- Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft since Feb 201421
- Chairman of the Board, Microsoft since Jun 20212
- Member, Board of Trustees, University of Chicago since 201816
Satya Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992, led the company's shift to cloud infrastructure and services, and became chief executive officer in February 2014 and chairman in June 2021. Under Nadella, Microsoft formed a long-term partnership with OpenAI, introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot, and built AI offerings that span every layer of the technology stack. In 2026 Nadella received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for transformative leadership of a critical American technology company.12345
At a glance
- Current roles
- Chief Executive Officer +2 more
- Companies
- Microsoft, University of Chicago
- Honors
- 5
- Sources cited
- 15
- Profile reviewed
Accomplishments
- Led Microsoft's shift to cloud infrastructure and services as executive vice president of the Cloud and Enterprise group.1
- Became Microsoft's CEO in February 2014 and its chairman in June 2021.2
- Brought LinkedIn (2016) and GitHub (2018) into Microsoft, with GitHub remaining an open platform for developers.78
- Launched a partnership with OpenAI in 2019 to build new Azure AI supercomputing technologies, with an ambition to democratize AI.3
- Led Microsoft's launch of Microsoft 365 Copilot in 2023, bringing AI into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more.4
- Created Microsoft AI in 2024 to advance Copilot and Microsoft's consumer AI products and research.9
- Received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in October 2026.5
- Honored with the Padma Bhushan, an honorary Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.101112
Early life and education
Nadella was born in Hyderabad, India, and earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University. Nadella then came to the United States and earned a master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1990.6113
After graduating from UWM, Nadella joined the Chicago office of Sun Microsystems as a member of the technology staff, and later earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1997.1316
Rising through Microsoft
Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992 and held leadership roles across both enterprise and consumer businesses, including vice president of the Microsoft Business Division. From 2008 to 2009 Nadella served as senior vice president of Search, Portal, and Advertising, and from 2009 to 2011 led research and development for the Online Services Division.12
Nadella became president of Server and Tools in 2011 and, in July 2013, executive vice president of the Cloud and Enterprise group, where Nadella led Microsoft's shift to cloud infrastructure and services.21
Leading Microsoft
Nadella became Microsoft's chief executive officer on February 4, 2014, and was appointed chairman of the board in June 2021. Microsoft states its mission as "to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more."142
With Nadella as CEO, Microsoft completed its acquisition of LinkedIn in December 2016 and of GitHub in October 2018, with GitHub continuing to operate independently and to remain an open platform for developers.78
Bringing AI to everyone
In July 2019 Microsoft and OpenAI formed a partnership to build new Azure AI supercomputing technologies, with OpenAI running its services on Azure and Microsoft becoming its preferred partner for commercializing new AI technologies. Nadella said at the time that "AI is one of the most transformative technologies of our time" and that "our ambition is to democratize AI."32
In March 2023 Microsoft introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot, which Nadella called "the next major step in the evolution of how we interact with computing." A year later Nadella created Microsoft AI, a new organization focused on Copilot and consumer AI, and brought in DeepMind and Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to lead it. In March 2026 Nadella unified Microsoft's consumer and commercial Copilot work under a single Copilot Leadership Team while doubling down on Microsoft's superintelligence mission.4915
Microsoft today describes AI offerings that span every layer of the technology stack, from Azure AI Foundry, a unified platform for designing and managing AI applications and agents, to Microsoft Copilot. When the White House presented Nadella with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in October 2026, the citation recognized the construction of hyperscale infrastructure for training and deploying American superintelligence.25
Service and honors
Nadella serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago, an alma mater, after first being elected in 2018, and received the UWM Chancellor's Innovation Award in 2013. Nadella is also the author of the book Hit Refresh.6114
The Government of India conferred the Padma Bhushan on Nadella in 2022, Georgia Tech awarded Nadella an honorary Ph.D. in January 2024 for transformative leadership, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected Nadella a member in 2025.101112
Timeline
- Earned a master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.13
- Joined Microsoft.12
- Earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.6
- Became senior vice president of Search, Portal, and Advertising.2
- Became senior vice president of the Online Services Division.2
- Became president of Microsoft's Server and Tools business.2
- Became executive vice president of Cloud and Enterprise.2
- Became Microsoft's chief executive officer.142
- Microsoft completed its acquisition of LinkedIn.7
- Elected to the University of Chicago Board of Trustees.6
- Microsoft completed its acquisition of GitHub.8
- Microsoft and OpenAI announced a partnership to build new Azure AI supercomputing technologies.3
- Appointed chairman of Microsoft's board of directors.2
- Named a recipient of the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.10
- Microsoft introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot.4
- Received an honorary Ph.D. from Georgia Tech.11
- Announced the creation of Microsoft AI, led by Mustafa Suleyman.9
- Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.12
- Unified Microsoft's consumer and commercial Copilot work under one leadership team.15
- Received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at the White House.5
Other documented roles
Roles the sources document that are not confirmed as current.
- Executive Vice President, Cloud and Enterprise, Microsoft (2013 – 2014)21
- President, Server and Tools, Microsoft (2011 – 2013)2
- Senior Vice President, Online Services Division, Microsoft (2009 – 2011)21
- Senior Vice President, Search, Portal, and Advertising, Microsoft (2008 – 2009)2
- Vice President, Microsoft Business Division, Microsoft21
- Member of the technology staff, Sun Microsystems113
Honors and recognition
- National Medal of Technology and Innovation · President of the United States, 20265
- Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences · American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 202512
- Honorary Doctor of Philosophy · Georgia Institute of Technology, 202411
- Padma Bhushan (Trade and Industry) · Government of India, 202210
- UWM Chancellor's Innovation Award · University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 201314
Where they work
- Microsoft 75 people in the wiki
- University of Chicago 2 people in the wiki
Related people
- Weizhu ChenAlso at Microsoft
- Andreas C. MüllerAlso at Microsoft
- Ami VoraAlso at Microsoft
- Qingyun WuAlso at Microsoft
- Jyoti AnejaAlso at Microsoft
- Lauren TanBig SI
- Thibault SottiauxBig SI
- Daniela AmodeiBig SI
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References
15 sources · profile reviewed Oct 11, 2026 · data updated Oct 11, 2026
- Microsoft CEO: Satya Nadella
- Microsoft Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026
- OpenAI forms exclusive computing partnership with Microsoft to build new Azure AI supercomputing technologies
- Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot – your copilot for work
- President Trump Presents National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology and Innovation
- Microsoft CEO elected to University of Chicago Board of Trustees
- Microsoft completes acquisition of LinkedIn
- Microsoft completes GitHub acquisition
- Mustafa Suleyman, DeepMind and Inflection Co-founder, joins Microsoft to lead Copilot
- Padma Awards 2022 list of awardees
- Georgia Tech Presents Satya Nadella With Honorary Degree
- Satya Nadella
- UW-Milwaukee alum named Microsoft CEO
- UWM alum and Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella marks ten years since taking the lead at the world's largest company
- Announcing Copilot leadership update