Statya Nadella has been named as Microsft’s chief executive-in-waiting and will assume the role when incumbent Steve Ballmer retires this year.

Last year Mr Ballmer said he would retire from the software giant within 12 months, while founder and chairman Bill Gates will also step down as chairman, to be replaced by John Thompson, a director at the firm.

Mr Nadella is currently in charge of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise unit. It has not been announced when his promotion will come into force.

Making the announcement today, Mr Gates said: "During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella.”

"Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together.

“His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth."