Satya Nadella urges Microsoft leaders to commit fully to AI amid major strategic shift

Microsoft is undergoing one of the most significant transitions in its history, with artificial intelligence now positioned at the centre of the company’s future direction, according to a report by Business Insider. Under chief executive Satya Nadella’s leadership, AI is no longer treated as a supporting capability but as the foundation on which Microsoft’s products, teams and long-term strategy are being built.

Nadella views the current wave of AI development as a rare moment that calls for reinvention rather than incremental upgrades, and has conveyed internally that the company must move with greater speed, rethink entrenched practices and be prepared to challenge long-standing ways of working. As per the Business Insider report, this emphasis on urgency and intensity has placed pressure on senior leaders and long-serving executives to decide whether they are willing to fully commit to the scale of change required to deliver Microsoft’s AI-led transformation.

The report said Nadella has moved away from relying solely on traditional top-down reporting structures and is now engaging directly in frequent working sessions with engineers and product teams. This approach is aimed at shortening feedback loops and ensuring that innovation is driven by tangible technical progress rather than layers of management.

Microsoft’s internal culture is also evolving alongside its strategic pivot. Hierarchies are being flattened to enable faster decision-making and experimentation, with engineers across levels expected to contribute ideas, challenge assumptions and iterate rapidly. This shift reflects a broader belief within the company that speed and adaptability outweigh rigid organisational structures in the AI era.

At the same time, Microsoft’s AI teams are rethinking how software is built, with intelligent systems increasingly taking on tasks such as writing code, testing features and optimising performance, a change that is reshaping productivity across development teams. Alongside these shifts, the company is recalibrating its workforce, with recent restructuring reducing headcount while future hiring is expected to focus on roles that can benefit most from AI-driven amplification, the report added.