlan Turing,andbyquantumcomputing,whichIwillwriteaboutlateraswelookaheadtoartificialintelligenceandmachinelearning.And,ifyouthinkaboutit,thiswasgreattrainingforaCEO—nimblymanagingwithinconstraints.Icompletedmymaster’sincomputerscienceatWisconsinandevenmanaged

to work for what Microsoft would now call an independent software vendor

(ISV). I was building apps for Oracle databases while finishing my master’sthesis.Iwasgoodatrelationalalgebraandbecameproficientwithdatabasesandstructured query language (SQL) programming. This was the era wheretechnologywaschangingfromcharacterortextmodeonUNIXworkstationstographical user interfaces like Windows. It was early 1990 and I didn’t evenreallythinkaboutMicrosoftatthattimebecauseweneverusedPCs.Myfocuswasonmorepowerfulworkstations.In fact, I leftMilwaukee in 1990 formy first job in Silicon Valley at Sun

Microsystems.Sunwasthekingofworkstations,amarketMicrosofthadinitscrosshairs.Sunhadanamazingcollectionoftalent,includingitsfoundersScottMcNealyandBillJoy,aswellasJamesGosling,theinventorofJava,andEricSchmidt,ourVPforsoftwaredevelopmentwhowentontorunNovellandthenGoogle.MytwoyearsatSunwereatimeofgreattransitioninthecomputerbusiness

as Sun looked longingly atMicrosoft’sWindows graphical user interface, andMicrosoftlookedlonginglyatSun’sbeautiful,powerful32-bitworkstationsandoperatingsystems.Again, Ihappened tobeat therightplaceat theright time.Sunaskedmetoworkondesktopsoftwareliketheiremailtool.Iwaslatersentto Cambridge, Massachusetts, to work for several months with Lotus to porttheir spreadsheet software to Sun workstations. Then I started to noticesomething alarming. Every couple of months, Sun wanted to adopt a newgraphicaluserinterface(GUI)strategy.ThatmeantIhadtoreworkmyprogramsconstantly,andtheirexplanationsmadelessandlesssense.Irealizedthatdespiteitsphenomenalleadershipandcapability,ithadahardtimebuildingandstickingwithacogentsoftwarestrategy.By1992,Iwasagainatacrossroadsinmylife.Iwantedtoworkonsoftware

thatwouldchangetheworld.IalsowantedtoreturntograduateschoolformyMBA.And ImissedAnu,whom I intended tomarry and bring to theUnitedStates. She was finishing her degree in architecture back inManipal, and webegantoplanforhertojoinmeinAmerica.Likeallthetimesbefore,therewasnomasterplan,butacallfromRedmond,

Washington,oneafternoonwouldcreateanew,unexpectedopportunity. Itwastimetohitrefreshagain.

***

On a cool, November day in the Pacific Northwest, I first set foot on theMicrosoftcampusandenteredanunremarkablecorporateofficeunimaginativelynamedBuilding22.Shroudedby toweringDouglas firs, it remainseven today

barely visible from the adjacent state route 520, known for its floating bridgeconnectingSeattletoRedmond.Theyearwas1992.Microsoft’sstockwas justbeginninganepicrise,thoughitsfounders,BillGatesandPaulAllen,couldstillwalkdownthestreetunrecognized.Windows3.1hadjustbeenreleased,settingthestageforWindows95andthegrandestconsumertechnologyproductlaunchyet.SonyintroducedtheCD-ROM,andthefirstwebsitewaslaunched,thoughitwouldbe twomoreyearsbefore the Internetwouldbecomea tidalwave.TCIintroduceddigitalcableandtheFCCapproveddigitalradio.Onachart,PCsalesat this timeshow the start of ameteoric ascent.Lookingbacknow, I couldn’thavetimedmyentranceanybetter.Theresources,thetalentandthevisionweretheretocompeteandtoleadtheindustry.MyjourneytoRedmondhadtakenmefrommyhomeinIndiatoWisconsinforgraduateschooltotheSiliconValleytowork for Sun. Over the summer I had been recruited to join Microsoft as atwenty-five-year-oldevangelistforWindowsNT,a32-bitoperatingsystemthatwas designed to extend the company’s popular consumer program intomuchmore powerful business systems. A few years later NT would become thebackbone of futureWindows versions. Even today’s generation of Windows,Windows 10, builds on the originalNT architecture. I had heard ofNTwhileworking at Sun but had never used it. A colleague had attended aMicrosoftconferencewheretheyshowedoffNTtodevelopers.Hecamebackandtoldmeabouttheproduct.Ithought,wow,thisisgoingtogetserious.Iwantedtobeinaplacethatwouldhaverealimpact.TheguyswhohadrecruitedmetoMicrosoft,RichardTait and JeffTeper, said theyneeded someonewhounderstoodUNIXand32-bitoperatingsystems. Iwasa littleunsure.What I reallywanted todowas go to business school. I knew that management would complement myengineering training, and I had been thinking about a switch to investmentbanking. Ihadgotten into the full-timeprogramatUniversity ofChicago, butTepersaid,“Youshould just joinusstraightaway.”Idecidedtodoboth. Iwasabletoswitchmyadmissiontothepart-timeprogramatChicago,butthennevertoldanyone that Iwasflying toChicago forweekends. I finishedmyMBAintwoyearsandwasglad Idid.During theweekmy jobwas to flyallover thecountry—luggingtheseenormousCompaqcomputers—tomeetwithcustomers,usually chief information officers at places like Georgia Pacific or Mobil, toconvince them that our new, more robust operating system for business wassuperiortotheothersandconvert them.AndatschoolI learnedmoremathbytakinghigh-levelfinanceclassesinChicagothaninmyengineeringcoursework.The classes I tookwithStevenKaplan,MarvinZonis, andmanyother storiedfaculty at the university on strategy, finance, and leadership influenced mythinking and intellectual pursuits long after I completed theMBA. It was an

excitingtimetobeatMicrosoft.NotlongafterjoiningImetSteveBallmerforthe first time.He stoppedbymyoffice togivemeoneof his very expressivehighfivesforleavingSunandjoiningMicrosoft.Itwasthefirstofwhatwouldbe many interesting and enjoyable conversations with Steve over the years.Therewasatruesenseofmissionandenergyatthecompanythen.Theskywasthelimit.

