Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has three big 'ambitions' for the company
That in itself is amazing, since these two companies used to be major competitors and are now such happy partners that Microsoft was on stage showing off its own products, and how they work with Salesforce's products.
But before the demo, he talked for a bit with Wired reporter Jessi Hempel.
She asked him to explain what's up with the company, what his ultimate goal and objective is.
And he explained that the company has "3 big ambitions" as a company.
No. 1: Microsoft is trying to "reinvent productivity," creating technology that allows you to do your job better, as well as run your personal life better. He noted that Microsoft is "unique" in the tech world, in that its the "only company that obsesses about both" work and consumer tech "and the connection between the two, individuals and organizations."
Ultimately, he wants Microsoft to do its part to "drive individual success" as well as "organizational success."
No. 2: Microsoft is "building the intelligent cloud." This means more than just a cloud that hosts apps, or sells them as a service, but one that can "harness" data created in the cloud and convert it into intelligence, whether its business decisions for or fitness trackers for your body.
No. 3: He wants to make "computing more personal, more natural." With Windows 10 this is talking to your computer, to Cortana, for internet searches and other tasks. But its also typing in an ordinary language into other apps, like PowerBI, to ask a business question and get an answer, even pulling in data from Twitter, Salesforce, other sources. It also includes computer vision, Windows 10 can recognize your face to login.
"Computing is going going to be ambient, everywhere" he says, and Microsoft is trying to make it all easier to use.
And all three ambitions are "interlocking," he says, "but that's what we're up to."
Unfortunately, dreaming it and making it work are two different things.
During his on stage demo using Cortona to ask a natural question, Cortona never understood his question. After three attempts and one frustrated "aw come on!" muttered at Cortana, the demo was rescued by a technician backstage, who made Cortana do what he was asking.
Still, his ambitions are big, the tech is new and if he can pull it off, Microsoft will not just survive in the post-PC era, but thrive.