With a new CEO now steering Microsoft’s core operations, Satya Nadella finds himself with more time to explore new ventures. Shifting gears, Nadella is not just focusing on Microsoft’s technical evolution but is also reviving the age-old craft of blogging. His latest endeavor is to highlight what lies ahead for Microsoft, emphasizing the need to transcend the ongoing debate between the complexities and simplicities of AI.

In the inaugural post of his blog, “sn scratchpad,” Nadella delves into the challenges AI companies, including Microsoft, must address. He calls for a fresh perspective on AI, drawing inspiration from Steve Jobs’ ’90s analogy of computers as “bicycles for the mind.” Nadella insists that it’s time to move past the binary debate of AI’s sophistication versus its rudimentary aspects. Instead, he advocates for a balanced approach that acknowledges the role of AI as a cognitive tool, enhancing human interaction.

Nadella is eager to shift the focus beyond traditional AI criticisms, especially as Microsoft invests heavily in AI agents, aiming to make them as indispensable as its iconic Office and Windows software has been to industries worldwide for decades.

This ambition touches on the current unease surrounding AI models, particularly among creatives who fear being overshadowed by AI’s ability to replicate artistic styles, design, and more. For years, PCs have been the backbone for creating art and coding. Now, Microsoft and its peers are pushing for AI agents to take the helm, despite the fact that much of AI’s output is still considered subpar.

Microsoft envisions a future where everyone uses Copilot to generate content, search for information, and navigate technology with ease. However, this vision remains largely aspirational, as the practical capabilities of Copilot fall short of its promises.

The company is banking on advancements in AI to bolster Copilot and other AI-driven tools, even as Meta cautions against relying on visual cues alone to discern reality. Nadella, a key player in the AI power struggle involving OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, now suggests the true potential of AI lies in how people choose to implement it, rather than the sheer strength of individual models.

“We will evolve from models to systems when it comes to deploying AI for real world impact,” says Nadella. These systems will have to take into consideration the societal impact they have on people and the planet, he says. “The choices we make about where we apply our scarce energy, compute, and talent resources will matter. This is the socio-technical issue we need to build consensus around.”

Nadella’s first sn scratchpad blog entry is brief, but it’s all about 2026 being a “pivotal year for AI.” The same could be said for 2025, but Nadella thinks the industry now has a “clearer sense of where the tech is headed” and how it will shape its impact on the world. We’ll have to revisit whether the tech industry gets AI right this year once 2027 rolls around, but Nadella is now promising to deliver more of his personal “notes on advances in technology and real-world impact” in future blog posts throughout 2026.