***

Within a few yearsmywork onWindowsNT landedme in a new advancedtechnologygroup,foundedbyRenaissancemanNathanMyhrvold.AlongwithRickRashid,CraigMundie,andothers,Microsoftwasassembling thegreatesttechnology IQ since Xerox PARC, the famed Silicon Valley center forinnovation.Iwashumbledwhenaskedto join thegroupasaproductmanageronaprojectcode-namedTigerServer,whichwasamajorinvestmentinbuildinga video-on-demand (VOD) service. Itwould be years before cable companieswould deliver the technology and businessmodel to support VOD, and yearsbeforeNetflixmadevideostreamingmainstream.Fortunately,Ilivedrightnextto the Microsoft campus, the endpoint for all of this amazing broadbandinfrastructurethatmadeourVODpilotpossible.Soin1994,longbeforeitwascommercially available, I had video-on-demand while sitting in my littleapartment.We only had about fifteen movies but I remember watching themoverandoveragain.EvenasourteamplannedtolaunchourTigerserveroverafullyswitchedasynchronoustransfermode(ATM)networktothehome,wesawourideabecomeobsoletevirtuallyovernightwiththebirthoftheInternet.

***

While my mind was fully engaged, my heart was distracted. Anu and I haddecidedtomarrywhenImadeatripbacktoIndiajustbeforejoiningMicrosoft.I had known Anu all of my life. Her dad and my father had joined the IAStogetherandwewerefamilyfriends.Infact,Anu’sdadandIsharedapassionfor talkingendlesslyabout cricket, somethingwecontinue to thisday.Hehadplayedforhisschoolandcollege,captainingbothteams.WhenexactlyIfellinlovewithAnuiswhatcomputerscientistswouldcallanNPcompletequestion.Icancomeupwithmany timesandplacesbut there isnooneanswer. Inotherwords,it’scomplex.Ourfamilieswereclose.Oursocialcircleswerethesame.As kids we had played together. We overlapped in school and college. OurbelovedfamilydogcamefromAnu’sfamilydog’slitter.ButonceImovedtothe

UnitedStates, I lost touchwithher.When Iwentback to India foravisit,wesaweachotheragain.Shewas inher finalyearofarchitectureatManipalandenjoying an internship in New Delhi. Our two families met for dinner oneevening,andthatnight,morethanever, Iwasconvincedthatshewas theone.We shared the same values, the same outlook on the world, and dreamed ofsimilarfutures.Inmanyways,herfamilywasalreadymineandminehers.Thenextday,IpersuadedhertotakemetoanopticianwhereIneededtohavemyglasses repaired.After theappointment,wewalkedand talkedforhours in theneighboringLodiGardens,anancientarchitecturalsitethattodayispopularwithtourists.Anu,astudentofarchitecture, lovedall thehistoricalmonuments thatdottedDelhi, and for days afterwardwe explored them together. I had visitedthemallbeforeasakid.Butthiswasdifferent.WestoppedforlunchonPandaraRoad, enjoyed plays in the National Institute of Drama, and shopped in thebookstores of Khan Market. We had fallen in love. It was in the lush LodiGardensthatoneOctoberafternoonin1992Iproposedand,thankfullyforme,Anusaidyes.WewalkedbacktoAnu’splaceonHumayunRoadandbrokethenewstoAnu’smom.Weweremarriedjusttwomonthslater,inDecember.Itwasa happy time, but the complications of immigration would soon prove achallenge.

***

Anuwasinthelastyearofherarchitecturedegreeandtheplanwasforher tocompletetheremainingcourseandjoinmeinRedmond.Inthesummerof1993,Anu applied for a visa to join me during her final vacation before finishingschool. But her visa application was rejected because she was married to apermanent resident. Anu’s father sought an appointment with the U.S. consulgeneral in NewDelhi and argued with him that the U.S. visa rules were notconsistent with the family values that the United States stood for. Thecombinationofhispersuasivenessand thekindnessof theU.S. consulgeneralledtoAnugettingashort-termtouristvisa—arareexception.Afterhervacation,shereturnedtoIndiaandcollegetocompleteherdegree.Itwasnowcleartousthat Anu’s return to the United States would be very difficult given the visawaitlist for spouses of permanent residents. Microsoft had an immigrationlawyerwhotoldmeitwouldtakefiveormoreyearstogetAnuintothecountryunder existing rules. I contemplated quittingMicrosoft and returning to India.But our lawyer, Ira Rubinstein, said something interesting. “Hey, maybe youshouldgiveupyourgreencardandgobacktoanH1B.”HewassuggestingthatI give up permanent residency and instead reapply for temporary professional

workerstatus.Ifyou’veseentheGerardDepardieufilmGreenCard,youknowthe comedic lengths people will go to to obtain permanent residency in theUnited States. Sowhywould I give up the coveted green card for temporarystatus?Well, theH1BenablesspousestocometotheUnitedStateswhiletheirhusbands and wives are working here. Such is the perverse logic of thisimmigration law.Therewasnothing Icoulddoabout it.Anuwasmypriority.And thatmademydecisiona simpleone. Iwentback to theU.S. embassy inDelhi inJuneof1994,past theenormous linesofpeoplehoping togetavisa,andtoldaclerkthatIwantedtogivebackmygreencardandapplyforanH1B.He was dumbfounded. “Why?” he asked. I said something about the crazyimmigrationpolicy,heshookhisheadandpushedanewformtome.“Fill thisout.” The next morning, I returned to apply for an H1B application.Miraculously, it all worked. Anu joined me (for good) in Seattle, where wewould start a family and build a life together. What I didn’t expect was theinstantnotorietyaroundcampus.“Hey,theregoestheguywhogaveuphisgreencard.”Everyotherdaysomeonewouldcallmeandaskforadvice.Muchlater,oneofmycolleagues,KunalBahl,didquitMicrosoftwhenhisH1Branoutandhis green card had not yet arrived. He returned to India and then foundedSnapdeal,whichtodayisworthmorethan$1billionandemploysfivethousandpeople. Ironically,online, cloud-basedcompanies likeSnapdealwouldplayanimportantroleinmyfutureandthatofMicrosoft.Andthe lessonsI learnedinmyformercountrycontinuetoshapemypresent.

