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Microsoft CEO Nadella is making a cricket app in his free time
Microsoft Corp.'s Satya Nadella, a die-hard cricket fan, has been spending his free time coding and designing his own app that he used to analyze the centuries-old game. The Microsoft chief executive officer talked Thursday about how he combined two of his passions when he designed a Deep Research AI app over Thanksgiving. He then used it to select a team of all-time greats in Indian test cricket, for starters. "The system produced consensus areas, debates, reasoning chains, everything. It was fantastic," Nadella said during a company event in Bangalore. "I wanted to get a job on the Copilot team." The app will come in handy for Nadella, who has been investing in cricket teams. Alongside other tech executives, he was part of consortium that paid £147 million ($182 million) for a 49% share of UK team the London Spirit. He is also a co-owner of the Seattle Orcas, a professional T20 cricket team, close to where Microsoft is headquartered. Nadella is meeting business and political leaders in India this week. Microsoft pledged to invest $17.5 billion in artificial intelligence and cloud computing in the country over four years, targeting the world's most populous nation for growth. The chief executive was born in southern India and studied engineering there before heading to the US for graduate studies. Nadella has credited cricket for teaching him leadership, persistence and team work. Nadella on Thursday showed the crowd how his tool researched each decision, starting with selecting the best captain -- it was a close fight between Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with Kohli coming out on top. Microsoft included a cricket field during a major redevelopment of its Redmond, Washington, headquarters -- where engineers of Indian origin make up a large proportion of the workforce. "This may be the first proper, recreational cricket ground ever designed and built as part of a major corporate or community project in the United States," Microsoft said at the time.
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Microsoft CEO Nadella is making a cricket app in his free time
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella developed an AI app to analyze cricket. He used it to pick a team of Indian test cricket legends. Nadella, a cricket enthusiast, also invests in cricket teams. He is currently in India, where Microsoft plans significant AI and cloud investments. Cricket has shaped Nadella's leadership skills. Microsoft Corp.'s Satya Nadella, a die-hard cricket fan, has been spending his free time coding and designing his own app that he used to analyze the centuries-old game. The Microsoft chief executive officer talked Thursday about how he combined two of his passions when he designed a Deep Research AI app over Thanksgiving. He then used it to select a team of all-time greats in Indian test cricket, for starters. "The system produced consensus areas, debates, reasoning chains, everything. It was fantastic," Nadella said during a company event in Bangalore. "I wanted to get a job on the Copilot team." The app will come in handy for Nadella, who has been investing in cricket teams. Alongside other tech executives, he was part of consortium that paid £147 million ($182 million) for a 49% share of UK team the London Spirit. He is also a co-owner of the Seattle Orcas, a professional T20 cricket team, close to where Microsoft is headquartered. Nadella is meeting business and political leaders in India this week. Microsoft pledged to invest $17.5 billion in artificial intelligence and cloud computing in the country over four years, targeting the world's most populous nation for growth. The chief executive was born in southern India and studied engineering there before heading to the US for graduate studies. Nadella has credited cricket for teaching him leadership, persistence and team work. Nadella on Thursday showed the crowd how his tool researched each decision, starting with selecting the best captain -- it was a close fight between Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with Kohli coming out on top. Microsoft included a cricket field during a major redevelopment of its Redmond, Washington, headquarters -- where engineers of Indian origin make up a large proportion of the workforce. "This may be the first proper, recreational cricket ground ever designed and built as part of a major corporate or community project in the United States," Microsoft said at the time.
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spent his Thanksgiving coding a Deep Research AI app to analyze cricket. The passionate cricket fan used it to select a team of all-time greats in Indian test cricket, complete with consensus areas, debates, and reasoning chains. The project comes as Microsoft pledges $17.5 billion in AI and cloud computing investments in India over four years.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has combined his technical expertise with his love for cricket by developing a Deep Research AI app during his Thanksgiving break
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. The passionate cricket fan spent his free time coding and designing the application to analyze the centuries-old game, demonstrating how artificial intelligence can be applied to sports analytics in ways that go beyond traditional statistical approaches.
Source: Seattle Times
Speaking at a company event in Bangalore on Thursday, Satya Nadella revealed how he used the cricket app to select an Indian test cricket team composed of all-time greats
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. The system generated consensus areas, debates, and reasoning chains to evaluate players across different eras. "The system produced consensus areas, debates, reasoning chains, everything. It was fantastic," Nadella said, adding with humor that he "wanted to get a job on the Copilot team."The Deep Research AI app showcased its analytical capabilities by tackling one of cricket's most debated questions: selecting the best captain for the Indian test cricket team. Nadella demonstrated how his tool researched each decision, revealing a close competition between Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with Kohli ultimately emerging as the top choice
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. This level of analysis highlights how AI can process vast amounts of historical data, player statistics, and contextual information to provide nuanced insights that capture both quantitative metrics and qualitative factors.The application represents a practical demonstration of Microsoft's Copilot technology applied to a specialized domain. By building reasoning chains and identifying areas of consensus and debate, the tool mirrors the kind of analytical thinking that cricket experts and fans engage in when evaluating players across different generations and playing conditions.
Nadella's cricket app project takes on additional significance given his substantial investments in cricket teams. The Microsoft CEO was part of a consortium that paid £147 million ($182 million) for a 49% share in the London Spirit, a UK-based team
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. He also co-owns the Seattle Orcas, a professional T20 cricket team located near Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. These investments position him to potentially leverage AI-powered analytics tools for team management and strategic decision-making in professional cricket.Microsoft's commitment to cricket extends to its corporate campus, where the company included a cricket field during a major redevelopment of its Redmond headquarters. The facility serves engineers of Indian origin who make up a large proportion of the workforce. Microsoft described it as "the first proper, recreational cricket ground ever designed and built as part of a major corporate or community project in the United States"
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Nadella's visit to India, where he met with business and political leaders, coincides with Microsoft's announcement to invest $17.5 billion in AI and cloud computing in the country over four years
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. This substantial commitment targets the world's most populous nation for growth and reflects the strategic importance of the Indian market for Microsoft's cloud computing and artificial intelligence initiatives.Born in southern India and educated as an engineer before pursuing graduate studies in the US, Nadella has consistently credited cricket for teaching him leadership skills, persistence, and teamwork. His personal coding project demonstrates how executives can stay connected to technical work while managing large organizations, and how artificial intelligence tools can be applied to domains beyond traditional business applications. The cricket app serves as both a personal passion project and a practical showcase of AI capabilities that could inform future product development and market strategies in sports analytics and beyond.
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