In an interview on Bloomberg Television, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates praised the work of CEO Satya Nadella. Gates said he is still happy with the decision Microsoft made to pick Nadella as the company’s head. Overwhelmed with recent work, Gates also advised the company to focus on its Office productivity suite.
Satya Nadella was appointed as Microsoft’s CEO in February earlier this year. The company has taken several radical changes since. Under Nadella’s leadership, the company saw its largest layoff in its history, letting 18,000 employees go. In addition, Satya Nadella also killed Nokia’s Android affair, and is now reportedly ditching Nokia’s brand name from its future handsets.
“I’m very happy with what he’s doing. I see a new sense of energy. There’s a lot of opportunity there, some things the company isn’t the leader on, and he sees that he needs to change that.” said Gates.
In February, at the sidelines of Nadella’s appointment as Microsoft’s next CEO, Gates left the Chairman position to become a technology advisor who would report to Nadella. “Of all the things Microsoft needs to do in terms of making people more productive in their work, helping them communicate in new ways, it’s a long list of opportunities Microsoft has to innovate. And taking Office and making it dramatically better would be really high on the list there. That’s the kind of thing I’m trying to help make sure they move fast on,” he added.
Since Nadella’s appointment, Microsoft launched its Office productivity suite for Apple’s iPad. Earlier this week, it launched Sway, a new tool in the Office suite. The company is now reportedly working on the next version of Office, which is rumored to bring lots of new features including a Clippy-like assistant “Tell Me”. Microsoft is also working on the newer version of Office for Mac.
Further reading: Bill Gates, Microsoft, Satya Nadella
