Day: December 1, 2025

• Satya Nadella says Microsoft’s size slows AI development, pushing him to study how startups build.
• He told Mathias Döpfner that leaders must unlearn past success and adopt a “learn-it-all” mindset.
• Most AI projects are bound to fail without new mindsets, tools, skills, and shared data, he added.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is in study hall mode.

Speaking with Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer — Business Insider’s parent company — Nadella said he’s spending his weekends studying how startups build products. The reason, he said, is simple: Microsoft’s vast size has become “a massive disadvantage” in the race to build AI at startup speed.

“This entire weekend, I spent all the time trying to get myself to understand how new companies are building products,” Nadella said in an interview on the “MD MEETS” podcast, hosted by Döpfner and that aired on Saturday.

At young companies, he said, everyone involved in product development — from scientists to engineers to infrastructure teams — is “all sitting in one little table.” It means they’re able to make decisions on product, science, and infrastructure, and iterate instantly.

At Microsoft, he has “three divisional heads who manage those three things.”

Nadella’s comments come as many major tech companies — from Meta to Google to Amazon — are aggressively trimming middle layers of management in the name of speed.

It reflects a broader shift in Silicon Valley, where thick hierarchies are increasingly viewed as impediments to swift product decisions and AI experimentation.

Unlearning success to stay relevant

Nadella told Döpfner that thriving in the AI era requires unlearning habits that once made companies successful.

Big organizations and their leaders need to abandon the “know-it-all” mindset and adopt a “learn-it-all” approach, he said.

“The most important skill set for long-term relevance is — how do you be a learn-it-all and not a know-it-all,” Nadella said.

The challenge, he added, is that “you have to unlearn the things that made you successful to learn something new.”

Internally, Nadella has already been pushing this cultural shift.

A leaked organizational chart reviewed by Business Insider showed how he has reorganized executives and has 16 direct reports — a lineup of handpicked lieutenants tasked with breaking down silos and accelerating the company’s AI shift.

The 4 things you need to fix first

Nadella said the majority of corporate AI projects collapse because companies approach AI like a traditional IT upgrade — a mistake he believes “is going to fail by definition.”

To make AI work, he said, organizations must be prepared to do four key things: rethink their workflows from the ground up, adopt modern AI tools, train employees to use them, and make sure company data isn’t stuck in old legacy systems.

Only companies that rebuild these foundations, Nadella said, will see meaningful gains from AI — and only leaders willing to unlearn old habits will be able to pull it off.

• Melania Trump unveiled the White House Christmas decorations on Monday.
• The theme of the decorations was “Home Is Where The Heart Is.”
• The layout of the decor differed from past years since the East Wing was demolished in October.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

On Monday, first lady Melania Trump unveiled the 2025 White House Christmas decorations — her first holiday season of President Donald Trump’s second non-consecutive term and the first White House Christmas decorations since the demolition of the East Wing in October.

The East Entrance and East Colonnade, which featured prominently in Melania Trump’s past White House Christmas decorations with displays of dramatically lit branches and deep-red trees, are no longer part of the route. They were demolished along with the rest of the East Wing.

The White House Menorah, which the Biden administration added to the White House Christmas decorations in 2022, was also absent from the display.

Melania Trump centered the White House Christmas decorations around the theme “Home Is Where The Heart Is,” featuring nods to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, her Be Best initiative, and military families.

I visited the White House for an early look at this year’s holiday display. Take a look.

I entered the White House through the North Portico stairs.

In previous years, White House tours began at the East Entrance.

On my way in, I saw Melania Trump’s Christmas wreaths with red bows in the White House windows.

The wreaths also appear on this year’s official White House Christmas card.

The East Room featured a tribute to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The East Room decor, which included patriotic nods, was a collaboration with America250, the national organization in charge of planning events for America’s semiquincentennial next year.

The East Room’s Christmas trees glittered with red, white, and blue decorations.

Red, white, and blue striped ribbons were accompanied by oak leaves, a traditional symbol of strength.

Golden eagles were also displayed in the East Room.

The Christmas trees were topped with gold eagle ornaments, which also appeared on the East Room’s mirrors.

The Green Room displayed portraits of President Donald Trump and President George Washington made of puzzle pieces.

Each portrait contained 6,000 pieces.

Dedicated to the theme of playfulness, the Green Room contained childhood toys in every corner.

Miniature Christmas trees made of dominoes were built on a side table.

The Official White House Christmas tree served as the centerpiece of the Blue Oval Room.

This year’s Official White House Christmas tree is an 18-foot concolor fir from Sidney, Michigan.

The tree was decorated with ornaments depicting the official bird and flower of every US state and territory, as well as gold stars honoring the Gold Star families of fallen US soldiers.

The ornaments were created using AI and 3D printed.

The Red Room was filled with butterflies, a youthful nod to the first lady’s Fostering the Future program supporting children in foster care.

The Red Room decor included a total of 10,000 butterflies.

Its Christmas tree was decorated with Be Best ornaments and Fostering the Future ribbons.

Fostering the Future is part of Melania Trump’s Be Best initiative focused on children’s wellness.

The State Dining Room featured a gingerbread White House complete with a miniature South Portico.

The intricate White House model is made of 120 pounds of gingerbread, 100 pounds of pastillage dough, over 10 pounds of chocolate, and 5 pounds of royal icing.

In the Grand Foyer, the US Marine Band played holiday classics such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

I also recognized “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” from Disney’s “Frozen.”

A portion of the White House Creche was displayed in the Grand Foyer while the rest undergoes restoration work.

The White House Creche, a Nativity scene dating back to the 18th century, was first displayed at the White House in 1961 and appeared on President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 Christmas card.

The Cross Hall glowed with ceiling projections and additional Christmas trees.

Piles of boxes in red gift wrap were assembled at the base of the trees, and scented candles filled the air with a warm, spiced aroma.

I got a close-up look at the painting depicting Donald Trump’s raised fist after he survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Painted by artist Marc Lipp, the piece hangs where President Barack Obama’s official White House portrait was displayed during the Biden administration.

In total, the White House Christmas decorations feature 51 Christmas trees, over 2,000 strands of lights, and 25,000 feet of ribbon.

The White House reopens for public tours on December 2 — the first tours offered since the demolition of the East Wing. To schedule a tour, members of Congress submit tour requests on behalf of their constituents.

The display was dazzling, but I wish I could have seen the East Wing in its former glory.

Before its demolition, the East Wing was once a focal point of the White House’s Christmas decorations and the first stop on tours. The East Colonnade’s long hallway in particular lent itself to immersive, and occasionally divisive, displays.

There’s less space to decorate at the White House until Donald Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom is complete, but I still loved seeing the Executive Mansion all decked out for the holidays.