The history from Microsoft founder Bill Gates to the company's current AI strategy is summarized, covering its core Windows and Office businesses, its cloud strategy centered on Azure and Office 365, and its increased investment in OpenAI.
Microsoft is positioned as an IT company founded by Bill Gates that maintained a high market share for many years through the combination of Windows and Office. Its past business operations also included hardware products under its own brand. These elements are cited as the foundation of the company.
In 2014, Satya Nadella became CEO, after which the company shifted its business strategy toward cloud services. The cloud platform Azure and Office 365, the subscription model for Office, are positioned as core businesses.
The partnership with OpenAI expanded from around early 2013, and in January 2023 the company announced additional investment on a scale of several billion dollars as it expanded the scope of the collaboration. It subsequently advanced the introduction of generative AI features, along with efforts to consolidate the related brands under Copilot.
The company overview lists its status as a company listed on the NASDAQ market and its Standard Industrial Classification, with Microsoft classified as Prepackaged Software (7372).