Crowd, coders, and school trip mark Microsoft CEO Nadella's homecoming

The Microsoft chief mixes product showcases with a personal trip to his old school

When Microsoft Chairman Satya Nadella walked into the hall of the Sheraton Grand at Whitefield in Bengaluru on Thursday afternoon, he got a rockstar’s welcome. The hall erupted in applause, and phones flashed. It was a coders’ fiesta. The room remained lively till Nadella held the mic, occasionally bursting into applause and going silent again to listen to the coding giant. 

“Several times during his address, the crowd broke into applause. For example, when he showed the Agent HQ highlighting full-stack AI (artificial intelligence) agents coordinating workflows end-to-end, all developers present broke into applause, which underscores the influence he has in India, especially among coders and developers,” a person who attended the Bengaluru event said. 

Nadella’s choice of outfit in India’s Silicon Valley was also suited for the city and crowd he was addressing. In New Delhi, where he met senior government officials as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Cabinet ministers, Nadella had donned a crisply ironed suit and tie. In Bengaluru, the suit and tie gave way to a half-sleeve shirt with a black half-sleeve jacket thrown over it casually. 

At the Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, his speaking podium had just one laptop, which he used to showcase some of the latest tools and services Microsoft was working on. 

Though Nadella had some quips about how he used various LLMs to select the best Indian men’s test cricket team, most of his remarks focused on new features and products and on how AI could have a profound impact on ordinary citizens.

In contrast, the Bengaluru Sheraton stage had two laptops and a desktop placed for good measure, mimicking the set-up most serious software developers have in their homes and offices. 

This India journey, however, is not all business for Nadella. 

The India-born and raised CEO of one of the world’s largest and most influential technology companies chose to start his India visit with a trip to his primary school, Convent of Jesus & Mary Waverley in Mussoorie on Monday. Accompanying him were his wife, Anupama Nadella, and his two daughters, Tara and Divya. 

As he heads to Mumbai, where his third address of the India tour is scheduled on Friday, Nadella is expected to announce another set of exciting products and services that Microsoft has been working on. 

Most of the details of this visit, however, were kept extremely private and confidential, according to people in the know. 

“Satya (Nadella) wanted to show one of his earliest alma mater to his daughters. He also did some shopping in Mussoorie,” a person aware of his trip said. 

As he heads to Mumbai, where his third address of the India tour is scheduled on Friday, Nadella is expected to announce another set of exciting products and services that Microsoft has been working on.