Preparing for the Digital Revolution
Interview with James Gafsi, President of Microsoft Engineering Centers Paris SASU
As the largest software company in the world, Microsoft holds a special position in the computer industry. It became known in the early days of the PC era through its groundbreaking operating system and has since expanded its activities into other business areas such as business and entertainment. This affects both hardware and software. Innovation lies at the foundation of Microsoft's success and the firm belief that visions do not have to remain dreams. One of these dream factories is the Microsoft Engineering Center Paris. Wirtschaftsforum spoke with President James Gafsi about the company's visions for the digital age.
Wirtschaftsforum: Thanks to Microsoft, amongst others, we are surrounded by digital technology in everyday life. Is there still room for expansion in the digital world?
Jamel Gafsi: Absolutely, the future is definitely digital. More and more areas will be digitized, more and more data will find its way to the cloud, and connectivity will also increase. Our lives will be completely different from today.
At the moment, the internet and smartphones have changed the way people live, but they too will disappear or at least be transformed. In the coming years, there will be an explosion of innovations like never before. The future will be significantly influenced by artificial intelligence. In addition, we will live in a world where the virtual merges with the real. Many jobs will become obsolete, new ones will be created.
Wirtschaftsforum: What is your role in this development?
Jamel Gafsi: The Microsoft Engineering Center Paris designs, constructs, and operates products around the Microsoft Store and the Microsoft Windows ecosystem. So, we develop services that are closely related to gaming, music, TV, books and everything else that falls under the umbrella term media. Most recently, we launched a platform that allows people to share 3D objects they have created with Microsoft Paint 3D with others. Everything related to these topics is produced and implemented by our team here on site in Paris. We also provide cloud services to operate these products.
Wirtschaftsforum: What highlights does the future hold?
Jamel Gafsi: One of the things we are working on right now is an online reading platform for books, based on the Windows Edge browser. We are perfecting this platform, which is aimed at the educational sector, and designed to provide teachers and students with the best possible interactive reading experience. It will offer students all the editing options that are also available with a printed book, but it will also provide even more options for accessing text, graphics, and even videos. We want to ensure that students have access to all books and receive all the related support in digital form. This is our part in the mission of a paperless educational system. I see this as one of my main tasks to help in digitizing the world.
Wirtschaftsforum: Why did Microsoft just choose Paris as the location for the Engineering Center?
Jamel Gafsi: Everything we develop here is intended for the global market. Since we work in a digital environment connected to a cloud, it practically doesn't matter where we work from. It just happened to be Paris. I have been with Microsoft since 2005. Before that, I had my own start-up that developed software to play TV content over internet networks.
I received an offer from Microsoft to set up a European center far from the US headquarters. Our task was to develop certain projects on our own and transform the center into a production unit. We have 200 software developers here in Paris, and I spend one week every month at the Microsoft corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, where I also have a team that supports me from the US.
Wirtschaftsforum: There is a huge competition among employers for the best IT minds. How do you find the qualified staff you need?
Jamel Gafsi: Of course, Microsoft is an enormously prestigious employer, known for its pioneering role in software development and programming. We also have the advantage of being located in one of the liveliest European capitals. I need excellent developers and I can recruit them from all over Europe and the Mediterranean countries. Currently, we have 24 different nationalities in our offices in Paris. For me, this is one of the great benefits of my job – being able to work in a multicultural environment with people who are smarter than I am and from whom I can learn something new every day.