At the Edge of the Future

“It’s exciting to see the early promise of what you’re building out with 5G. It’s just transformative. Once you start saying there’s low latency access to compute, it changes everything.” ~Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

If you hadn’t heard, we are in the early stages of our groundbreaking collaboration with Microsoft. We’re working together to weave Microsoft Azure cloud services into the strength of our network to enable remarkable solutions at the Edge.

At our third annual AT&T Business Summit, Jeff McElfresh, CEO, AT&T Communications sat down with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to talk about this strategic alliance, as well as the ideology Satya has put into place during his tenure as CEO of Microsoft. Jeff began the interview by joking that perhaps they should turn their chat into a personal coaching session from Satya. And though their conversation may not have been a coaching session, per se, Satya’s perspective was relished by the large audience of business professionals from around the globe, including me. Here are some of my biggest takeaways.

Power (back) to the people

Satya reminded us that computing is becoming embedded everywhere and that with the cloud and the ability to process data closer to the edge of the network we will only see the power of computing increase. He argued that this continued proliferation of computing will necessitate business applications and experience to be infused with AI, which he described as, “a compute job that reasons over large amounts of data.” Satya also noted that he sees a shift from a particular device being at the center of interactions to each individual being at the center. Meaning people will transition from one device to another more often (for example, when you switch your music from your car speaker to your phone so you can keep listening). To me, this omnichannel approach could have major ramifications across the business landscape from retail to healthcare to emergency response.

Instilling purpose and culture

Microsoft was founded in 1975 as a tools and platform company, with a purpose around creating technology that would allow others to create more technology. And Satya continues to reinforce that original purpose with his employees today. Microsoft still exists to build tech that helps others build tech. That’s never been more relevant than in 2019 and into the future. In fact, many of you reading this are creating your own software and innovating new technology, perhaps on a Microsoft platform. And in order to pursue that sense of purpose, Satya advises his employees to be willing to accept challenges and grow. He gave a nod to Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, and her book Mindset. He has used her concepts to promote a growth mindset culture of “learn-it-alls” rather than “know-it-alls.” It’s about exchanging a fixed mindset for a willingness to grow, evolve and ask questions. This really resonated with me, as embracing this progressive mindset is sure to prove beneficial across diverse organizations and industries.

In one another we trust

During the session, Satya put forth that developing your proprietary IP must be built on a solid foundation of trust. And you have to build technology that your customers will trust. Speaking of trust, Jeff reinforced that with everything headed to wireless, every connection must be secure. Cybersecurity must be woven into every connection and exist at every endpoint. He also talked about the technology that customers like you are building; the technology that someday will be not only trusted, but critical to their operations and those of your customers. As we talk about what we’re building, Jeff said, “We’re not thinking about it as a finished product or service, where we paint ourselves into a corner. We’re asking, ‘How can we open up the network along with the Microsoft Azure and take it to developers to allow them to use this high-speed, low latency network? How can we better enable our mutual customers technology solutions?’”

What a great exchange, packed with information and prompting the listener to ask questions to learn more. The future certainly looks bright with these dynamic leaders guiding this powerhouse of an alliance. And the coming decade will undoubtedly bring with it fresh ideas and new opportunities for learn-it-alls to lead the way!