Chapter2LearningtoLead

SeeingtheCloudThroughOurWindows

Iamobsessedwithcricket.NomatterwhereIam,thisbeautifulgameisalwaysinthebackofmymind.Thejoy,thememories,thedrama,thecomplexities,andtheupsanddowns—theinfinitepossibilities.Forthoseofyouunfamiliarwithcricket,itisaninternationalsportplayedon

alargegreenovalinthesummerandearlyfall.Itspopularityisstrongestamongthecurrentandformernationsof theBritishCommonwealth.Likebaseball, incricketaballishurledatabatterwhoendeavorstostriketheballandscoreasmany runs as possible. The pitcher is a bowler, the batter is a batsman, thediamondisawicket,and thefielders try toget thebatsmanout.Yes, thereareformsofamatchthatcanstretchonfordays,buttheninbaseballteamscompetetowin 3-, 5-, and even 7-game series.Both sports are endlessly complex, butsuffice it tosay that the teamwith themost runswins.This isnot thebook todescribe the ins and outs of cricket, but it is a book that cannot avoid themetaphorofcricketandbusiness.Likemost South Asians, I somehow fell in love with thismost English of

gamesonthedustymattingwicketsoftheDeccanPlateauinsouthernIndia.There,onthosefields,Ilearnedalotaboutmyself—succeedingandfailingas

abowler,abatsman,andafielder.EventodayIcatchmyself reflectingon thenuanceswithinthecricketrulebookandthe inherentgraceofa teamofelevenworkingtogetherasoneunit.During the early years ofmy lifewhenmy father’swork as a civil servant

tookustothedistrictheadquartersofAndhraPradeshandthehillsofMussoorieinwhat isnowUttarakhand,cricketwasnot thephenomenon it isnow.Today

the Indian Premier League sells its ten-year television rights for billions. Butbackthenitbecameaphenomenonforme,whenattheageofeight,wemovedtoHyderabad.WestayedinarentedhouseintheSomajigudaneighborhood,andour landlord, Mr. Ali, was a gracious and proud Hyderabadi, who wore hisOsmaniaUniversitycricketcapwhileworkinginhisautoshop.HewasfullofstoriesaboutallthegreatHyderabadicricketersofthe1960s.Heoncetookmetowatchafirst-classmatchbetweenHyderabadandBombay(today’sMumbai).ItwasmyfirsttimeinthegreatcricketstadiumFatehMaidan.Iwascompletelysmitten that daywith all theglamourof cricket.The athletes,M.L. Jaisimha,Abbas Ali Baig, Abid Ali, and Mumtaz Hussain, became my heroes. TheBombaysidehadSunilGavaskerandAshokMankad,amongmanyotherstars.Idon’trecallanyofthemmakingmuchofanimpression,eventhoughtheybeatHyderabad handily. I was in awe of M. L. Jaisimha’s on-field presence—hisfashionableupturnedcollaranddistinctivegait.TothisdayIrememberMr.Ali’sdescriptions of Mumtaz Hussain’s “mystery ball,” and watching Abid Alichargingdownthewickettoamediumpacer.Soonmydadwasagaintransferredinhisjob,andImovedtoattendschoolin

Delhi.ThereIwatchedmyfirstTestmatchatFerozShahKotla.Itwasamatchbetween India and England. Watching these two sides play left an indelibleimpression. I remember the English batsman Dennis Amiss and bowler JohnLevercombinedtodestroyIndiabyaninning,leavingmedistraughtforweeks.Amisshitadoublehundred,andLever,playinginhisfirstTestmatch,bowledmediumpacethroughthatlongafternoon,andtheballwasswingingforhimlikeI’dneverseenbefore.SuddenlyalltheIndianplayerswerebackinthehut.WhenIwastenIreturnedtoHyderabad,andforthenextsixyearsItrulyand

surelyfellinlovewithcricketasaplayerforHyderabadPublicSchool(HPS).Infact,Mr.Jaisimha’stwochildrenattendedmyschool,andasaresultweweresurroundedbycricketglamour,tradition,andobsession.Inthosedays,everyonewas talking about the two India School players fromHPS. One of themwasSaadBinJung(whoalsohappenedtobethefamousIndiancricketcaptain,TigerPataudi’s,nephew).Stillinschool,hewentontosmashahundredrunsagainstatouringWestIndiansidewhileplayingforSouthZone,representingour regionof southern India. I began playing on theB team and graduated to the seniorteam,which played in theA leagues ofHyderabad.Wewere the only schoolteamtoplayin theAleaguesas theother teamsweresponsoredbybanksandmiscellaneouscompanies.RanjiTrophy playerswould turn up in these leaguegames,andallthatintriguemadeforintensecompetition.Whatexcitedmethenaboutcricketiswhatstillexcitesmetoday,evenliving

inanon-cricketingcountry(though,theUnitedStatesoverahundredyearsago

did periodically host Australian and English sides). Cricket for me is like awondrousRussiannovelwithplotsandsubplotsplayedoutover thecourseofmultipleacts. In theend,onebrilliantknock,or threedeftlybowledballs,canchangethecomplexionofagame.There are three stories frommyall-too-brief cricketingpast that speakvery

directlytobusinessandleadershipprinciplesIuseeventodayasaCEO.The first principle is to compete vigorously andwith passion in the face of

uncertainty and intimidation. Inmy school cricketing days,we played a teamone summer that had several Australian players. During the match, our PEteacher,who acted as a sort of generalmanager for the team, noticed thatwewereadmiringtheAussies’play.Infact,weweremorethanalittleintimidatedby them.Wehadneverplayedagainst foreignplayers,andAustraliaofcourseloomed large in the national cricket psyche. I now recognize our teacher andgeneralmanagerasverymuchlikeanAmericanfootballcoach—loudandverycompetitive.Hewashavingnoneofouradmirationandintimidation.Hebeganbyyellingat thecaptain togetmoreaggressive. Iwasabowler anda terriblefielder but he positioned me at forward short leg, right beside the powerfulAustralianbatsmen.Iwouldhavebeenhappystandingfaraway,butheputmerightnexttotheaction.Intime,withnewenergyandnewfocus,wetransformedinto a competitive team. It showedme that youmust always have respect foryourcompetitor,butdon’tbeinawe.Goandcompete.On reflection, a second principle is simply the importance of putting your

