Why these 50 people? For years, those of us at the Microsoft Alumni Network have been kicking around the idea of capturing the stories and memories of our members because Microsoft’s success rests on the shoulders of the hundreds of thousands of people who have come together across 50 years to change the company, the industry and the world.

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As we approached the company’s 50th anniversary, we decided the time was right, and we should launch with 50 individuals in honor of the company’s 50 years.

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In the summer of 2023, we started with a pilot oral history collection project with Microsoft alum and Pacific Lutheran University professor Michael Halvorson. With the help of some of his PLU students, Halvorson researched and interviewed Xbox alumni.

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Then, in early 2024, taking learnings from the pilot project into account, the Alumni Network set about the impossible task of deciding who from more than 290,000 Microsoft alumni we would invite as our first Microsoft Alumni Voices.

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There were millions of ways to tackle it. We enlisted a committee of 30 people: including Halvorson, board members and other prominent alumni whose Microsoft tenure spanned eras, divisions, products, and geographies.

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Their first task: Identify and agree upon the 10 topics quintessential to Microsoft.

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Then came the hard work.

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We asked the committee to help us identify five people who had an outsized impact in each of the topic areas: Microsoft’s early days, global expansion, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Research, cloud computing, the Internet, social impact, Microsoft’s campus and culture, and the customer and partner ecosystem.

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Those brainstorming sessions were incredible, filled with reminiscing, laughter and commitment to representation across eras, divisions, products, and geographies. Plus, a lot of “you can’t tell the history of Microsoft without ... insert name here.”

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The list of “musts” was closer to 300 people than it was to 50.

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More discussions ensued. Finally, after weeks of back and forth (and factoring in the pre-recorded Xbox interviews) the list was finalized.

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We issued invitations. Within moments of our invitations hitting their inboxes, alumni responded, excited about the initiative. Alumni were eager to participate and fit us into their busy schedules.

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There you have it. How we determined the first 50 Microsoft Alumni Voices.

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Is this a definitive list? No.

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But this is just the beginning. There are hundreds of thousands of stories to tell, and we can’t wait to tell them.