Satya Nadella
Age: 47
Country of Origin: Hyderabad, India
Education: Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communications Manipal Institute of Technology
Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Current role: Executive vice president of Cloud and Enterprise group, Microsoft
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Best Quote: "The surveillance system has to be reformed," The Guardian, December 2013
Finest Hours: Nadella was made the president of Microsoft’s Server and Tools Business and led a transformation of the company’s business and technology culture from client services to cloud infrastructure and services. He has been credited for bringing Microsoft’s database, Windows server and developer tools to its Azure cloud. The revenue from Cloud Services grew to $20.3 billion in June 2013 from $16.6 billion when he took over in 2011.
Expert Opinion: "Nadella seems a logical choice for Microsoft. He’s been with the company for more than twenty years, eventually becoming executive vice president of its Cloud and Enterprise division. The enterprise remains a key – perhaps the key – customer segment for Microsoft," says Nerval’s Lobster.
Twitter: There doesn’t seem to be an official Nadella Twitter account. @SatyaNadella seems to be the closest though, but it is inactive. There is this cracking tweet though from 2009…
Sundar Pichai
Age: 42
Country of Origin: India
Education: Bachelors in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Masters of Science from Stanford University
MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.
Current Role: Senior Vice President at Google.
Best Quote: "The goal is for this to be a photographic memory of your information," on Google’s instant search tool.
Finest Hours: As well as being influential in Google Drive, Pichai went on to oversee the development of different apps like Gmail and Google Maps. On November 19, 2009, Pichai gave a demonstration of Chrome OS. In 2010, he announced the open-sourcing of the new video codec VP8 by Google, and introduced the new video format WebM.
Expert Opinion: "Microsoft could really move the ball down the field with Sundar Pichai in creating a new open operating system model for cloud, mobile, and social" according to Dave Vellante, chief analyst at Wikibon.
Twitter: @SundarPichai
On 30 May, 2012, Pichai gave a rare, insightful glimpse into his exuberant personality on Twitter.