team first, aheadof your personal statistics and recognition.Oneofmy teamshadabrilliantfastbowler.Hewasoneofthemostpromisingyoungcricketersinthe land.Hebecameevengreater after attendingaU-19SouthZonecoachingclinic.Hispaceandaccuracywerejustbrilliant.Asa tail-endbatsmanmyself,beinginthenets(similartobaseballbattingcages)againstthisguywastough.Buthehadaself-destructivemindset.Duringonegameourcaptaindecidedtoreplace himwith another bowler. Soon, the new bowler coaxed the opposingbatsmantomis-hitaballskyward,aneasycatchforourcantankerousteammatenowatmid-off,afieldingpositiontwenty-fivetothirtyyardsfromthebatsman.Ratherthantakeasimplecatch,heplungedbothhandsdeepintohispocketsandwatchedpassivelyastheballfellrightinfrontofhim.Hewasastarplayer,andwe looked on in complete disbelief. The lesson? One brilliant character whodoesnotputteamfirstcandestroytheentireteam.Thereareofcoursemanylessonsandprinciplesonecantakefromcricket,but

formeathirdisthecentralimportanceofleadership.Lookingback,Irememberoneparticularmatchinwhichmyoff-spinbowlingwasgettinghammeredbytheopponents.Iwasservingupveryordinarystuff.Ourteamcaptaininretrospect

showedmewhat real leadership looks like.Whenmyoverhadended (that is,whenIhadthrownsixballs),hereplacedmewithhimselfeventhoughhewasabetterbatsmanthanbowler.Hequicklytookthewicket—thebatsmanwasout.Customarilytakingawicketthatefficientlywouldargueforhimremaininginasa bowler. But instead, he immediately handed the ball back tome and I tooksevenwicketsofmyown.Whydidhedoit?Isurmisedhewantedmetogetmyconfidenceback.Itwasearlyintheseasonandheneededmetobeeffectiveallyear.Hewasanempathetic leader,andheknewthat if I lostmyconfidence itwouldbehardtogetitback.Thatiswhatleadershipisabout.It’saboutbringingoutthebestineveryone.Itwasasubtle,importantleadershiplessonaboutwhento intervene andwhen to build the confidence of an individual and a team. Ithinkthatisperhapsthenumberonethingthatleadershavetodo:tobolstertheconfidenceofthepeopleyou’releading.ThatteamcaptainwentontoplaymanyyearsofprestigiousRanjiTrophycompetition,andhetaughtmeaveryvaluablelesson.Those early lessons from cricket shaped my leadership style, as have my

experiencesasahusband,afather,ayoungMicrosoftengineerthrilledtobepartof our company’s visionary ascent, and later as an executive charged withbuilding newbusinesses.My approach has never been to conduct business asusual. Instead it’s been to focus on culture and imagine what’s possible. Theculmination of these experiences has provided the raw material for thetransformation we are undergoing today—a set of principles based on thealchemyofpurpose,innovation,andempathy.

***

Thearrivalofourson,Zain, inAugust1996hadbeenawatershedmoment inAnu’sandmylife together.Hissufferingfromasphyxia inutero,hadchangedourlivesinwayswehadnotanticipated.Wecametounderstandlife’sproblemsassomething thatcannotalwaysbesolved in themannerwewant. Insteadwehadtolearntocope.WhenZaincamehomefromtheintensivecareunit(ICU),Anuinternalizedthisunderstandingimmediately.Thereweremultipletherapiesto be administered to him every day, not tomention quite a few surgeries heneeded that called for strenuous follow-up care after nerve-racking ICU stays.AllthisentailedAnulovinglyplacinghimintheinfantcarseatanddrivinghim,dayafterday,fromtheearlyhoursoftheday,fromtherapisttotherapist,nottomentionfrequentvisitstotheICUunitatSeattleChildren’sHospital.Children’sbecameasecondhomeforourfamilyasZain’smedicalfilegrewtooverafoothigh.Wearetoday,aswealwayshavebeen,soindebtedtothestaffatChildren’s

whohave loved and cared forZain throughout his life from infancy to youngadulthood.DuringoneICUvisit,afterI tookonmynewroleasCEO,I lookedaround

Zain’sroom,filledwiththesoftbuzzingandbeepingofmedicaltechnology,andsawthingsdifferently.InoticedjusthowmanyofthedevicesranonWindowsandhowtheywereincreasinglyconnectedtothecloud,thatnetworkofmassivedata storage and computational power that is now a fundamental part of thetechnologyapplicationswetakeforgranted today. Itwasastarkreminder thatourworkatMicrosofttranscendedbusiness,thatitmadelifeitselfpossibleforafragileyoungboy.ItalsobroughtanewlevelofgravitytotheloomingdecisionsbackattheofficeonourcloudandWindows10upgrades.We’dbettergetthisright,Irememberthinkingtomyself.Myson’sconditionrequiresthatIdrawdailyupontheverysamepassionfor

ideasandempathythatI learnedfrommyparents.AndIdo thisbothathomeandatwork.Whether Iammeetingwithpeople inLatinAmerica, theMiddleEast,oroneoftheinnercitiesofAmerica,Iamalwayssearchingtounderstandpeople’sthoughts,feelings,andideas.Beinganempatheticfather,andbringingthatdesiretodiscoverwhatisatthecore,thesoul,makesmeabetterleader.But it is impossible to be an empathetic leader sitting in an office behind a

computer screen all day. An empathetic leader needs to be out in the world,meetingpeoplewheretheyliveandseeinghowthetechnologywecreateaffectstheirdailyactivities.Somanypeoplearoundtheworldtodaydependonmobileandcloud technologieswithoutknowing it.Hospitals, schools,businesses,andresearchersrelyonwhat’sreferredtoasthe“publiccloud”—anarrayoflarge-scale, privacy-protected computers and data services accessible over a publicnetwork.Cloudcomputingmakesitpossibletoanalyzevastquantitiesofdatatoproducespecificinsightsandintelligence,convertingguessworkandspeculationinto predictive power. It has the power to transform lives, companies, andsocieties.TravelingtheglobeasCEO,I’veseenexampleafterexampleofthisinterplay

betweenempathyandtechnology.BothinthestatewhereIwasbornandthestateinwhichInowlive,schools

usethepowerofcloudcomputingtoanalyzelargeamountsofdatatouncoverinsights that can improve dropout rates. In Andhra Pradesh in India, and inTacoma,Washington,toomanykidsdropoutofschool.Theproblemislackofresources,notlackofambition.Cloudtechnologyishelpingimproveoutcomesfor kids and families as intelligence from cloud data is now predictingwhichstudentsaremostlikelytodropoutofschoolsothatresourcescanbefocusedonprovidingthemthehelptheyneed.

