Peggy Johnson

“Our smartphones can offer innovative opportunities for improving how we react to our environment, and I believe it is increasingly becoming an asset - not a hindrance - to maintaining a healthier relationship with our work, our friends, and the world around us.”

“Culture used to be viewed as the 'touchy-feely' side of business, but that's no longer the case. If you don't have a defined culture behind you, then you aren't going to be effective at executing your strategy.”

“You don't have to fit into a mold that someone else has defined.”

“I had to find my own terms for success, and it wasn't anything like what I was told to do.”

“To young professionals - and particularly women - looking to advance, it is imperative to keep your life in balance.”

“I can still hear my mom's voice echoing through the house, reminding me and my siblings to 'Make your beds!' It seems like such a small thing, but when you're one of 15 brothers and sisters like me, those small reminders about the importance of discipline and order are critical.”

“We fully recognized that our customers have a variety of devices. They're carrying all sorts of things. And we want to bring our world-class apps to those devices.”

“Great things happen when you converge services and devices.”

“It's a balance - sometimes you have to concentrate on your home life, and sometimes you have to concentrate on your work life.”

“It's not just about checking the box on corporate social responsibility. It's about hitting our bottom line.”

“Deals are always a bit lumpy. We look at, 'Is it solving a problem for us?' And if it does, we move to acquisition.”

“We all have to think about the emerging markets.”

“I spent almost 25 years at Qualcomm before joining Microsoft, so in a sense, I grew up at one company. During that time, I made a very big shift from the engineering side to the business side.”

“We look for partners who are solving a problem for us. If they've already solved it, we'd much rather try to partner with them than try to rebuild it.”

“Valuations are always much-debated. I try to center on what is the value to us. Is it solving a problems for us? If it is, we find a way to proceed. If the valuation has been overhyped on something and it doesn't make sense, we won't. It's very simple for me. I tend not to worry too much about the valuation. It's really what the value is to us.”

“If an acquisition can speed a process or fill a gap, we'll jump right to that. It's about timing, need... it's not necessarily an algorithm.”

“In Indonesia, Qualcomm, in a joint project with Grameen Foundation, has provided a range of mobile phone-based services to individuals. This project facilitates the creation of businesses for those living at the bottom of the economic pyramid and, at the same time, extends telecommunication access to people who cannot afford a mobile phone.”

“I focus a fair amount of my time on ensuring that we have a good funnel of females coming into the company and then that we're retaining that as well and making sure that we have comfortable environments for them to be successful in.”

“M&A at Microsoft is a team sport for the senior leadership group. They're all involved in it, and we all play different roles. My role is the first centralized business development role at Microsoft.”

“If a company has a navigation system or a database or a virtual assistant they like better, Microsoft will meet them in the middle.”