PeopleofSuperintelligence

Public voice

Satya Nadella

Satya Nadella is Microsoft’s chairman and chief executive officer, and his AI work spans Azure infrastructure, search and Copilot. Originally from Hyderabad, he studied engineering and computer science before joining Microsoft in 1992. He became CEO in 2014, described Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership as an Azure AI effort in 2019, and became board chair in 2021. India awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 2022; he introduced AI-powered Bing and Edge in 2023 and coauthored an AI startup policy agenda in 2024. He received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in October 2026.

Now at
Microsoft
Photo of Satya Nadella

Timeline

  1. 1992

    Joining Microsoft

    Originally from Hyderabad, he earns degrees in electrical engineering at Mangalore University and computer science at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee before joining Microsoft in 1992.

  2. 2014–2021

    CEO and board chair

    Microsoft names him chief executive in 2014 after he leads the Cloud and Enterprise group. In 2019, he describes Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership as a way to combine OpenAI’s technology with Azure AI supercomputing. The board elects him chair in 2021.

  3. 2022

    A Padma Bhushan

    He receives India’s Padma Bhushan in 2022 and accepts it from India’s consul general in San Francisco.

  4. February 2023

    Launching AI-powered Bing

    He introduces Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing and Edge preview in February 2023, including a new chat experience, and says AI will change software starting with search.

  5. November 2024

    An AI startup policy

    In November 2024, he coauthors “AI for Startups,” calling for public policy that lets startups build new AI tools and businesses.

  6. October 2026

    A National Medal

    He receives the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in October 2026 for his leadership of Microsoft and construction of hyperscale infrastructure that enables AI training and deployment.

  7. As of October 2026

    Chairman and CEO

    At the December 2025 shareholder meeting and in March 2026, he serves as Microsoft’s chairman and CEO. In March 2026, he outlines changes to Copilot and Microsoft’s superintelligence effort. As of October 2026, he remains Microsoft’s chairman and CEO.

Sources and credits

Photo: Brian Smale and Microsoft, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Satya Nadella - Source news.microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Introducing Microsoft’s new CEO: Satya Nadella blogs.microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. OpenAI forms exclusive computing partnership with Microsoft to build new Azure AI supercomputing technologies - Source news.microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Microsoft board of directors announces role changes and quarterly dividend - Source news.microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. The Chairman and CEO of Microsoft Mr Satya Nadella was conferred ‘Padma Bhushan’ Award by the Governement of India this year cgisf.gov.in. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Reinventing search with a new AI-powered Microsoft Bing and Edge, your copilot for the web - The Official Microsoft Blog blogs.microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. AI for Startups | Andreessen Horowitz a16z.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  8. President Trump Presents National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology and Innovation – The White House whitehouse.gov. Checked 14 October 2026.
  9. 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  10. Announcing Copilot leadership update - The Official Microsoft Blog blogs.microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.