Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently urged employees to maintain their “growth mindset” culture as the company undergoes massive AI transformation and workforce restructuring. Microsoft CEO said the same in a company-wide internal memo sent a few weeks after the company announced layoffs that will affect 15,000-plus employees. “Growth mindset has served us well over the last decade—the everyday practice of being a learn-it-all, not a know-it-all,” Nadella wrote to Microsoft’s 200,000+ global workforce. “It has reshaped our culture and helped us lead with greater humility and empathy. We need to keep that.”Nadella emphasized that this cultural foundation becomes even more critical as Microsoft pivots from a “software factory to an intelligence engine” while investing $80 billion in AI infrastructure. Despite cutting 7% of its workforce, Microsoft reported $75 billion in net income over three fiscal quarters and stock prices hitting record highs above $500 per share.

Growth mindset philosophy anchors Microsoft through industry transformation

Nadella described the current period as reminiscent of the early 1990s PC revolution, when personal computers and productivity software became standard in homes and offices. “Teams are reorganizing. Scopes are expanding. New opportunities are everywhere,” he wrote, acknowledging that “transformation always is” messy.The growth mindset culture centers on individual learning and continuous improvement. “It starts with each of us as individuals and our personal drive to learn, improve, and get better every day,” Nadella explained. “Professional rewards, growth, and pride in our craft will always be the prime drivers.”However, Nadella connected personal development to Microsoft’s broader mission of global empowerment. “We each have the opportunity to connect our personal passion and philosophy of how we derive meaning from the work we do with Microsoft’s mission to empower the world.”The CEO positioned current challenges as career-defining opportunities, telling employees: “Years from now, when you look back at your time here, I hope you’ll say: ‘That’s when I learned the most. That’s when I made my biggest impact.'”