Report suggests Bill Gates remains at the helm of affairs at Microsoft

Bill Gates’ controversial exit from Microsoft in 2020, three months after he was re-elected to the Board of Directors, remains vivid in our memories. However, it seems Bill Gates hasn’t completely transitioned into the philanthropic phase of his life, and he continues to wield a significant influence in Microsoft’s affairs.

According to an exclusive report from Business Insider, Bill Gates is still pretty involved in Microsoft’s AI push and development of its native chatbot, Copilot.

The report, based on statements from current and former employees, states that Gates still holds significant sway in decision-making and that he is running the operations from behind the curtains.

So, even though Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has always appeared in pictures and attended conferences after Bill Gates’ exit, the latter’s authority in the company hasn’t been subdued over the years. On the contrary, it may have increased!

An employee, while speaking to BI, said,

What you read is not what’s happening in reality. Satya and the entire senior leadership team lean on Gates very significantly. His opinion is sought every time we make a major change.

Bill Gates is also reportedly reviewing the company’s products, overseeing recruitments in the top management, and, most importantly, is a key factor in Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar partnership with OpenAI.

Confirming Bill Gates’ relationship with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, spokesperson Kayla Wood said,

Sam and Bill are good friends. OpenAI takes his opinion and consult overall seriously.

In an interview with Forbes last year, Bill Gates confirmed giving regular inputs to Satya Nadella, reviewing products, and offering opinions to OpenAI.

Satya is super nice about getting input from me on technological things. And I spend maybe 10% of my time meeting with Microsoft product groups about their product roadmaps. And so it was a huge win to give feedback to OpenAI over the summer, too.

And it’s not just Satya Nadella and Sam Altman. The report from BI suggests that Bill Gates regularly meets Charles Lamanna, Jaime Teevan, Jeff Teper, and Charlie Bell, all four holding top positions at Microsoft.

Bill Gates has long been a proponent of Artificial Intelligence. Even during his tenure at Microsoft, when AI was largely unheard of, Gates, before announcing a partnership with OpenAI, said in a memo to employees,

Agents are not only going to change how everyone interacts with computers. They’re also going to upend the software industry, bringing about the biggest revolution in computing since we went from typing commands to tapping on icons.

So, while Microsoft’s approach may have transformed over the years, it’s not because of a change in leadership. Bill Gates, the Co-founder, remains a decisive voice in Microsoft, even four years after his departure.

Nevertheless, his contributions to Microsoft’s AI push had a monumental impact, with the Redmond-based tech giant emerging as the largest company in the world in terms of market capitalization.

Microsoft Azure has performed exceptionally well in recent years, and Microsoft’s plans for AI PCs have been well received by OEMs, hinting at Microsoft’s dominance in the AI landscape!

What do you think about Bill Gates’ present role at Microsoft? Share with our readers in the comments section.