One of the most consequential responsibilities of any Board is choosing a CEO. And for any CEO, the most important task is to discover and execute the business model of the firm. A business model is the logic of the company—the operating formula that explains how value is created, delivered, and most critically, captured.
This is not a mere academic point. Years ago, in a Harvard Business Review piece, I challenged companies with a simple question: as you serve your customers, are you also capturing value for yourself? Because if you don’t, you will fade. Skype delivered immense value to users, but it could not capture value for itself—and it was eventually eclipsed.
That lesson comes alive again with the latest news: Microsoft is partnering with Anthropic. Yes, the same Microsoft that has invested heavily in OpenAI and ChatGPT is now also integrating Anthropic’s Claude models into Office 365 products—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook—the productivity engines of hundreds of millions of people.
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What is going on here? Strategy. The Microsoft CEO operates on a simple principle: frenemies are fine, as long as value is created and captured. When his predecessors refused to open Microsoft to Android and iOS, he came and made peace with competitors. That move unlocked access, widened Microsoft’s ecosystem, and transformed the company’s fortunes—from suv-$400 billion in market cap to $1 trillion in six years, and nearly $4 trillion today.
And now, that same business mindset is being applied to artificial intelligence: anywhere there is value, Microsoft will be there.
In the Igbo Nation, we say “Uwa bu ahia” – the world is a marketplace. For Microsoft, there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent opportunities to do business. Because in business, you do not win by subtraction—you win by additions.
(I will expand on this in the next edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA, under the module Grand Playbook of Business & Business Models. Class begins on Monday; you can join here )
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