Microsoft Build 2017: Satya Nadella insists on building trust in technology

Developers were urged to use technology for people's empowerment

Microsoft's India-born chief Satya Nadella on Wednesday attempted to allay concerns over the increasing use of technology in public life and said building trust was crucial to its utilisation as a tool to "empower" people.

Nadella, the chief executive officer of Microsoft, also urged software developers to use technology to bring in "more and more people" within the global technological network.

"Building trust in technology is crucial... Ensure that there is more trust in technology each day. We have to capture the essence of the timeless value," Nadella told the annual Microsoft developer's conference 'Build 2017' in Seattle.

His remarks gain significance amid concerns raised about the use of technology both in the United States and India. The two largest democracies lately have been facing questions on the use of technology in elections with allegations of misuse - hacking and tampering - of devices and Internet quite often.

With people fast moving towards greater use of electronic devices, Nadella however said the opportunity for developers have never been so great as 90 per cent of the data available today has been generated in the past two years.

But, he told the developers gathered in Seattle from around the world, that "with this enormous opportunity comes enormous responsibility."

"To me, the choice that we developers make have profound consequences," he said, adding that there could be "unintended consequences" of the use of technology sometimes.

He called upon developers to ensure that some of the more "disputant scenarios" do not come true.

"I believe we can make these practical design choice that help enshrine our timeless values. We should empower people with technology. Let's amplify their capabilities," he said.

Nadella urged developers to use technology for people's empowerment. "Let's use technology to bring more people to be able to use technology and participate in the society."

Nadella said the world is now moving from "a mobile first, cloud first to an intelligent cloud to an intelligent edge". The user-experience is going to span across all devices, he said as he announced that Microsoft's Windows has now reached 500 million Windows 10 monthly active devices.

He noted how - together - Windows, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Azure offer developers more than a billion opportunities to connect their innovations with customers.

Microsoft also announced new Azure data and cloud services to help developers quickly modernise their existing apps, new Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Azure services that allow any developer to more easily build intelligent apps, with understanding and natural user interaction capabilities, and showcased new data, IoT edge and AI services built for a future with an intelligent cloud and intelligent edge.

During the conference, Microsoft also highlighted its vision to amplify human ingenuity with intelligent technology, bringing AI to every developer through the unique combination of the Microsoft cloud and AI.