Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talks up UK's vibrant tech scene

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella used his keynote speech at the software giant's Future Decoded conference to champion the UK's vibrant tech scene, before outlining the key ingredients firms need for successful tech innovation.

During his time on stage, he said concept, capability and culture are all needed to drive innovation in a company.

He said: "I think about three concentric circles to click into gear for innovation. First, new concepts because you can't be devoted to concepts from the past. New capabilities are called for that you as an organisation has both in the cloud and in silicon.

"Most importantly, you need a culture to support the capability and concepts. It's perhaps what any organisation needs to be able to do to reinvent themselves. You can't stop because if you do, that's when you get in trouble."

Nadella also spoke about the strength of the UK market in his keynote.

"We always used to say if you launched in the UK and succeed, you'll survive in other places. It's a market which is very advanced in cloud adoption. It's amazing to see the rapid adoption. It's been a big part of what it is to be successful."

He explained the merging of mobile and cloud is essential in everyday life and it's important developers, businesses and consumers realise this.

"One of the metaphors I've been using is this a mobile first, not first world. It's not the ability of the device, but of the individual experience. We get up in the morning, reach out to our smartphone, walk through our house.

"There are more sensors than devices, capable of running everything. It's the richness of that compute fabric and the way you control that is through the cloud."

Nadella said we need to build these digital world and life experiences because they start with users and then transcend into work and productivity.

"It's fair to say that productivity as a single world doesn't have that emotional appeal, if you look behind what it is that one does, it's the empowerment that one needs to have because of the software tools.

"That's the ultimate goal. It's about empowering very individual in every organisation to do more and achieve more. Having fulfillment in life and at an organisational level," he said.

Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.