Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella has stated that he sees India as the future global leader in software development, potentially seeing that the country is “slated to become the number one community in the world with GitHub by 2030.”
Speaking at the ‘Building India’s AI Frontier’ keynote in Bengaluru, Nadella provided an endorsement of the quality and scale of India’s developer talent, which he attributed to the “engagement and the type of projects that are coming out of this place, the contributions from India.”
Nadella’s comments came amid a massive announcement that saw Microsoft’s commitment to India, which includes a recently announced $17.5 billion investment over the next four years to build crucial AI and cloud infrastructure, thus marking the company’s largest-ever investment in Asia.
Nadella’s new software development mandate
Nadella stated that the artificial intelligence era demands a complete rethinking of how technology is built, calling for an urgent transition to an AI-driven Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The traditional approach, he explained, is no longer sufficient.
The CEO introduced a profound shift in the development mindset, urging developers to start with desired results rather than technical blueprints. “We’re not building for building’s sake. We’re building to have impact,” Nadella said, highlighting that technology’s purpose must be measurable outcomes.
He laid out the core philosophical inversion required for the AI era. “You start with the test, not the spec,” Nadella advised. He went to add that the new methodology demands teams to first define the real-world result they want to influence, including the evaluation framework and metrics, and then work backward from that goal, ensuring the final product is rooted in practical value.
Microsoft doubling down on India’s AI workforce
To support the rapid adoption of AI, Microsoft is not only investing in infrastructure but is also massively scaling its skilling initiatives, cementing India’s role as a source of global AI talent. “We are now going to skill 20 million people across India in AI skills,” Nadella announced.
This commitment doubles the company’s previous target and focuses on ensuring equal access to AI literacy across the country. These skilling programs are specifically designed to align with government initiatives, such as integrating AI into platforms like the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s e-Shram and the National Career Service (NCS) to benefit over 310 million informal workers.
Nadella also highlighted the critical, emerging skill needed for this new SDLC called context engineering – a discipline focused on preparing and structuring data optimally so AI models can produce reliable and meaningful results. “At the end of the day, this is all about empowering every person and every organisation in India to be able to achieve more. Let’s keep building,” said Nadella while ending his session.
