#empowHER50 – Nandita Sampath

As a Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, Nandita Sampath believes that unlocking tech careers for women requires more than encouragement it requires pathways that are flexible, practical, and built for real life. Over the past year, she brought that vision to life through a strategic partnership with Women in Cloud (WIC), co-launching the #WICxSkillsReadyChallenge to help women gain job-ready credentials in AI and cybersecurity. 

The impact was immediate: over 1,000 applications, 75,900+ digital impressions, and more than 100 women earning Microsoft Applied Skills credentials in just weeks. For many, it was their first time accessing technical skills in a way that felt doable and valuable. Through webinars and community outreach, the program reached 1,000+ women, including career returners, students, and first-time learners, providing a launchpad into tech fields where women remain underrepresented. 

What made it work? Nandita and her team focused on meeting learners where they were. By designing the challenge around Microsoft’s scenario-based, self-paced platform, they eliminated common barriers like cost, rigid scheduling, and confidence gaps. Outreach extended beyond traditional tech circles—into film festivals like TIFF and MAMI, universities in India, and grassroots community channels—proving that access expands when we take intentional action to widen the gate. 

For Nandita, this work is about more than skills; it’s about connection and inclusion. “True education connects us not just to knowledge, but to each other,” she says, reflecting on the program’s ripple effects. By creating inclusive, scalable pathways into tech, she’s helping women not only imagine new possibilities but walk boldly into them. 

About #empowHER50 campaign

This campaign celebrates women leaders at Microsoft, past and present, who have been instrumental in democratizing access to technology, opportunity, and growth. By honoring their contributions over the last half-century, this campaign highlights stories of resilience, innovation, and inclusivity. Through digital spotlights, a commemorative coffee table book, live recognition events, and more, the campaign inspires collective action toward achieving equitable societal goals. To learn more about empowHER50, please visit https://womenincloud.com/empowHER50 

To learn about Microsoft 50th celebrations: https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-50/  

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#empowHER50 – Amy Strande

For Amy Strande, impact doesn’t always come with a headline, but it always starts with listening. Spending over half of her 25 years as a Chief of Staff at Microsoft, Amy has built her career around a simple but powerful idea: if you care deeply about people—employees and customers alike—transformation will follow. 

Amy’s journey at Microsoft took a defining turn when she joined the HR team. There, she uncovered a foundational truth: employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction are deeply connected. 

With that insight, Amy took action. She led the Global Onboarding initiative, uniting a complex web of stakeholders across HR, payroll, facilities, IT, and legal. The goal was clear: create a seamless onboarding experience so new hires could log in, get paid, and feel welcomed from day one. Her leadership turned friction points into moments of confidence, setting a new standard for what great onboarding looks like. 

But Amy didn’t stop there. She expanded the initiative into a broader Employee Experience strategy. Drawing from global survey data, her team identified six core drivers of satisfaction, ranging from career development and sense of belonging to trust in leadership. They also defined three essentials that must never fail: technology reliability, strong management capability, and, cross-company agility. 

What makes Amy’s leadership truly unique is her philosophy: “There’s no task too small or too big for me to take on if it helps someone else.” That mindset has made her a quiet force of change—one who ensures every system she touches becomes more human, more inclusive, and more effective. 

When working in the healthcare domain, Amy continued to bring these same principles to her leadership. Whether supporting employee growth or improving patient outcomes, she remains committed to building environments where people can do their best work—and feel good doing it. Amy’s contribution as a Board member to 40,000+ Microsoft Alumni Network has helped implement new programs for alumni to boomerang into the Microsoft employee ecosystem easily.  Amy’s story is a reminder that transformation doesn’t always begin with a revolution. Sometimes, it begins with listening closely, acting deliberately, and making every moment—and every person—matter. 

About #empowHER50 campaign

This campaign celebrates women leaders at Microsoft, past and present, who have been instrumental in democratizing access to technology, opportunity, and growth. By honoring their contributions over the last half-century, this campaign highlights stories of resilience, innovation, and inclusivity. Through digital spotlights, a commemorative coffee table book, live recognition events, and more, the campaign inspires collective action toward achieving equitable societal goals. To learn more about empowHER50, please visit https://womenincloud.com/empowHER50 

To learn about Microsoft 50th celebrations: https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-50/  

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#empowHER50 – Aiswarya Venkitesh

For Aiswarya Venkitesh, the power of technology lies not just in innovation, but in connection—between people, purpose, and possibility. As a Principal Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, she stands at the intersection of engineering excellence and inclusive empowerment, helping customers and communities thrive through scalable solutions and shared knowledge. 

With a foundation in cloud architecture and AI, Aiswarya has been instrumental in enabling Microsoft’s largest global partners to modernize their solutions, build secure digital infrastructure, and drive growth in diverse markets. Her ability to build trust-based partnerships and co-create impactful outcomes has made her a go-to leader across customer and internal teams alike. 

But what truly sets Aiswarya apart is her deep commitment to equity and empowerment. As a mentor, coach, and advocate, she has guided countless early- and mid-career professionals—especially women—through upskilling programs, certification paths, and leadership development. Her influence spans borders, touching communities from India to the United States, and from corporate boardrooms to university classrooms. 

“Empowering communities through technology, education, and support, we unlock potential and drive inclusive growth,” Aiswarya says. This belief drives her collaboration with nonprofits and global partners alike, delivering workshops and learning events that demystify cloud, AI, and security technologies for underrepresented groups. 

