Microsoft’s embrace of blockchain technology may seem unsurprising today, but just a decade ago, it was a far-fetched idea. Roundtable anchor Rob Nelson recently sat down with Yorke Rhodes, who leads the blockchain practice at Microsoft, to discuss this.
Microsoft’s Rhodes explained his decision to dive into the blockchain space after rejoining Microsoft in 2014. His journey was marked by the challenge of integrating blockchain within Microsoft’s vast array of businesses, including gaming, LinkedIn, GitHub, and cloud services.
“Part of that meant I was going to go educate and see what we could get done,” Rhodes shared, emphasizing the diverse applications of blockchain across Microsoft’s platforms. One of the pioneering efforts was decentralized identity work, which initially found applications in humanitarian cases. This protocol has matured over the past decade and is now embedded in many Microsoft products.
Nelson then steered the discussion towards the broader implications of this technology. He noted the fascinating transition of tech giants from Web1 and Web2 to Web3, drawing a comparison with Mark Zuckerberg’s rebranding of Facebook to Meta. Despite the challenges – akin to “turning the Titanic around,” he said – Microsoft’s evolution is distinct due to its foundational role in technology.
Rhodes explained how Microsoft was instrumental in the Web2 era, with the launch of Windows 95. With its essential internet access components, this laid the groundwork for how we experience the internet today. “It’s just an evolution of the internet,” Rhodes stated, referencing computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee’s vision for improved digital identity and the ongoing technological advancements.
Reflecting on the early 2000s, Rhodes drew parallels between the post-dot com boom and the current phase of the internet. “We’ve gone through improving the technologies,” he noted, pointing to the validation of new models and the emergence of companies like Amazon and Uber. According to Rhodes, we are now in a similar phase where blockchain technology is poised to transform an array of economic sectors, building on the robust technological foundation laid over the past decades.