Thankstomobileandcloudtechnologies,astartupinKenyahasbuiltasolargridthatpeoplelivingonlessthantwodollarsadaycanleasetohavesafe,low-cost lighting and efficient cookstoves, replacing polluting and dangerouskerosenepower.It’saningeniousplanbecausethestartupcaneffectivelycreateacreditrating,abyproductoftheservice,which,forthefirst time,givestheseKenyans access to capital. This innovative mobile phone payment systemenables customers living inKenya’s sprawling slums tomake forty-cent dailypayments for solar light,which in turn generates data that establishes a credithistorytofinanceotherneeds.AuniversityinGreece,leveragingclouddata,isworkingwithfirefightersin

that country topredict andpreventmassivewildfires like theone in2007 thatkilledeighty-fourpeopleandburned670,000acres.Firefightersarenowarmedwith intelligence on the rate of the fire’s spread, intensity, movement of theperimeter,proximity towater supply, andmicroclimateweather forecasts fromremotesensors,enablingthemtocatchfiresearly,savinglivesandproperty.In Sweden, researchers are using cloud technologies to ensure that children

are screened earlier andmore accurately for dyslexia, a reading disorder thatimpacts educational outcomes for millions. Eye movement data analyzed atschools today can be compared with a data set from those diagnosed withdyslexiathirtyyearsago.Diagnosticaccuracyrateshaveincreasedfrom70to95percent,andthetimetogetadiagnosishasdecreasedfromthreeyearstothreeminutes. This means students, parents, and schools are prepared earlier andstruggleless.InJapan,crowd-sourceddatacollectedfromhundredsofsensorsnationwide

helpedthepublicmonitorradiationfromtheFukushimanuclearplanttoreduceriskstofoodqualityandtransportation.The13millionmeasurementsfromfivehundredremotesensorsgeneratedaheatmapthatalertedauthoritiestothreatstolocalriceproduction.And inNepal, after the devastating earthquake there inApril 2015, disaster

relief workers from the United Nations used the public cloud to collect andanalyzemassiveamountsofdataabout schools,hospitals, andhomes to speedupaccesstocompensatoryentitlements,reliefpackages,andotherassistance.Today it’s hard to imagine devices that are not connected to the cloud.

ConsumerapplicationslikeO365,LinkedIn,Uber,andFacebookallliveinthecloud.There’sagreatsceneinSylvesterStallone’sCreed,thelatestofhisRockymovieseries.Thechampjotsdownonapieceofpaperaworkoutregimenforhisprotégé,whoquicklysnapsaphotoofitonhissmartphone.Asthekidjogsaway,Rockyyells,“Don’tyouwantthepaper?”“Igotitrighthere,it’salreadyupinthecloud,”thekidreplies.

TheagingRockylooksskyward.“Whatcloud?Whatcloud?”Rockymaynotknowaboutthecloud,butmillionsofothersrelyonit.Microsoft is at the leading edge of today’s game-changing cloud-based

technologies.Butjustafewyearsago,thatoutcomeseemedverydoubtful.By 2008, storm clouds were gathering over Microsoft. PC shipments, the

financiallifebloodofMicrosoft,hadleveledoff.MeanwhilesalesofAppleandGoogle smartphonesand tabletswereon the rise,producinggrowing revenuesfromsearchandonlineadvertising thatMicrosoft hadn’tmatched.Meanwhile,AmazonhadquietlylaunchedAmazonWebServices(AWS),establishingitselffor years to come as a leader in the lucrative, rapidly growing cloud servicesbusiness.Thelogicbehindtheadventofthecloudwassimpleandcompelling.ThePC

Revolutionof the1980s, ledbyMicrosoft, Intel,Apple, andothers,hadmadecomputing accessible to homes and offices around the world. The 1990s hadushered in the client/server era to meet the needs of millions of users whowantedtosharedataovernetworksratherthanonfloppydisks.Butthecostofmaintaining servers in an ever-growing sea of data—and the advent ofbusinesses likeAmazon,Office 365,Google, andFacebook—simplyoutpacedthe ability for servers to keep up. The emergence of cloud servicesfundamentally shifted theeconomicsof computing. It standardizedandpooledcomputing resources and automatedmaintenance tasks once donemanually. Itallowed for elastic scaling up or down on a self-service, pay-as-you-go basis.Cloud providers invested in enormous data centers around theworld and thenrentedthemoutatalowercostperuser.ThiswastheCloudRevolution.AmazonwasoneofthefirsttocashinwithAWS.Theyfiguredoutearlyon

that the same cloud infrastructure they used to sell books, movies, and otherretailitemscouldberented,likeatime-share,tootherbusinessesandstartupsatamuchlowerpricethanitwouldtakeforeachcompanytobuilditsowncloud.By June 2008, Amazon already had 180,000 developers building applicationsandservicesfortheircloudplatform.Microsoftdidnotyethaveacommerciallyviablecloudplatform.AllofthisspelledtroubleforMicrosoft.EvenbeforetheGreatRecessionof

