A fan of Virat and Rohit, Satya Nadella reveals his love for test cricket

He is scheduled to deliver the keynote address tomorrow at the first edition of the 'India Today Conclave Next 2017'

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Monday visited the company's India Development Centre here and interacted with employees.

"He interacted with employees and talked about his book Hit Refresh. He also spoke about his journey at the company — from the time he joined to becoming its CEO," company sources said.

Earlier in the day,  Nadella, walked in as the Guest Editor for TOI's Tuesday print edition and spoke his passions: Technology and cricket. He revealed his cricketing hero is none other than the great M L Jaisimha.

Here are the highlights of his interaction at TOI.

1. Nadella would pick Test cricket over IPL any day. He thinks Virat Kohli is 'very special, is amazed by Ashwin's bowling and loves watching Rohit Sharma play.

2. Teamwork over cross functional skills: Nadella believes companies need to emphasise on teamwork - a culture where people from diverse backgrounds can come together to do great work

3. I'm a believer in democracy," he said.

4. IT is helping transform the lives of the differently-abled: "As a tech person, I know how computing can play a huge role in improving lives. We have some really interesting features in Windows 10. There's Eye Control, which empowers people with disabilities to operate an onscreen mouse, keyboard, and text-to-speech experience using only their eyes. We worked closely with former NFL (National Football League) player Steve Gleason, who has ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neuromuscular disease) to develop this. Then there's Seeing AI, a camera app. You can hold up your phone and hear information about the world around you, turning the visual world into an audible experience. And then there's Learning Tools, which dramatically improves the reading and writing experience for dyslexic students," said Nadella.

5. Demonetisation: Nadella thinks digitisation could be used to reduce transaction costs in the economy but cautioned that a lot depends on implementation

Nadella, who arrived in Mumbai on Sunday night, left for New Delhi on Tuesday afternoon after his interaction which took place earlier in the day.

He is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the first edition of the 'India Today Conclave Next 2017', sources added.

Earlier, a Microsoft spokesperson said Nadella is on a two-day trip to India - on November 6 and 7 - which is focused on the book.

"His (Nadella) engagements include meetings with customers and industry leaders across sectors, the Union government and employees," the spokesperson said.

The company has also lined up a public event on the book with a diverse audience comprising students, academia, startups and community influencers.

Hyderabad-born Nadella, who took over as Microsoft CEO in February 2014, has chronicled his personal journey, the ongoing transformation at the Redmond, Washington-based software giant and the wave of technological changes in his book 'Hit Refresh' that was launched in September.

The book carries a foreword by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. It will also be available in three Indian languages Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil later this month.

All proceeds from the book will go to Microsoft Philanthropies.