Microsoft’s Satya Nadella is on top of the AI race but he’s leading as if he’s an underdog

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has notched some major wins over the past few years. 

Since he took over the tech giant 10 years ago, the company’s share price has risen 11-fold, and its top line has skyrocketed. Perhaps most importantly, he successfully positioned Microsoft for an early head start in the AI race. 

But Nadella isn’t resting on his laurels. In fact, he’s acting as if it could all be taken away tomorrow. And the idea of missing the next big thing in tech, whatever that may be, is what’s keeping Nadella up at night. 

“When the paradigm shifts, do you have something to contribute?” he asks Fortune’s Jeremy Khan in a new feature. “Because there is no God-given right to exist if you don’t have anything relevant.” 

To avoid such a fate, says Nadella, requires a company with “a culture that allows you to build capability long before it is conventional wisdom that you need that, to come up with new concepts.” 

For Nadella, that often means innovating through acquisitions, partnerships, or hiring. The company has previously acquired LinkedIn, Activision Blizzard, and GitHub. And when it comes to AI, its biggest splash came from a major investment in OpenAI—but it isn’t stopping there. The company recently invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi–based AI company G42, and $16 million in French AI company Mistral. Nadella is also particularly interested in new hires at Microsoft coming from other tech companies. 

“The only way to keep yourself honest is to bring senior talent that comes from the outside and keeps you intellectually grounded,” he says. 

It’s go-time for Nadella, and that’s reflected in Microsoft's burn rate. Capital expenditures for Microsoft in the first quarter of this year were 79% higher compared to last year, and the company expects that spending to keep rising through 2025 at least. 

“Stay humble, stay hungry, and exhibit a growth mindset,” says Nadella. 

Leadership Tip of the Week 💡

Fake it ‘til you make it, but also remember that it’s okay to admit when you don’t know something. That’s according to Brian Fenty, the CEO of theater ticketing platform TodayTix. After taking over the company at just 31 years old, he preaches the value of asking for help, and filling in your skills gaps so that you can excel.

Leadership Next

Lead Bank cofounder and CEO Jacqueline Reses bet $52 million and acquired the 95-year-old Kansas City-based bank in 2022.

None of Jackie Reses’s fintech contemporaries were surprised that she bought a bank. A former Square executive, Reses bought Lead Bank to address compliance and technology challenges facing fintechs.

On this episode of #LeadershipNext, Reses discusses how she’s turning a 95-year-old family-owned banking institution into an innovative provider of banking infrastructure for fintechs; the importance of consistent culture across NYC and Kansas City headquarters; the spirit of entrepreneurialism in her family; her experience at Square; and what she learned from Jack Dorsey.

Listen to the episode and subscribe to Leadership Next wherever you listen to podcasts, or read the full transcript here.

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