2008,ourstockhadbegunadownwardslide.Inalong-plannedmove,BillGatesleftthecompanythatyeartofocusontheBill&MelindaGatesFoundation.Butothers were leaving, too. Among them, Kevin Johnson, president of theWindows and online services business, announced he would leave to becomeCEOofJuniperNetworks.Intheirlettertoshareholdersthatyear,BillandSteveBallmer noted that Ray Ozzie, creator of Lotus Notes, had been named thecompany’snewChiefSoftwareArchitect(Bill’soldtitle),reflectingthefactthat

anewgenerationofleaderswassteppingupinareaslikeonlineadvertisingandsearch.Therewasnomentionofthecloudinthatyear’sshareholderletter,but,tohis

credit,Stevehadagameplanandawiderviewof theplayingfield.Alwaysabold,courageous,andfamouslyenthusiasticleader,Stevecalledmeonedaytosayhehadanidea.Hewantedmetobecomeheadofengineeringfortheonlinesearchandadvertisingbusiness thatwould laterberelaunchedasBing,oneofMicrosoft’sfirstbusinessesborninthecloud.For context, search engines generate revenue through a form of advertising

known as an auction. Advertisers bid on search keywords that match theirproduct or service; the winning bid gets an opportunity to display a relevantadvertisementon thesearch resultspage.Search foracarandacardealershiphaslikelypaidtobedisplayedprominentlyonyourresultspage.Deliveringthatpurchase experience both from the consumer and the advertiser perspective iscomputationally expensive and sophisticated. And while Microsoft wasstrugglingwith lowmarket share in search,Stevehad invested in itbecause itwouldrequirethecompanytocompeteinasectorbeyondWindowsandOfficeandbuildgreat technology—whichhesawas thefutureofour industry.Therewas tremendous pressure for Microsoft to answer Amazon’s growing cloudbusiness.Thiswasthebusinesshewasinvitingmetojoin.“Youshouldthinkaboutit,though,”Steveadded.“Thismightbeyourlastjob

atMicrosoft,becauseifyoufailthereisnoparachute.Youmayjustcrashwithit.” Iwonderedat the timewhetherhemeant itasagrimbitofhumororasaperfectlystraightforwardwarning.I’mstillnotquitesurewhichitwas.Despite thewarning, the jobsounded intriguing. Iwas runninganemerging

newbusinesswithinMicrosoftDynamics.IhadtakenoverfromDougBurgumwho later would become the governor of North Dakota. Doug was aninspirational leaderwhomentoredme to become amore complete leader. Hethoughtaboutbusinessandworknotinisolationbutaspartofabroadersocietalfabricandacorepartofone’slife.SomeofthelessonsIlearnedfromDougaretodayanimportantpartofwhoIamasaleader.LeadingtheDynamicsteamwasadreamjob.Forthefirsttime,Iwasgettingthechancetorunabusinessendtoend. I had spent nearly five years preparing for this job. I had all therelationships, inside and outside Microsoft, to drive the Dynamics businessforward.ButSteve’sofferwasessentiallypushingmeoutofmycomfortzone.I’d never worked in a consumer-facing business and had not really trackedMicrosoft’s search engine efforts or our early attempts to build cloudinfrastructure.Soonenight,afteralongdayatwork,IdecidedtodriveovertoBuilding 88, which housed the Internet search engineering team. I wanted to

walkthehallwaysandseewhothesepeoplewere.HowelsecouldIempathizewiththeteamIwasbeingaskedtolead?Itwasabout9p.m.,buttheparkinglotwaspacked.I’dexpectedtoseeafewstragglersfinishinguptheirdaybut,no,the whole team was there working at their desks and eating take-out food. Ididn’t really talk to anyone.Butwhat I observed causedme towonder:Whatgets people to work like this? Something important must be happening inBuilding88.Seeing the team thatnight, theircommitmentanddedication,clinched it for

me. I toldSteve,“Okay, I’m in.”Whatcolorwasmyparachute?Ididn’thaveone.Iwasenteringanewworld,andthemoveprovedtobefortuitous.LittledidI

knowitwouldbemyprovinggroundforfutureleadershipandthefutureofthecompany.VeryquicklyIrealizedwewouldneedfouressentialskillstobuildanonline,

cloud-based business that would be accessed primarily from mobile phonesratherthandesktopcomputers.First, I thought I knew a lot about distributed computing systems, but

suddenly I realized I had to completely relearn these systems because of thecloud. A distributed system, simply put, is how software communicates andcoordinates across networked computers. Imagine hundreds of thousands ofpeopletypinginsearchqueriesatthesametime.IfthosequerieslandedinjustoneserversomewhereinaroomontheWestCoast,itwouldbreakthatserver.But now imagine those queries being distributed evenly across a network ofservers. The vast array of computing powerwould enable delivery of instant,relevant results to the consumer. And, if there’s more traffic, just add moreservers.Thiselasticityisacoreattributeofcloudcomputingarchitecture.Second,we had to become great at consumer product design.We knewwe

neededgreattechnology,butwealsounderstoodweneededagreatexperience,one you want to engage with time and again. Traditional software designmappedoutwhatdevelopersthoughtaproductshouldlooklikeinayear’stime,when it would finally go to market. Modern software design involves onlineproducts updated through continuous experimentation. Designers offer Webpagesin“flights,”soanoldversionofBingisdeliveredtosomesearcherswhileanuntestednewversionreachesothers.Userscorecardsdeterminewhichisthemost effective. Sometimes, seemingly tiny differences can mean a lot.Somethingassimpleasthecolororsizeofatypefontmayprofoundlyimpactthe willingness of consumers to engage, triggering behavioral variations thatmaybeworthtensofmillionsinrevenue.NowMicrosofthadtomasterthisnewapproachtoproductdesign.

Third,wehadtobegreatatunderstandingandbuildingtwo-sidedmarkets—theeconomicsofanewonlinebusiness.Ononesidearetheconsumerswhogoonlineforsearchresults,andontheothersidearetheadvertiserswhowanttheirbusinesses to be found. Both are needed to succeed. This creates the auctioneffectIwasdescribingearlier.Bothsidesofthebusinessareequallyimportant,anddesigningtheexperienceforbothsidesiscrucial.Attractingmoreandmoresearchers obviouslymakes it easier to attractmore andmore advertisers.Andshowing the right advertisements is crucial to delivering relevant results. So,“bootstrapping” the online auction and improving search results’ relevancewouldprovetobeavitalchallenge.Finally,weneededtobegreatatappliedmachinelearning(ML).MLisavery

rich form of data analytics that is foundational to artificial intelligence. Weneededasophisticatedunderstandingofhowtodotwothingsatonce—discerntheintentofsomeonesearchingtheWebandthenmatchthatintentwithaccurateknowledge gained from crawling the Web, ingesting and understandinginformation.Ultimately,Bingwouldprove tobe agreat trainingground forbuilding the

