Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft, is credited with turning around the tech giant. Under his watch, the share price has grown more than fivefold, and in April the company’s market cap passed $1 trillion after a strong third quarter boosted shares. Businesses are jumping on Microsoft’s Azure cloud, and the tech giant recently won a Defense Department deal that reportedly could be worth up to $10 billion.
Microsoft is creating tools and software that empowers retailers to develop their own technology. The company’s goal is to commoditize and demystify technology. Adopting tech tools and platforms is just the starting point, Nadella said. Retailers have to achieve tech intensity and become fast adopters of technology and build their own proprietary digital capabilities.
“You can’t be cool by association with a tech friend, you have to be cool on your own. Our mission is enabling you to have that tech curiosity. It’s not about growing your dependence on us,” Nadella said in a keynote speech on Sunday at the National Retail Federation’s “Big Show” at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and subsequent exclusive interview with WWD. “The retail sector generates more data than any other industry, except manufacturing. The data generated

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