Twenty-five years ago, when Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced the setting up of his company’s first development centre outside the United States in Hyderabad, It was a red-letter day for Hyderabad, as it gave a fillip to Hyderabad’s IT ambitions and helped the city of pearls transform itself into the city of cyber technology or Cyberabad.
“In 1998, it was Bill Gates who decided in favour of Hyderabad. At that time, India was not as technologically advanced as it is now. There was no internet; we had basic communication tools. The process of product development from a remote site was unfamiliar territory, and global development centres were not commonplace. We had to learn extensively about talent acquisition, product development, and fostering inclusive growth,” observed Rajiv Kumar.
managing director and corporate vice president of Microsoft, at an event to mark the company’s 25th anniversary in Hyderabad. The subsequent phase witnessed substantial growth, with Microsoft India Development Centre (IDC) expanding from 100 to 1,000 employees in a decade. Kumar highlighted the challenges faced during this period, including fluctuations in the number of projects. This prompted a strategic slowdown to reconfigure, leading to a
consolidation of efforts in critical areas such as Windows, server products, and Office. This phase laid the foundation for the IDC’s engineering
prowess. In the last decade, Microsoft IDC has made notable contributions to Microsoft 365 (Office) Mobile, Indian language support, the development of the Azure Specialized AI Supercomputer, and initiatives for accessibility.
