Computational thinking is key as AI reshapes software: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that foundational skills in computational thinking remain essential, even as artificial intelligence transforms how software is built.

In a recent conversation with tech YouTuber Sajjaad Khade, Nadella encouraged aspiring developers to focus on the fundamentals of software engineering, despite the growing role of AI in coding. “Just getting real fundamentals of software, if you’re a software engineer, I think matters a lot,” Nadella said. “To me, having the ability to think computationally is important.”



Responding to Khade’s question on how beginners should approach a career in tech in the age of AI, Nadella said success still depends on clear, structured thinking and instruction design—skills that remain critical even when AI assists with code generation. “The path to being that software architect gets speeded up. All of us are going to be more software architects,” he added.

AI already writes a chunk of Microsoft’s code

In a prior conversation with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year, Nadella had revealed that AI already writes 20–30% of Microsoft’s code across some projects. “I’d say maybe 20–30% of the code that is inside of our repos today… is probably all written by software,” Nadella said at the time.

Last month, at the company’s Build developer conference, Nadella spoke about Agentic AI and how it is changing the modern tech stack. “The agentic web is reshaping the entire tech stack, and we are creating new opportunities for devs at every layer,” he said.