The CEO of one of the biggest companies in the world doesn’t let a day go by without checking in on his network.
After getting to the gym and practicing some gratitude early in the day, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also makes a point to call two CEOs to ask them a couple of key questions, The Information reported.
The 57-year-old asks his staff to set up calls with important people, which range from executives like Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas to other prominent leaders like former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.
When he gets these important people on the phone (because who would ignore the leader of a $3 trillion company?), he likes to focus on two questions that help him expand his network even further.
First, he likes to ask, “What new startups are you excited about?” The question is essential since, under Nadella, Microsoft has not been afraid to put money into innovative ideas, as evidenced by the company’s $10 billion investment in ChatGPT creator OpenAI in 2023.
Apart from the OpenAI investment, Microsoft reportedly invested $95 million into humanoid-robotics startup Figure, which he was able to convince to move to Microsoft Azure for AI infrastructure and training, Reuters reported. The company’s venture arm put an additional $25 million into database tech startup Neon earlier this year.
These deals are a trademark of the way Nadella has run Microsoft since he ascended to the top job in 2014. While he came into the job at a time when the company was struggling, Nadella helped turn things around in part through his openness to partnerships and working with other companies when it’s beneficial.
“You have to be open-minded that at the end of the day, sometimes partnerships are the only way to get ahead,” Nadella said of the OpenAI partnership to the Stratechery newsletter in May.
Nadella’s second question has to do with expanding his personal network: “What new people have you met that would be good to know?”
This question keeps Nadella on the pulse of what is happening in his industry, and in areas that could be of interest.
The strategy may already have reaped some benefits: Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft has scored some of its biggest acquisitions and investments, among them, its 2016 purchase of LinkedIn for $26 billion, as well as its $7.5 billion purchase of GitHub in 2018.
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