Satya Nadella to write a book titled 'Hit Refresh': ‘It is not a how-to-succeed book, nor a memoir’
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has signed a deal with Harper Business to publish his first book that Nadella describes as not your average business book.
Hit Refresh dodges definition but has meaning
"It is not a 'how to succeed' book, nor is it a memoir." Instead, Nadella's literary debut is described as divided into three storylines: his own personal story, changes within his own company, and the implications of increasingly intelligent technology on humanity.
Proposing that man will need his uniquely human characteristics more than ever in the future, Nadella sees life as a constant quest for "new energy, new ideas, relevance, and renewal."
As well as representing his personal philosophy, the title Hit Refresh has professional implications for Nadella. When he first joined Microsoft in 2014, the company was undergoing a crisis due to unsuccessful mobile computing and internet search technology strategies. His move towards cloud computing has since rejuvenated -- or refreshed -- Microsoft.
Poetry and cricket
Despite his educational background in electrical engineering and computer science, Nadella is nevertheless a fan of literature, poetry, in particular, even going so far as to quote by heart the 19th century Urdu and Persian poet Mirza Ghalib during a conference in May 2016. The CEO also recently published op-eds in The Financial Times and Slate in which, much like in his forthcoming book, Nadella focuses strongly on the question of transformation and the future.
Proceeds to good clouds
It has been agreed between Harper Business and Nadella that proceeds from the book will be donated to Microsoft Philanthropies. Launched last year, Microsoft's philanthropic brand announced plans in January to donate $1 billion of resources. Philanthropies will use the profit from book sales "to benefit nonprofits, specifically those working on public cloud for public good projects."
Hit Refresh is set to be published in the later half of 2017.