Satya Nadella praises Seattle-India tech ties at CEOs forum

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praised Seattle's growing technology community and strengthening ties with India at a forum attended by over 40 Indian-origin tech CEOs and CTOs. Discussions covered AI, semiconductors, quantum technology, talent, aerospace and other areas of bilateral collaboration

New York: Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella lauded Seattle’s burgeoning technology community and its strengthening relationship with India as he addressed leading Indian-origin tech CEOs from across sectors, including AI, quantum computing and enterprise software.

Nadella was the guest of honour at a special event organised by the Consulate General of India in Seattle under the leadership of Consul General Prakash Gupta.

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The event, titled ‘Ideas4India: Indian American Tech CEOs Forum | Unlocking the Tech Dividend’, was held on Thursday at the consulate premises as a follow-up to the India AI Impact Summit, which was organised in New Delhi in February.

The event aimed to learn from the unique expertise pool of the Indian-American technology community based in the Greater Seattle area.

Nadella said he was proud to have watched the Seattle technology community grow over roughly 35 years and was pleased to see it forming and strengthening its relationship with India, the consulate said in a press statement.

Nadella described artificial intelligence as a general-purpose technology whose benefits would depend on its broad diffusion across countries, communities and sectors.

Addressing the event, India’s Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra welcomed the strong desire of Indian-origin tech CEOs and other forum participants to further deepen the India-US technology partnership.

Kwatra reaffirmed India’s commitment to working with all relevant stakeholders to ensure its AI Mission remains firmly anchored on the principles of inclusivity, openness, sovereignty, democratised access, safety and trust, the statement said.

The special forum brought together leading Indian-origin technology CEOs, several of whom have spent over three decades at the frontiers of cutting-edge technologies, including AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, cloud infrastructure, aerospace and enterprise software.

More than 40 Indian-origin CEOs and CTOs participated in the forum, including representatives from Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, OpenAI, Anthropic, Intel, Veeam Software, Helion, Rhythms AI, Zenoti, Anicca Data, SeekOut, Stanley and other leading technology companies in the Pacific Northwest.

Inventor of the USB-C drive Ajay Bhatt, who was formerly with Intel, also participated in the deliberations.

“IDEAS4INDIA: Celebrating the Tech Titans of Seattle! Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, along with Ambassador Vinay Kwatra, engaged with leading Indian-American tech CEOs, founders and innovators at the 1st IDEAS4INDIA: Unlocking the Tech Dividend Forum in Seattle. Seattle’s foremost technology leaders shared ideas and perspectives on innovation, talent and opportunities that can contribute to India’s AI journey and strengthen India-US tech partnership,” the Seattle Consulate said in a post on X.

The forum was a first-of-its-kind gathering of Indian-American technology leaders in Seattle.

The Indian consulate said the forum is expected to continue to serve as an important platform for strengthening the India-US technology partnership, including under the India-US TRUST Initiative (Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology).

Under the initiative, both countries are working to connect their respective innovation ecosystems and advance collaboration, including co-development and co-production, in artificial intelligence, quantum technology, semiconductors, space, telecom and biotechnology.

During an interactive session at the forum, the technology executives shared their ideas and suggestions to strengthen the technology partnership between India and the US. These ranged from AI infrastructure and data centres to semiconductor design and manufacturing, quantum research collaboration, talent and skilling, aerospace and advanced manufacturing.

Reflecting on the two-way nature of the bilateral technology partnership, the event highlighted that several companies at the forum maintain substantial engineering, research and business operations in India.

Several American technology giants are bullish on the opportunities in the Indian market and have announced significant investments to expand their footprint across India.

Microsoft has announced an investment of USD 17.5 billion in India over a period of four years from 2026 to 2029, its largest ever in Asia, to advance cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and operations.

Amazon has announced a total investment of USD 48 billion between 2026 and 2030, including expansion of AWS data centre capacity in Mumbai and Hyderabad. Retail giant Costco is also establishing its first Global Capability Centre in Hyderabad, the consulate said.

The forum began with a minute’s silence to honour the memory of two distinguished Indian-origin technology stalwarts from Seattle who recently passed away.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Icertis Samir Bodas and Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group and former Corporate Vice President at Microsoft S. Somasegar were remembered for their contributions to scaling up Seattle’s technology ecosystem and supporting Indian-origin start-ups.