Nadella's first book "Hit Refresh" to hit stands soon

Tech giant Microsoft's India-born CEO Satya Nadella's first book which explores his personal journey, the company's ongoing transformation and the coming wave of technological change will hit the stands later this month.

The book titled 'Hit Refresh' carries a foreword by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and will go on sale globally on September 26.

Nadella, 50, said he hoped that the book, which tells the story of Microsoft's quest to rediscover its soul, will inspire people to discover more empathy in their own lives.

"We believed hit refresh was the perfect metaphor for all three story-lines of the book - my personal journey so far, the company's ongoing transformation, and the coming wave of technological and economic change," he said in a post on LinkedIn.
 

"It explores the renaissance of a storied company and the implications of the coming wave of technology - artificial intelligence, mixed reality and quantum computing - which will soon disrupt the status quo, impacting our lives, communities and economies," he added.

The book which Nadella set out to write two years ago is a set of reflections, ideas and principles on transformation.

On choosing the title of the book, Nadella said when "you hit refresh in your web browser by clicking the little arrow, or hitting function+F5, it updates".

"It doesn't wipe everything away and start new, as Bill Gates writes in his Foreword for the book - it actually keeps some things and replaces others. Hitting refresh is required for any person and organisation looking to make a sustained impact over a long period of time from athletes, leaders and artists to cities, corporations and societies," Nadella wrote.

He said books are so often written by leaders looking back on their tenures, not while they are in the "fog of war".

Nadella, who became Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Microsoft in 2014, will donate all proceeds from the book to Microsoft Philanthropies.