Satya Nadella named Microsoft CEO as Bill Gates stands down from board

In his first interview as CEO, 46-year-old Mr Nadella said the way he thought had been shaped by his life's experience, and that he "loves to learn".

"I get excited about new things, I buy more books than I read or finish, I sign up for more online courses than I can actually finish, but the thing about being able to watch people do great things, learn new concepts is something that truly excites me."

When asked why he wanted to become CEO of Microsoft, he said the company was central to applying human potential to a world becoming more rapidly software-driven.

He said he felt "honoured, humbled and excited" to be CEO. "We have tremendous opportunity, and that's inspiring.

"I want every one of us to find more meaning at work. We spend far too much time at work for it not to have deep meaning."

Mr Nadella grew up in Hyderabad, India and his appointment as CEO makes him the most powerful Indian-born tech executive in the world.

He received a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and communication from the Manipal University in 1988. Former teacher and MIT director Vinod V Thomas told the Times of India he "cannot vividly recall" Mr Nadella as he "didn't figure in either ends of the spectrum", but added that records showed he was "a first-class student who achieved distinction."

Following his move to the United States, he went on to study Computer Science at Masters level at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Mr Nadella began his extensive career in tech at internet software pioneer Sun Microsystems, before joining Microsoft in 1992, where he has remained for 22 years.

His roles have included senior vice president of Research & Development for the Online Services Division, and president of the Server and Tools Business, where he championed the switch from client services to Cloud-based infrastructure.

He headed up the teams in charge of the Cloud OS, which powers all of Microsoft's internet scale cloud services.

He has been married to his wife for 22 years, whom he met in high school, and has three children with.

Despite his enormous success in the tech industry, Mr Nadella is not the biggest user of Twitter. He has not tweeted since July 2010, and the messages he has posted are enthusiastic, but not particularly enlightening.

Mr Nadella is a regular speaker at events, recently speaking at Microsoft's Financial Analyst Meeting 2013 and held his own Worldwide Partner Conference Keynote last year.

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