LinkedIn's India market grows 19% YoY with over 100 million members: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted the growth of LinkedIn in India during the third-quarter earnings conference call on April 25. The market has grown 19 percent year-on-year and now has over 100 million members.

LinkedIn has over 930 million members worldwide who use the professional social network to connect, learn, sell, and get hired, according to Nadella.

Speaking of LinkedIn's growth, Nadella said, "Member growth accelerated for the seventh consecutive quarter as we expanded to new audiences. We now have 100 million members in India, up 19%. And as Gen Z enters the workforce, we saw a 73% year-over-year increase in the number of student sign-ups."

In February, LinkedIn said that its member base from India has grown by 56 percent in the past three years, making the country the platform's second biggest market worldwide. Software and IT, followed by manufacturing, corporate services (consulting, accounting, and HR), finance, and education, contributed the most members from India.

India is increasingly becoming a strategic growth market for global technology companies. Nadella's comments come two weeks after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos called India a "big prize" due to the enormous scale of content-consuming people and the company's motivation to "ultimately do great" in the country.

Microsoft's shares soared after investors bought into Nadella's artificial intelligence narrative.

He said that the company has over 2,500 customers using Azure-OpenAI services and has incorporated AI-powered features into a diverse range of products. Microsoft also recently extended its partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI and enhanced the Bing search engine using advanced AI technology.

Bing has 100 million daily users and has seen downloads jump since the addition of AI features, Nadella said.

Nadella also highlighted the ways in which AI has opened up new possibilities in every aspect of LinkedIn's operations, from marketing and sales to finance, software development, and security.

"LinkedIn is increasingly where people are going to learn, discuss and up-level their skills with more than 100 AI courses. And we have introduced new AI-powered features, including writing suggestions for member profiles and job descriptions and collaborative articles," he said.