From Indian farms to global markets, Satya Nadella outlines how AI adoption will shape economies

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella used the example of a rural Indian farmer seeking crop advice from an AI model to underline how artificial intelligence is no longer constrained by geography, as he laid out his vision for the technology’s global impact at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Addressing delegates, Satya Nadella said the future of AI will be shaped less by where it is invented and more by how rapidly it is adopted across economies, particularly in the Global South. He stated that advances in connectivity now allow AI models and outputs to reach users almost anywhere in the world, making the technology inherently global by design.

Nadella informed the audience that the central challenge facing governments and companies is whether they can create the right conditions for AI to translate into productivity and economic growth. These conditions, he said, include skills development, access to capital and supportive policy frameworks. If these elements are put in place, AI has the potential to generate local economic surplus across regions, rather than concentrating benefits in advanced economies alone.

Pushing back against the view that AI is structurally biased towards developed nations, Nadella stated that many of the core ingredients of the AI ecosystem are more evenly distributed than is often assumed. Talent pools, software developers, startups and technical expertise exist across geographies, he said, adding that the key difference lies in the willingness to deploy AI at scale.

He explained that while the quality of skills and know-how is broadly comparable across regions, large gaps emerge in terms of commitment, availability of risk capital and the readiness of major companies to push adoption aggressively. He pointed to past differences in cloud adoption versus AI uptake in sectors such as financial services as an illustration of how uneven deployment can shape outcomes.

Nadella also cautioned that AI should not be viewed as a simple add-on to existing systems, stating that it fundamentally alters how information flows within organisations. He said this shift requires leaders to rethink and redesign work structures and workflows, as traditional organisational models are no longer fit for purpose in an AI-driven environment.

According to Nadella, leadership in the AI era will depend on the ability to reimagine work itself rather than merely adapting existing processes. He repeatedly stressed that skills will sit at the heart of this transition, while noting that skilling goes beyond technical training to include mindset changes and access to high-quality, context-rich datasets that enable AI systems to deliver relevant and meaningful outcomes.