Got to GCP a few months before the Google layoffs, after many years at Microsoft. Technically, GCP is great, but Microsoft could have done better with Azure. Some of the initiatives that I think are right at Microsoft have been there for a while and have nothing to do with Satya. The focus on diversity, for example, started long ago with the previous HR VP Lisa Brummel (self-interest, but that is another issue). Let's remember that Satya believes women should wait for Karma to fix their compensation! Azure started years before he became the CEO. Focus on AI came from Microsoft Research and stalled for years, thrown left and right (it was under James Phillips for a while, believe it or not!) 1) Career and compensation: Microsoft is now officially almost a communist party. You raise your wage not because you work smart and deliver results but by how much your manager likes you. A simple change of manager can completely derail your career, far worse than in other companies. Some clueless new hires at absurd levels are literally the reason I left after taking 15+ years to get to Partner, which was someone supposed to run the company, and some new hires cannot run their Outlook account. 2) Inclusion: Yes, Microsoft has far more diversity than other companies I worked for. Inclusion is an entirely different story. There are cliques of ethnic groups all over the place. Want to work and go up in [tech area]? Then you better be from [ethnic group]. Those who have been there know what I'm talking about. 3) Mobile. Google can give Microsoft 2-3 years of a head start in the AI race. It won't matter. The day Google decides to open the floodgates with AI in Android, a single day of data capture will eclipse the 3 years of data that Microsoft could capture from Bing. Satya killed the Nokia acquisition that cost just $7 billion, which is less than what Microsoft used in any stock buyback. He didn't want that additional credit to Ballmer in the Microsoft future. He preferred to hit refresh and reload the same old page: the company doubling-down on what it already had (Windows and Office) and merging that into a new M365 product that nobody knows how to sell. Go Satya, the Midas in reverse! TC: Doesn't matter. YoE: 20+.
I only say all this is right if the world is free of the curse of using office product suite
Did Satya hurt you at MSFt?😢
No fanboy, I was luck and got around him. I just saw he and his minions hurt many careers, and left in disgust.
Satya didn’t kill the Nokia acquisition. Decisions were made before he became CEO.
Satya here. Keeping MSFT relevant among such fierce competition is my biggest achievement. OpenAI investment is going to be a game changer. Anyway, go me!
Msft legal here. Can we sue her for defamation ?
100%. OpenAI has built a custom AI model for me specially for internal use. Based on the writing style of the post, it has given me a name. Ka... I mean OP will get notified later today.
Execution is more important than anything, you have to hire right people and maintain culture. Where to focus can be decided by every tom and dick. Just like this post. Look at IBM, they are into AI long before but where are the results?
Huge fan of the premise that Google is holding back on using its full capabilities. It reminds me of the guy in old Kung Fu movies that everyone thought could fight and he always told them that his style was so deadly and people believed him until someone actually challenged him and he ran. Anyone capable of doing anything especially in times of stress would show what they could do. Google is paralyzed by culture and a hodge piece of poorly marketed products in my opinion. They will continue to be unless they change their approach and leadership.
Ok Google
OP, regarding the "new hires at absurd levels" comment. Were the new hires hired at the partner level?
Some. Because of the TC, there are some partners at Microsoft that would never be a L6 elsewhere. It is a shame. Some of them lie a lot in interviews about their responsibility in previous companies, and had titles like "Leader of []" or "Head of []" that don't exist. Someone was hired from Google as a partner-level Architect, claiming to have participated in the Borg design at Google. Obviously, that was a lie, the person had little experience, and was learning Kubernetes online in the meantime. Literally, a bunch of blind people at upper levels are hiring friends and good interviewers from the outside.
It's not surprising that external hires don't do well at these high levels at MS. They are probably not aware of the cutthroat culture and politics. When I was at MS many years ago they hired a guy at the partner level. His title was Product Unit Manager and he had about 150 people under him. He was an arrogant little shit. He messed up a major product release and was quickly demoted to IC. Ouch!
The writer of this post sounds butt hurt
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Great review and I agree. MSFT pays Forbes a lot to be their pseudo marketing arm. Lots of hype for Satya, but business as usual in Redmond