There are many perks of being a Microsoft employee – great health benefits ( 100% covered .. yeah, its awesome), flying everywhere to meet with fascinating startups, working with the smartest people in the world and with the most forward-thinking innovative company in the world. But most importantly to me, the best perk that comes with working at Microsoft is the opportunity to give back to our community on a consistent basis.
Yesterday myself and a few other Microsoft employees had the honor of meeting with eight of the brightest students the Midwest has to offer as a part of the ThinkChicago initiative. The program selected a handful of the regions brightest college seniors to come to Chicago during CIW, attend Tedx Midwest and learn about job opportunities at some of Chicago’s most esteemed businesses like Groupon, Google, Grubhub, and Microsoft.
In line with Tedx and CIW, we wanted to highlight Microsoft’s dedication innovation and cutting-edge research conducted around the world and in almost every field. Working outside of research, I can forget how committed Microsoft is to pushing the envelope and creating innovative technology for today and future. Every fiscal year from 2010 to 2012, Microsoft spends 9.5 billion on research – that’s not a typo, that’s billion with a B.
And what are they researching? That’s the best part – anything and everything. Microsoft knows that discovery happens both with strategic intent and also serendipitously. They allow their researchers to pursue innovation and exploration almost without bounds because they know only then can truly great things be found, on purpose or not.
Two years ago, Microsoft wanted to educate their internal teams about what our research teams were doing and share a glimpse into their vision of technology. They made this video which was at the time more visionary, than practical. Interestingly enough, today some of these dreams are rough realities. And I believe that our experience with technology will continue to move towards the natural uninhibited interaction that you see in the video and also with the Microsoft Connect technology.
I had seen the video before, but seeing it through the eyes of the generation that will make these visions a reality gave me a fresh perspective and a new renewed excitement to be a small part of Microsoft’s team.
The students were quick to pick up on the themes in the video: the Internet of things, the voice to text translation, an intuitive and seamless interaction with technology etc. They were also quick to point out the two biggest obstacles to making this vision a reality – a lack of ubiquitous bandwidth & the accessibility issues that come with new and presumably expensive technology.
Despite the obstacles, I could tell from the students’ discussion that we are actually much closer to this vision than I originally thought. The visionary concepts were tangible to the students. They could more than imagine them, they could picture their lives in them. And anyone that can walk, talk, and discover within their own dreams are people we want working at Microsoft.
It wasn’t too long ago that I was sitting in a similar seat, viewing my company from the outside, wondering if I could fit inside this huge corporate machine. Like I told the students, there was and it has been the most gratifying work I could have imagined. With all of the sectors and industries Microsoft participates in, I know that there is a place perfectly suited for someone with ambitious creative talent like them.
