14 DAY TRIAL // Satya Nadella took the stage for the first time as Microsoft CEO on Thursday when it introduced Office for iPad, speaking about the company’s future in the cloud industry, while also teasing the Windows 8.1 Update next week.
Speaking with several analysts after the Thursday product unveiling, ComputerWorld reports that Nadella’s first public appearance as Microsoft CEO impressed quite a lot of people who said that the company’s new leader look very confident on the stage and actually outlined a smart strategy for the Redmond-based software empire.
“He was very confident, obviously a whole different character than Ballmer. Much calmer,” Carolina Milanesi, strategic insight director of Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, was quoted as saying by the source. “Both he and Julie White [a general manager for the Office technical marketing team] spoke very quickly, as if they had a sense of urgency, which they should have.”
Nadella took the stage with a much clearer agenda, sending a clear message that he wants to provide us with more information on Microsoft’s future plans as far as the cloud business is concerned. Of course, Nadella put the emphasis on the company’s “going forward strategy,” explaining that “serving customers better is now a priority.”
“Today marks that beginning of exploration for us. Our customers want to know where we are going, what is our innovation agenda, and our team is really ready for it. We want to talk about one aspect of our strategy going forward,” he said. “It’s this coming together that we refer to as a cloud for everyone and every device. And today's briefing is all about giving you what is I would say the first step on a journey of making this a great innovation vector for all of Microsoft.”
Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer at the helm of the company in February, after a CEO search that took around six months and involved several key figures in the industry, including former Nokia boss Stephen Elop and Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally.
Nadella was eventually picked as the next Microsoft CEO and as part of his mission to ensure long-term profitability, he’ll work together with Bill Gates on new products. Gates has agreed to return to Microsoft as technical advisor, noting that Satya Nadella himself asked him to do this as part of this new role within the company, as he’ll also continue the One Microsoft transformation plan started by Ballmer in mid-2013.