Seattle: Microsoft has officially named cloud-computing executive Satya Nadella as its new CEO. Nadella, who has spent 22 years at the firm and was previously in charge of the tech giant’s cloud software and services division, will replace exiting CEO Steve Ballmer.

Company founder Bill Gates is leaving his role as chairman to become technology adviser, and board member John Thompson will take his place.

“Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together,” Gates said in a statement.

“His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”

Apart from watching Test cricket, Nadella finds relaxation in reading poetry, in all forms and by poets who are both Indian and American.

Upon his appointment, Nadella, sent out an e-mail to all Microsoft employees.

In his mail, he said he wants to ‘change the world through technology that empowers people to do amazing things’.

His message to the employees included a rallying call, saying the folks at Microsoft are ‘the only ones who can harness the power of software and deliver it through devices and services that truly empower every individual and every organisation’.

He urged them to ‘believe in the impossible and remove the improbable’.