Satya Nadella talks diversity, says Microsoft should “look like everyone and every organization in the world”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been known for his inspirational speeches and the big vision for the tech company. During a meeting with students and faculty at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering and the Stern School of Business last week, Nadella was certain not let expectations down.

The CEO expressed passionately that Microsoft has to “look like everyone and every organization in the world” reports LiveMint. The Q&A went on as Nadella stressed that diversity is the critical key to empowering every person and organization, a mission that Microsoft has been out to do for quite some time now. Particularly since Nadella took control of the company in 2014.

“Diversity and inclusion is huge. It obviously starts by having a workforce that is diverse but inclusion is a cultural piece that we all have to work on everyday,” he said at the interaction during his visit to the University on 7 February. He said inclusion “shows up in every meeting, starting with me.” “Am I able to actually conduct a meeting where everyone is able to contribute their best because we all come with different styles, we have different cultural upbringings, what makes us tick is different. So you got to have leaders who are in-tuned with that,” he said.

This statement comes at no surprise from the Indian-born CEO. His latest talks across media sources have been in regards to the need for an exception to President Trump’s executive order that banned travel from seven Muslim-dominated countries. The premise of global growth for technology and knowledge is often a topic that incites Microsoft’s stance on inclusion.

But even the company has had its ups and downs with inclusion. The growing concern of minority representation, including women, has been one that Nadella addressed in the talk.

“I will not by any stretch say at Microsoft we have excellence in it. I’ll say we are going to, everyday of the week, push to get better and better at creating that more inclusive culture.”

Even though the layoffs and cutbacks this year on employees has taken a large chunk of diversity out of Microsoft, the company seems intent on widening their spread. The company’s chief diversity and inclusion officer assured media last year that the decline was a setback, seeing a rise in minority hires.