By , USA TODAY
Publication Date: 2026-04-15 09:07:00
April 15, 2026, 5:07 a.m. ET
- Microsoft has become a part of the fabric of offices, schools, government agencies, living rooms and gaming.
- The company began in a garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and now has 228,000 employees worldwide.
- Microsoft is pushing hard into artificial intelligence to move it from a conversational tool to an “agentic partner.”
This story is part of the Iconic Brands series, a USA TODAY network project showcasing the companies and brands that helped shape the nation’s identity, economy and culture. The series celebrates American ingenuity with a deeply reported examination of how brands intersect with history, community and everyday life in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. Find more athttps://usatoday.com/usa250/iconic-brands
On a recent afternoon in Norfolk, Virginia, Andrew Roper did what millions of IT administrators around the country quietly do every day: he listened to complaints about the computer system in use.
A Microsoft update had just…
