Comment by lysace
1 day ago
Feb 2014: Satya Nadella becomes CEO.
July 2014: Microsoft lays off 14k people, a large portion of which are SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test)/QA/test people.
The idea was that regular developers themselves would be writing and owning tests rather than relying on separate testers.
I'm sure there were multiple instances of insane empire building and lots of unproductivity, but it's also hard to not think this was where the downfall began.
Ultimately it still comes down to someone in the chain giving a damn. There are obvious, surface level bugs across most technologies. Yet, developers, PMs, VPs all sign off and say, "Close enough".
And that's also on the CEO, especially after this much time.
He has failed to correctly incentivize/hire/motivate/plan/structure/etc.
Does Satya Nadella even use a windows laptop?
Yes, probably.