Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praises UK startups and digital infrastructures

'We've always said things should launch first in the UK and succeed there' says technology chief

Satya Nadella has praised the UK IT industry in a speech to Microsoft's Future Decoded event at London's ExCel conference centre.

Answering questions put to him by Microsoft chief envisioning officer Dave Coplin, Nadella said: "I've always felt that coming to the UK is an amazing experience. At Microsoft we've always said things that launch first in the UK will succeed anywhere.

"It's amazing to see the rapid growth when it comes to the cloud, and the growth of the [UK] digital industry.

"Startups are the lifeblood of any economy, and the barriers to entry have significantly come down," he said.

While the CEO was clearly using the opportunity to namedrop such Microsoft UK endeavours as the London Accelerator startup programme and Microsoft's research labs in Cambridge, he also spoke in an apparently candid - not to mention humble - way about the company itself, and how it continues to grow and change.

"There are concentric circles that need to click into gear, for any organisation to thrive," said Nadella.

"Concepts - you have to have new concepts - you can't just have concepts rooted in the past," he said.

"And that needs to be complemented with new capability, that you as an organisation has. For example, we now have capabilities in the cloud and silicon which really allow us to do the kinds of things we do.

"A capability culture is what any organisation needs in order to reinvent itself. But you can't at any time stop, which is when you get into trouble."

Whether or not Nadella was referring to previous Microsoft flops such as Windows Vista, or even to Windows 8, which even the company's own VP of operating systems admitted recently to Computing had its flaws, is open to interpretation.

But Nadella was determined to continue banging the "cloud first, mobile first" drum, and did it with aplomb.

"Take something like Azure or Office 365," said Nadella. "We realise customers aren't just looking for new technology, but technology that can be transformative to their business.

"The only way you can orchestrate the ability of your applications and your data is through the cloud," he continued.

"That way, you can have the ability and experience across all of the devices, but also that those devices need to be defined themselves.

This mixture of cloud and robust mobile devices - this "juxtaposition", as he called it - is "where the world is going".

"Microsoft's identity in this space is two-fold," explained Nadella.

"The first is about delivering live experiences. The other aspect is how we approach our work, in order to make opportunity and productivity.

"We harmonise the interests of users, IT and developers, and that is the core of the platform strategy - the core of the platform approach; building out our platform to create opportunity everywhere."

Nadella stated that "technology exists for one reason - it is to help human potential".

These words may have helped explain the message of earlier speakers of the morning, in particular journalist Jeremy Paxman.

Paxman seemed a particularly brave choice for Microsoft as a keynoter and - apart from referring to Apple's iconic "Think Different" advert as a "display of utter bollocks" - seemed also to fall rather short of delivering content that could be described as pro-Microsoft or even pro-technology.

But with Microsoft's cloud revenue surging ahead in last month's financial results, it seems Nadella's vision is starting to bear fruit.

After the keynote, Computing spoke to Mike Bugembe, chief analytics officer at web-based charity donation platform, JustGiving.

"I love the way that Nadella describes the world as a software-orientated world," said Bugembe.

"But we've got to be able to do something with technology that's more impactful than making money, so why not help these causes? Children who need computers in their schools, or who need solutions to get access to clean water? This is where we should really enable people and innovation."

Stay tuned to Computing for a full case study interview with Bugembe and JustGiving in the near future.