Satya Nadella announces 'Skype Lite'; applauds India for phenomenal entrepreneurial energy

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the integration of Skype and Aadhaar to launch the 'Skype Lite' for low speed mobile internet connections, which will be supported by Aadhaar and will enable technology that can empower people and organisations.

At a keynote address on day two of Future Decoded event, Nadella said that one can chat with 'Aadhaar Verified' users on both the regular Skype app and the new Skype Lite app while interacting for job interviews, government services and other services.

"Your next Skype Job interview might need Aadhaar verification. You can soon enter your Aadhaar number over Skype to verify yourself for an interview. The service can be extended for government services as well," said Nadella.

"The Aadhaar data will be deleted automatically from the device once the "Aadhaar Verified" Skype chat is over," he added.

Talking about the phenomenal entrepreneurial energy in India, which is transforming very rapidly, Nadella said, "It is phenomenal and exciting to see State Bank of India wanting to move to hybrid cloud infrastructure."

He added that the finance sector is also undergoing digital transformation which is why the State Bank of India (SBI) has opted for the cloud, and will be adopting Office 365.

He also applauded the efforts of Andhra Pradesh, CM N. Chandrababu Naidu who has taken bold decisions to make the state a first cloud state.

"They will use cloud services to help service citizens of the state," added Nadella.

Giving example of automobile industry and how some of these firms are relying on the Microsoft Cloud to change their business, he applauded Tata Motors who will be joining Microsoft on the cloud.

"They will build the ability to collect data, rendezvous with the Cloud, reshape the maintenance, warranty and more importantly the experience of the driver," he said.

"I had a chance to meet an entrepreneur who is reshaping healthcare. This entrepreneur is using data to reshape diagnostic capabilities. The fact that diabetes can be monitored in a more effective manner can reshape healthcare," he added.

However, on Tuesday, Nadella and Flipkart announced their partnership on the cloud as Flipkart will be exclusively using Microsoft Azure as its public cloud.

Nadella also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, assuring the government of its initiatives in healthcare and education. Nadella also participated in a round table at NITI Aayog, tapping into cloud computing for good governance in the country.