our office
davos
Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella pointed out how artificial intelligence (AI) is being used around the world, beyond developed countries, and recalled farmers in India who adopted AI to address a problem.
On the spread of AI around the world, especially in the Global South, Nadella said that by early 2023, farmers in rural India were using simple AI-powered bots to manipulate government agricultural subsidies in local languages.
“It was early 2023, and I think it was very early GPT 3 or 2.5, when farmers in rural India were able to use bots that were built to essentially make inferences about agricultural subsidies that they heard in their local language,” he recalled.
Nadella said farmers not only asked for information, but also asked the tool to fill out forms on their behalf. He said this is an example of how AI can restore “agency” to people who have been previously excluded from digital systems.
In a conversation with BlackRock Chairman and CEO Lawrence D. Fink at the 2026 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Nadella emphasized that the most pressing challenge surrounding AI is to quickly and equitably disseminate it around the world.
“When it comes to AI, I think the real question before all of us is how do we ensure that it becomes widespread and quickly,” Nadella said.
He stressed that data, models and infrastructure need to be more evenly distributed to create economic surplus across the region, particularly in the Global South.
Nadella drew parallels with past technological revolutions, noting that every major era of computing, from mainframes and minicomputers to client-server systems, the web, mobile and cloud, was fundamentally about digitizing information and improving analytical and predictive power.
He said AI also belongs to the same class of transformative technologies and could have an even greater impact.
“In that context, you could say that AI is in the same class as, or even higher than, the web, the Internet, mobile, PC, cloud, etc.,” he said.
Nadella emphasized that AI’s inferential and predictive capabilities are rapidly advancing, and its ability to take action and maintain consistency over time is increasing.
These improvements should ultimately help “bend the productivity curve” and generate widespread economic benefits, he added.
But Nadella cautioned that widespread adoption of AI is closely linked to skills and leadership.
He called for concerted efforts by both the private and public sectors to ensure that AI tools are accessible and usable across society.
“I feel that ultimately we will need real leadership from both the private and public sectors to ensure widespread adoption,” he said.
Post views: 167
