Transforming Communities

With two data centres due to launch in the UAE this year, Microsoft Gulf has bold ambitions to boost digital transformation in the region. In an exclusive interview with general manager Sayed Hashish, we find out just how the regional branch of the tech giant seeks to empower customers and communities across the GCC.

Just as technology has evolved, so have the industry’s leading players. Whether by choice or necessity, tech giants are largely unrecognisable from the companies they started out as – adapting to, or driving change on the back of major technological leaps.

A clear example is Microsoft over the past five years. When Satya Nadella was named CEO in February 2014, he moved the company away from its proprietary, on-premise software, towards a mobile-first, cloud-first model.

In the space of four years, the company’s share price tripled– up to 105.95 cents per share – and by February this year they had soared to 110.97 (at the time of writing).

Earlier this year it reported Q2 2019 revenue of $32.5bn, and net income of $8.4bn. This is up from $28.9bn and $7.5bn respectively in Q2 2018.

The decision to focus on the cloud has clearly been a good one from a financial perspective; but the example of regional branch, MicrosoftGulf, proves that there is much more than money in the reckoning.

The man leading the way in the region is Sayed Hashish – a Microsoft man since 1998, and general manager for the Gulf since May 2017.

Under his stewardship, Microsoft’s presence in the region has been much more than a commercial one, with an overarching aim of empowering communities.

“We’ve been in the Gulf region for more than 20 years and we’re proud of our journey so far, and how we’ve contributed to the growth of the region,” says Hashish when we meet at MicrosoftGulf ’s headquarters in Dubai Internet City.

“Our mission is really to empower every organisation and individual on the planet. This is the global mission. So we think it’s a great privilege to be in this region, trying to drive this mission.