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A fact-check of Microsoft’s CEO reveals the gap between boardroom polish and operational reality

12 min read1 hour ago

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We have the receipts, Satya.

I watched Satya Nadella’s Davos interview three times. Once to hear what he said. Once to note what he didn’t say. And once more because I couldn’t quite believe how smoothly he’d managed to do both simultaneously.

The Microsoft CEO sat across from Larry Fink at the World Economic Forum, radiating the particular brand of composed confidence that comes from having given essentially the same performance hundreds of times. His hands moved in measured gestures. His voice modulated between earnest concern and quiet optimism. He deployed phrases like “unprecedented investment” and “democratising AI” with the ease of someone who has long since stopped thinking about whether they’re true.

And here’s the thing: he was genuinely impressive. Nadella is, by any reasonable measure, one of the most skilled corporate communicators of his generation. He transformed Microsoft’s image from the aggressive monopolist of the Ballmer years into something approaching a beloved technology partner. He speaks about artificial intelligence with the reverence of a convert and the precision of an engineer (you should see his…