My 15 years at Microsoft ??

微软 has been a major player in the tech industry for decades, and the last 15 years have been no exception. Through last 15 years, I have truly lived my dream job in a dream company. ?? As we are at the dawn of new shift powered by AI & Quantum, I wish to pause and reflect on some of the most significant moments I have enjoyed so far at Microsoft:

• The Rise of Cloud Computing: We made a significant investment in cloud computing with Azure - once visioned to be the world's computer. From classic model/portal to ARM templates, there have been thousands of transitions in this space which makes Azure a key driver of our revenue growth. Innovations in our datacenter are impressive as I learn from internal sessions that I had the privilege & time to attend.
• The Windows 10 Era: We released Windows 10 in 2015, marking a significant shift in its operating system strategy. Can't believe it is 2025 already and that Windows 10 will soon reach its end of support this year. Truly Windows 10 was a milestone to a modern operating system. It grew more popular than Windows XP IMO. It was designed like a service that is constantly updated with new features and security improvements. It has been a successful release for us with more than 1.5 billion active devices at one point in time.
• The Acquisition of LinkedIn: In 2016, we acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. This acquisition gave us access to LinkedIn's vast professional network, which is now integrated into Office 365 suite of productivity tools. Besides, our LinkedIn business saw massive expansion growths in almost all verticals - Learning, Marketing, Talent and Sales.
• The Rise of Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams is one of my favorites! A workplace chat and collaboration platform that has seen explosive growth in recent years. It is now used by millions of people around the world, and it is a key part of our strategy to provide a comprehensive suite of cloud-based productivity tools. Microsoft Teams has gone beyond a chat and collaboration tool, to act as a platform that integrates multiple workflows, shifts, approvals, mesh and more!
• The Xbox Series X/S: We released its latest generation of Xbox consoles, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, back in 2020. These consoles are powered by custom AMD processors and offer significant performance improvements over the previous generation. Further, our investments and focus in the adaptive controllers address the issue of accessibility in the gaming console industry. It is loved by all. The new Proteus Controller All-in-One Kit further takes it to the next level - it allows gamers to build their own way to play.
• The Focus on Artificial Intelligence: We made a significant investment in AI in recent years. We have developed a number of AI-powered products and services, including close partnership with our own Bing product team (for search), Copilot (for Microsoft 365 apps, Security, Sales and more) and then Azure AI platform which offers great set of options in LLM/SLM models catering to multiple use cases of the businesses.
• The Launch of Windows 11: We released Windows 11 in 2021, marking the first major update to Windows line of operating systems - six years after Windows 10. Windows 11 features a redesigned user interface, improved performance, and a number of new features, such as the ability to run Android apps.

For sure I did not touch all aspects of how amazing, insightful & energetic this journey has been - I was there when Windows Phone happened, I moved on and love the current lineup of Surface devices, VS Code is world's most light weight yet powerful IDE which every developer loves including me, our Defender line of products offering the best in Cybersecurity and beyond!

I must mention a few names who helped me in last 15 years and I request their amazing partnerships for my next 15! Thanks to the wonderful Sumesh P. , Ashish Sangave , Amit Chaudhry , Aamer Shedam , Palash Acharyya , Vinod Rawat , Pournima Bagalkot , Sanesh Vig , Rikki Singh , Krishnan Ayyer , Swapna Bapat , Suresh Jeyakumar , Kaushik Ainapure , Tajdar Salam , Raaj Nair , Satyajit Menon , Gunjan Kaur , Newson Ng , Anupam Tiwari , Balasubramanian Delli and many others.

Heartfelt gratitude to my family for continuous support and strength, and extended family Abhinav Zutshi , Harshdeep Singh , Ankur Bhat and few more (I could not locate on LinkedIn).