hyper-scale,cloud-firstservicesthattodaypermeateMicrosoft.Weweren’tjustbuildingBing,wewerebuilding the foundational technologies thatwould fuelMicrosoft’s future. Building Bing taught us about scale, experimentation-leddesign,appliedML,andauction-basedpricing.Theseskillsarenotonlymissioncritical at our company, but highly sought after throughout today’s technologyuniverse.Butwe startedverymuchbehind in search;wehadyet to launchaproduct

thatcouldcompetewithGoogle.SoIhittheroad,meetingwithexecutivesfromFacebook, Amazon, Yahoo, and Apple to evangelize our emerging searchengine.Iwantedtomakedeals,butIalsowantedtolearnmoreabouthowtheyengineeredtheirproductstostayfresh.Ifoundthatthekeywasagility,agility,agility. We needed to develop speed, nimbleness, and athleticism to get theconsumer experience right, not just once but daily. We needed to set andrepeatedlymeet short-term goals, shipping code at amoremodern, fast-pacedcadence.To accomplish this, we needed to periodically gather all of the decision

makers in awar-room setting. In September 2008 I called together the searchengineers for the first of these meetings, which we casually called SearchCheckpoint #1. (Perhaps we should have been more creative with the name,becauseithasstuckandnowwe’reatacheckpointinthemanyhundreds.)WehaddecidedtolaunchBinginJune2009—anewsearchengineandanewbrand.Ilearnedalotaboutcreatingurgencyandmobilizingleaderswithdifferentskills

and backgrounds toward one common goal in what was a new area forMicrosoft. I realized that inasuccessfulcompany it isas important tounlearnsomeoldhabitsasitistolearnnewskills.Mylearningduringthis timewasgreatlyacceleratedbythehiringofDr.Qi

LuasheadofallonlineservicesatMicrosoft.QihadbeenanexecutiveatYahooandwasintenselyrecruitedthroughoutSiliconValley.Steve,HarryShum,todayourheadofAIandresearch,andIhadgonedowntotheBayAreatospendanafternoontalkingtoQi.OntheflightbackStevesaidtome,“Weshouldgethim,butifyoudon’twanttoworkforhim,thatwillbeaproblem.”Havingjustmetwith Qi, I knew that he was someone from whom I could learn a lot andMicrosoftcouldbenefit.So,Ididnothesitate insupportingthehiringofQitoMicrosoft, even though in some sense it was stalling my own promotion. Irealized thatmy own professional growthwould come fromworking for andlearningfromQiduringmytimeinouronlinebusiness.LaterQiwouldbecomeanimportantmemberofmysenior leadershipteamduringthefirstfewyearsIwasCEO.Qieventuallyleftthecompany,buthecontinuestobeatrustedfriendandadvisor.Over time, Yahoo integrated Bing as its search engine, and together we

powered a quarter of allU.S. searches.The search engine thatmanyhad saidshouldbeshutteredinitsearlydaysofstrugglecontinuedtowinanexpandingshareofthemarket,andtodayitisaprofitablemulti-billion-dollarbusinessforMicrosoft.Justasimportant,though,washowithelpedtojump-startourmovetothecloud.AswassooftenthecaseatMicrosoft,therewereotherexperimentselsewhere

inthecompanyaimedatthesameproblem,leadingtointernalcompetitionandeven fiefdoms. Since 2008,RayOzzie had been incubating a highly secretivecloudinfrastructureproductwiththecodenameRedDog.AlongtimeMicrosoftreporter,MaryJoFoley,cameacrossajobadvertisementforaRedDogengineerandwrote a piece speculating that this projectmust beMicrosoft’s answer toAmazon’sAWS.At some point during my time at Bing, I met with the Red Dog team to

explorehowwemightworktogether.IquicklyrealizedthatMicrosoft’sstoriedserverandtoolsbusiness(STB),whereproductslikeWindowsServerandSQLServerhadbeeninventedandbuiltandwhereRedDogwashoused,wasworldsapart from Bing. STB was Microsoft’s third largest group by revenue afterOfficeandWindows.Theywerethedeepdistributedsystemsexperts.ButwhenI contrasted STB with Bing a few things were apparent. They lacked thefeedbackloopthatcomesfromrunninganat-scalecloudservice.Irealizedthattheywere caught up in the localmaxima of servicing their existing customer

baseandwerenotlearningfastenoughaboutthenewworldofcloudservices.AndtheRedDogteamwasasideeffortthatwasignoredbythemainstreamoftheSTBleadershipandorganization.In late 2010, Ray Ozzie announced in a long internal memo that he was

leavingMicrosoft.Hewroteinhisdepartureemail,“Theoneirrefutabletruthisthat in any large organization, any transformation that is to ‘stick’must comefrom within.” While Red Dog was still in incubation and had booked littlerevenue,hewascorrect that the transformationofMicrosoftwouldcomefromwithin.Stevehadalreadyproclaimedthatthecompanywasall-inonthecloud,havinginvested$8.7billioninresearchanddevelopment,muchofitfocusedoncloud technologies.But even though engineerswereworking on cloud-relatedtechnologies,aclearvisionofaMicrosoftcloudplatformhadnotyetsurfaced—tosaynothingofareal-worldrevenuestream.Rightaroundthattime,SteveaskedthatIleadSTB,whichtodayhasevolved

intoMicrosoft’scloudandenterprisebusiness.IwasgiventhisnewsofmynewrolenotevenaweekbeforeIgot thejob.Stevehadasensethatweneededtomove faster to the cloud. He had personally and aggressively driven thetransformationofourOfficebusiness tothecloud.Hewantedus tobeequallyboldwhenitcametocloudinfrastructure.WhenItookoverourfledglingcloudbusiness in January2011, analysts estimated that cloud revenueswere alreadymulti-billionsofdollarswithAmazonintheleadandMicrosoftnowheretobeseen. Meanwhile, revenues from our cloud services could be counted in themillions,notthebillions.AlthoughAmazondidnotreportitsAWSrevenuesinthosedays,theyweretheclearleader,buildingahugebusinesswithoutanyrealchallengefromMicrosoft.InhisannuallettertoshareholdersinApril2011,justas Iwasbeginningmynew role,AmazonCEOJeffBezosgleefully offered ashortcourseonthecomputerscienceandeconomicsunderlyingtheirburgeoningcloudenterprise.HewroteaboutBayesianestimators,machinelearning,patternrecognition, and probabilistic decision making. “The advances in datamanagement developed byAmazon engineers have been the starting point forthe architectures underneath the cloud storage and data management servicesoffered by AmazonWeb Services (AWS),” he wrote. Amazon was leading arevolutionandwehadnotevenmusteredourtroops.YearsearlierIhadleftSunMicrosystems to helpMicrosoft capture the lead in the enterprisemarket, andherewewereonceagainfarbehind.Asacompany,we’dbeenverypubliclymissingthemobilerevolution,butwe

