My 10-year anniversary at Microsoft: the story of a genetic transformation

Last week, was my 10-year anniversary at Microsoft. In December 2010, I knew it was the right timing to join Microsoft, as so many things were happening there.

First, in 2010, Microsoft was trying to be successful with Windows Phone. That success never happened. It was too late, iPhone and Android ecosystems were already too strong. Developers didn't buy the concept of a unified OS across all formats. Too bad. This proves that having the best product is not enough to win, good timing is always more crucial. I have been so disappointed when I had to move to Android, and today I'm still missing some of the very nice and advanced features of my Windows Phone.

Second, at that time, Microsoft was also trying to protect the declining PC market. All analysts were predicting the close end of the PC era. Well, Microsoft has been able to impose the idea of a modern Touch OS for PC, with Windows 10 and also with the Surface 1st-party range of devices. The PC market has not been killed by tablets, and I truly enjoy my Surface Pro every day. Moreover, all of this has been done while preserving the Windows OEM ecosystem with key partners like DELL, Lenovo, HP, Asus, Acer and many more. And that's truly incredible, if you think about it.

Last, still in 2010, Microsoft was preparing its major migration to the cloud business. Not only Office was moving from a pure desktop offer to a true subscription based model, but the Windows Server division totally reinvented itself by creating Azure from Windows and the existing Microsoft data center infrastructure. Believe me, Azure was really far from being what it is today. We suffered a lot to make it the robust, reliable, safe, complete and innovative platform all enterprise customers are now using every day. It proves, that even if you don't have the best technology at a given time, you can still become a leader if 1) you have a strong vision and 2) you learn from your mistakes.

In addition to this, when I joined in 2010, AI, Mixed Reality and Quantum Computing were barely unknown (not only at Microsoft, but globally in the industry). 10 years later, Microsoft is a leading provider in all 3 domains. Having studied AI at the Paris University back in the 80's, I'm so glad to see this promising technology being back on the scene again. We're still at the beginning of that journey, but the progress the industry has made in just 10 years really is impressive. I can also remember the day I have invited the CTO of one of our global partners visiting Redmond to disclose him the HoloLens technology. The technology was still extremely secret (even within Microsoft, very few people were aware of it). This CTO had a huge smile on his face, stars in his eyes and was asking for even more demos. This is one of those days, when you are genuinely proud to be part of such an innovating company like Microsoft.

But the most exciting part of my journey within Microsoft is to contribute to the fundamental business and cultural transformation that is happening since Satya Nadella became the 3rd CEO in the company's history. Satya brought the "Growth Mindset" culture to Microsoft, a mindset in which what you know is less important than what you'll learn. As a simple but significant example, we quickly moved from hating open source to fully embracing open source. It's not just a cultural or economical change, it's a complete rewrite of our DNA, this is pure genetic reprogramming.

When I joined Microsoft 10 year ago, the stock value was around $20. It is now >$200! It has been incredibly satisfying to humbly contribute to this transformation. I have no idea where Microsoft will be in 10 years, but I truly hope I'll be impressed again, as I am today.