Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella isn't just celebrating the company's 50th birthday—he's laying the groundwork for its next 50 years. And it starts with artificial intelligence taking center stage. Nadella believes the company is about to launch something as revolutionary as Excel or PowerPoint once were: its AI assistant, Copilot.
Nadella recently sat down with GeekWire to reflect on the company’s evolution. He traced Microsoft's DNA back to 1975, when Bill Gates and Paul Allen created a BASIC interpreter for the Altair.
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That early project wasn't just about code—it was about giving people tools to build more technology. Nadella said, "Technologies will come and go, but the idea is that this company can stay relevant by producing technology so that more and more people around the world can create more digital technology that’s pervasive in our society."
With Copilot, Microsoft has gone all in on generative AI. First introduced in GitHub Copilot, the tool helped developers write code more efficiently. But now it's integrated across Microsoft 365—from Word and Excel to Outlook and PowerPoint—serving as a digital teammate for everyday users.
At the core of Nadella's vision, he told GeekWire, is a bold new concept: a new type of inbox designed not for email but for managing the work of fleets of AI assistants.
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Think AI researchers gathering data, AI coders updating software, and AI analysts prepping meeting notes—each acting independently or in coordination, while humans simply direct traffic. Nadella thinks it's as big of a shift as when Excel first replaced calculators.
Nadella told GeekWire about a recent personal use case. Before three customer meetings, he had Microsoft 365's Copilot researcher agent pull together everything he needed—internal documents, CRM insights, external articles—into complete briefing docs.
"These are the products I use all the time with high intensity, so, yeah, I think we're beginning to see value,” he said. The speed and depth were comparable to work done by a full analyst team.
Microsoft's aggressive expansion in AI is backed by serious money. Microsoft announced in early January it expects to spend $80 billion on AI infrastructure this fiscal year. That includes massive investments in computing power to support tools like Copilot and Azure OpenAI services.
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Much of Microsoft's AI firepower comes from its partnership with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Later in January, Microsoft reinterated, Microsoft reiterated that the partnership's key elements remain in place for the duration of their contract through 2030, with their access to OpenAI's IP, Microsoft's revenue sharing arrangements, and their exclusivity on OpenAI's APIs all continuing forward.
According to Tech Startups, Microsoft has poured over $13 billion into OpenAI since 2019, making it a cornerstone of its strategy. But the partnership hasn't been without complications. Former CEO Steve Ballmer told GeekWire, "What Satya did with OpenAI, I think was brilliant — and I think it's fraught with peril, but I know they know that. It's sort of a juggling act."
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This article Satya Nadella Says AI Needs A 'New Type Of Inbox'—And Believes Microsoft's Copilot Will Be As Big As Excel And PowerPoint originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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