werenotabouttomissthecloud.IwouldmissworkingwithcolleaguesatBing,butIwasexcitedtoleadwhatIsensedwouldbethebiggest transformationofMicrosoft in a generation—our journey to the cloud. I had spent three years,

from 2008 to 2011, learning the cloud—pressure-testing its infrastructure,operations,andeconomics—butasauser,notasaproviderof thecloud.Thatexperiencewouldenablemetoexecutewithspeedinmynewrole.Butitwouldn’tbeeasy.Theserverandtoolsbusinesswasat thepeakofits

commercial success and yet it was missing the future. The organization wasdeeply divided over the importance of the cloud business.Therewas constanttensionbetweendivergingforces.Ontheonehand,thedivision’sleaderswouldsay,“Yes,thereisthiscloudthing,”and“Yes,weshouldincubateit,”but,ontheotherhand,theywouldquicklyshifttowarning,“Remember,we’vegottofocusonourserverbusiness.”TheserversthathadmadeSTBaforcewithinMicrosoftand the industry, namelyWindowsServer andSQLServer,were nowholdingthemback,discouragingthemfrominnovatingandgrowingwiththetimes.ShortlyafterItookover,thecompanyissuedthisstatement:“Nadellaandhis

teamaretaskedwithleadingMicrosoft’senterprisetransformationintothecloudand providing the technology roadmap and vision for the future of businesscomputing.”Stevehadsaidthetransformationwouldnothappenovernight,butwewererunningoutoftime.Ihadaverygood ideaaboutwhereweneeded togo,but I realized thatmy

realtaskwastomotivatetheprideanddesireintheSTBleaderstogotherewithme.Sure,Ihadapointofview,butIalsorecognizedthiswasateamthatcareddeeply about enterprises, those customers with exacting and sophisticatedcomputingneeds.IwantedtobuildontheirinstitutionalknowledgeandsoIsetoutfirsttolearnfromtheteamIwastolead,and,hopefully,toearntheteam’srespect.Onlythencouldwegoboldlytogethertoanewandbetterplace.Leadershipmeansmaking choices and then rallying the team around those

choices.One thing I had learned frommydad’s experience as a senior Indiangovernmentofficialwasthatfewtasksaremoredifficultthanbuildingalastinginstitution.The choiceof leading through consensusversus fiat is a false one.Anyinstitution-buildingcomesfromhavingaclearvisionandculturethatworkstomotivateprogressbothtop-downandbottom-up.In business school I had read Young Men and Fire, a book by Norman

Maclean(bestknownforARiverRunsThroughIt).Ittellsthestoryofatragicforestfirethatkilledthirteen“smokejumpers”(parachutingfirefighters)in1949andtheinvestigationthatfollowed.WhatIrememberedwasthelessonthatwentunheeded: the urgent need to build shared context, trust, and credibility withyourteam.Theleadfirefighter,whoultimatelyescapedtheblaze,knewthathehad to build a small fire in order to escape the bigger fire.But no onewouldfollowhim.Hehad the skills togethismenoutofharm’sway,buthehadn’tbuilt thesharedcontextneededtomakehisleadershipeffective.Histeampaid

theultimateprice.Iwasdeterminednottomakethesamemistake.Like that lead firefighter, I had to convince my team to adapt a

counterintuitive strategy—toshift focus from thebig serverand toolsbusinessthatpaideveryone’ssalarytothetinycloudbusinesswithalmostnorevenue.Towintheirsupport,Ineededtobuildsharedcontext.Idecidednottobringmyoldteam fromBingwithme. Itwas important that the transformation come fromwithin,fromthecore.It’stheonlywaytomakechangesustainable.The team I inherited was more like a group of individuals. The poet John

Donnewrote,“Nomanisanisland,”buthe’dfeelotherwisehadhejoinedourmeetings. Each leader in the groupwas, in essence, CEO of a self-sustainingbusiness.Each livedandoperated in a silo, andmosthadbeendoing so for avery long time. My portfolio had no center of gravity, and to make mattersworse,manythoughttheyshouldhavegottenmyjob.Theirattitudewasoneoffrustration—theyweremakingall thismoneyandnowthislittlesqueakythingcalledthecloudcamealongandtheydidn’twanttobotherwithit.Tobreakoutofthisimpasse,ImetwitheveryoneontheSTBleadershipteam

individually,takingtheirpulse,askingquestionsandlistening.Togetherwehadto see that our North Star would be a cloud-first strategy. Our products andtechnologies would optimize for the cloud, not just for private servers thatresidedonanorganization’sownpremises.Thoughwewouldbecloud-first,ourserver strengthwould enable us to differentiate ourselves as the company thatdelivered a hybrid solution to customerswhowantedbothprivate, on-premiseserversandaccesstothepubliccloud.This new framework helped reshape the argument, breaking down the

resistance to going all-in on the cloud. I began to notice a new openness toinnovationandasearchforcreativewaystomeettheneedsofourcommercialcustomers.Unfortunately, Red Dog, which had become Windows Azure, was still

struggling. They were trying to leapfrog with a new approach to cloudcomputing, but the market was clearly giving them feedback that they firstneeded to meet their current needs. Mark Russinovich, who was an earlymemberof theRedDog teamand thecurrentCTOofAzure,hadaclear roadmapinmindtoevolveAzure.Weneededtoinfusemoreresourcesintotheteamtoexecuteonthatroadmap.ItwastimetomoveAzureintothemainstreamofSTBratherthanhaveitbea

side project. People, the human element of any enterprise, are ultimately thegreatestasset,andsoIsetaboutassembling theright team,startingwithScottGuthrie,averyaccomplishedMicrosoftengineer.Hehadspearheadedanumber

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