Her leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about asking the right questions, building bridges across cultures and capabilities, and fostering a culture of belonging. Aiswarya doesn’t just architect systems—she architects opportunity. 

Her impact is a testament to what happens when technical expertise meets human-centered leadership. And as she continues to lift others, she opens new pathways for the next generation of women in tech to soar. 

 About #empowHER50 campaign

This campaign celebrates women leaders at Microsoft, past and present, who have been instrumental in democratizing access to technology, opportunity, and growth. By honoring their contributions over the last half-century, this campaign highlights stories of resilience, innovation, and inclusivity. Through digital spotlights, a commemorative coffee table book, live recognition events, and more, the campaign inspires collective action toward achieving equitable societal goals. To learn more about empowHER50, please visit https://womenincloud.com/empowHER50 

To learn about Microsoft 50th celebrations: https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-50/  

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#empowHER50 – Tanu Mutreja

Great innovation isn’t just about complexity—it’s about creating solutions that make life easier, more accessible, and more efficient. 

Tanu Mutreja has dedicated her career to transforming intricate technological challenges into simple, impactful solutions that empower people and businesses alike.—but only when it’s accessible, intuitive, and impactful. Tanu Mutreja has spent her career turning complex challenges into elegant, customer-centric solutions that not only solve problems but also inspire innovation. 

Her journey began with a simple yet powerful realization: innovation should bring genuine delight to customers. Early in her career, she developed the ‘copy/paste’ feature for Mozilla’s browser, an open-source breakthrough that immediately reached millions. That experience cemented her passion for building products that democratize technology and create lasting impact. 

At Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Salesforce, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Sun Microsystems, and Netscape, Tanu has led groundbreaking product innovations—each designed with one principle in mind: listen to customers, simplify the solution, and maximize impact. Whether integrating AI into hybrid cloud solutions or launching enterprise-grade automation, her approach has always been rooted in solving real-world problems in a way that is accessible and transformative. 

Most recently, she launched the first-ever AI Observability product, a pioneering effort in the early days of enterprise AI. This product demanded bold vision, conviction, and the ability to make crucial decisions without precedent. Through every line of code and strategic partnership, her guiding belief remained clear: “Every line of code, every design choice, and every partnership should accelerate customers’ ability to benefit from Generative AI.” 

Beyond her technical achievements, Tanu is a passionate mentor, dedicated to bridging the gap between talent and opportunity. She finds joy in empowering young entrepreneurs and technologists, particularly women, to break through barriers and turn their ideas into reality. 

“We live in a world full of opportunities to transform human life. We are surrounded by enormous talent ready to turn yesterday’s fiction into today’s reality. It is our responsibility to empower this talent to seize these opportunities ethically and responsibly, paving the path to genuine success and fulfillment.” — Tanu Mutreja 

Her success is built on three fundamental strategies: Customer Obsession, Passion for Simplicity, and Drive for Impact. By focusing on these core principles, she continues to shape a future where technology is not just powerful, but purposeful—where innovation is within reach for all. 

About #empowHER50 campaign

This campaign celebrates women leaders at Microsoft, past and present, who have been instrumental in democratizing access to technology, opportunity, and growth. By honoring their contributions over the last half-century, this campaign highlights stories of resilience, innovation, and inclusivity. Through digital spotlights, a commemorative coffee table book, live recognition events, and more, the campaign inspires collective action toward achieving equitable societal goals. To learn more about empowHER50, please visit https://womenincloud.com/empowHER50 

To learn about Microsoft 50th celebrations: https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-50/  

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#empowHER50 – Farah Deendar

For Farah Deendar, innovation is more than invention—it’s a responsibility. As Director of AI Global Black Belt at Microsoft, Farah brings over two decades of experience to the forefront of emerging technologies, helping enterprise customers harness the power of AI responsibly, ethically, and at scale. 

At the heart of Farah’s leadership lies a simple but profound belief: technology should serve everyone, not just a privileged few. Her work ensures that Azure’s advanced AI capabilities are not only powerful but also accessible, ethical, and inclusive. She leads with intention, guiding global organizations through responsible cloud adoption and helping them solve complex challenges with human-centered AI solutions. 

But Farah’s impact goes far beyond technology deployment. She is a tireless advocate for women in tech and an influential voice in advancing equity in the AI space. Through mentorship, community leadership, and sponsorship of rising talent, she has cultivated an inclusive culture that creates space for others to rise. Her efforts have opened doors for underrepresented voices in AI—amplifying perspectives that are essential to building better, fairer systems. 

Her guiding principle is clear: “True innovation isn’t just about building technology—it’s about making it accessible, ethical, and inclusive.” With every initiative, every conversation, and every breakthrough, Farah is shaping a future where opportunity is truly democratized—across industries, identities, and borders. 

Farah’s story is a powerful reminder that inclusive leadership isn’t a side mission—it’s the foundation of progress. And as technology accelerates, she remains a trusted compass for how we move forward—together. 

About #empowHER50 campaign

This campaign celebrates women leaders at Microsoft, past and present, who have been instrumental in democratizing access to technology, opportunity, and growth. By honoring their contributions over the last half-century, this campaign highlights stories of resilience, innovation, and inclusivity. Through digital spotlights, a commemorative coffee table book, live recognition events, and more, the campaign inspires collective action toward achieving equitable societal goals. To learn more about empowHER50, please visit https://womenincloud.com/empowHER50 

To learn about Microsoft 50th celebrations: https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-50/  

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