Microsoft CPO: Inventing the best tech devices “for the most relevant moments”

Microsoft launched its new surface products during the coronavirus pandemic. Microsoft CPO Panos Panay joins Yahoo Finance’s On The Move to discuss how the company is faring and the outlook for tech businesses amid the outbreak.

Video Transcript

- Welcome back to Yahoo Finance's "On the Move." Want to turn our attention to Microsoft. Their chief product officer, Panos Panay, is joining us, along with our tech correspondent, Dan Howley, to talk about some of the new products you get with Surface. So Dan, I'm going to turn this over to you.

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, how you doing, Panos? Long time no see. I just kind of want to go over, start off with what Microsoft is offering right now as far as the Surface line of products. I know that you guys have introduced a slew of new devices. So I guess if you can just kind of start us off with what you're offering now and where you see the Surface line going in the future.

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, for sure. First off, it's great to see you, Dan. So we just launched Surface Go 2. We launched Surface Book 3. One is a great kind of a super mobile, cool device in Surface Go 2, and Surface Book 3 a very powerful product. I think I just saw you review it. The-- we also launched Surface headphones and Surface earbuds. And these are products for the times that we're living in today, that they land pretty well in the sense that what they can be used for as you work from home, play from home, learn from home. They're pretty cool products.

DAN HOWLEY: I guess where do you see the Surface line heading in the future? You know, it's something that, obviously, Microsoft has put a lot of effort behind. I actually have the Book 3 right here.

PANOS PANAY: Oh, cool.

DAN HOWLEY: I'm using it. And the Go 2 is behind me. And you are reaching into new categories. You have the Surface buds, you have the headphones. Where do you see this going? Do you think that it's going to continue as this Surface line where you continue to expand into new products? Is this where Microsoft kind of works to debut its newest, greatest features, and then kind of implements them in OEM devices later?

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, I think you got it just right. We want to meet customers not only where they are today, Dan, but where they're going to be in the future. And we also want to help them get there. That's an absolute goal of the Surface product line, but also for Windows all up.

And what we try and do is invent the best tech to-- for the most, you know, relevant moments, listening to our customers. And if we can push the boundaries of technology and then feed that through the entire ecosystem so customers, people like ourselves right now, as we are communicating through the PC, and even as the times change around us, we're creating the right technology for it.

- Panos, it's Adam again. And I use several different kinds of devices and software. I want to talk to you, a quick question about Microsoft 365 because I come from the old school, where all I had originally was Word. Now I pay for the annual subscription for all of it. But wouldn't it make more sense to allow people like me, who may only want an Excel spreadsheet and Word and not the rest of it, to go back to that kind of model of buying or subscribing?

PANOS PANAY: I think it's more about making sure that every feature you are needing or any application you're needing right now in the scenario you're in, whether it's communicating with somebody else, creating a document, creating a PowerPoint, looking and absorbing the data and putting together your thesis, being able to interact amongst all those properties is pretty important. And then not limiting you to being able to connect through all of them has been an opportunity that Microsoft 365 provides because we want people to create and learn and teach without any barrier of technology in their way.

- Hey, Panos. It's Julie here. I want to ask you how we should think about product at this point fitting into the bigger Microsoft, right? Because Microsoft is this sort of wide-reaching entity at this point that serves a lot of different customers and constituents. So how do you think strategically about product fitting into that?

PANOS PANAY: And you know, it's about what customers want to use right now. And it's interesting, as you look at the times that we live in, and whether you need a PC for hospitals, which we're seeing every day now, or in governments, or even if you're looking-- I don't know if you've noticed, you saw on "The Voice" or in the NFL draft, where you see teams and Surface coming together, where people can connect with each other but also create and inspire at the same time. I think that reflects through all of Microsoft. And to your question, it is the end point that people can engage with to connect with each other and create their best pieces.

DAN HOWLEY: Panos, as the chief product officer for all of Microsoft, I've got to ask you a question on the upcoming Xbox Series X. What are the expectations there? And you know, this has always been a kind of discussion, but is this, do you think, going to be the last real system with-- without cloud gaming support being the main driver? Whereas, you know, you'll have still disks for this, but do you think, down the line, we'll have a system from Microsoft that is diskless and just goes on something like your Project xCloud gaming platform?

PANOS PANAY: I think-- I think-- well, for sure I can't reveal the future product line. For sure, Dan. You do this every time. You do this every time. I love the question. It's perfect. I'll tell you this-- we see an incredible surge in gaming right now, and it's awesome. And with the new Xbox coming, we're pretty pumped about it. I'm pumped about it. I'm a gamer. I love it. You know, I can't keep up with my 10-year-old or my 14-year-old right now. I promise you that. I try, but I can't.

You're going to see, you know, gaming continue to grow. We love it. And yeah, from what you said, both from a cloud perspective and from a console perspective, we want to meet customers where they are and what they need. And we will. But we're also pushing to the future, for sure. I think you're spot on.