Microsoft VP’s memoir of growing up India makes unexpected case for what matters in the age of AI

One of Ravi Vedula‘s strongest memories from childhood is seeing his name in the Deccan Chronicle. He and his friends in a government housing colony in Hyderabad, India, had been solving the Sunday Jumble puzzle in the newspaper every week, mailing in postcards with their answers, and he’d finally been chosen as the winner.

The reward was 25 rupees. They used the money to buy a set of cricket wickets, a prized possession shared by kids who had very little and came together to make the most of it.

Vedula is now a corporate vice president at Microsoft, a 25-year veteran of the company, leading the data and insights organization behind Microsoft 365 and Copilot as the software…