William A. Adams is a software engineer, DEI innovator, and philanthropist whose contributions to the field have been documented by the Computer History Museum. He spent more than 20 years at Microsoft, where he rolled out critical XML code globally, co-founded the <a id= "OWAf0ffd51e-7772-f5fb-f6cb-b3e4654ba42b" class= "x_Hyperlink x_SCXW9138445 x_BCX0 x_OWAAutoLink" title= "Original URL: https://leap.microsoft.com/en-US/. Click or tap if you trust this link." href= "https://nam06.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fleap.microsoft.com%2Fen-US%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cv-ligra%40microsoft.com%7Cacd285a0caae4c9ad54b08dbd01d4b09%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C638332596468118911%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=AI7sCnU9egcKu0ztOgYzLVruU5UWYAryH6uy3H3nJ3w%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-auth="Verified" data-linkindex="3">Leap program</a>, and served as Kevin’s first technical advisor. In this episode, Kevin and William discuss how William got interested in STEM at a young age, founding a software development company in the 80s, his career at Microsoft and pioneering D&I programing, and the importance of equity and diversity in tech.  <a id="OWA64308100-712e-d60e-cb24-86313218c959" class= "x_Hyperlink x_SCXW9138445 x_BCX0 x_OWAAutoLink" title= "Original URL: https://www.william-a-adams.com/. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://www.william-a-adams.com" target="_blank" rel= "noopener" data-auth="Verified" data-linkindex="4">William A. Adams</a>  <a id="OWAfdc228a8-a654-3bb5-2730-97dc88b6ec82" class= "x_Hyperlink x_SCXW9138445 x_BCX0 x_OWAAutoLink" title= "Original URL: https://news.microsoft.com/exec/kevin-scott/. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://news.microsoft.com/exec/kevin-scott" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-auth="Verified" data-linkindex="5">Kevin Scott</a>   <a id="OWA037dd6b5-f92c-9046-0e82-049a460e31e4" class= "x_Hyperlink x_SCXW9138445 x_BCX0 x_OWAAutoLink" title= "Original URL: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/behind-the-tech. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/behind-the-tech" target= "_blank" rel="noopener" data-auth="Verified" data-linkindex= "6">Behind the Tech with Kevin Scott</a>   Discover and listen to other <a id= "OWA33e56255-a063-94d3-4b07-95bbb10880dc" class= "x_Hyperlink x_SCXW9138445 x_BCX0 x_OWAAutoLink" href= "https://news.microsoft.com/podcasts/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener" data-auth="Verified" data-linkindex="7">Microsoft podcasts</a>.

David Kirtley, Co-Founder and CEO, Helion

Behind the Tech invites listeners to geek out with an amazing line-up of tech heroes, inventors and innovators. Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott takes tech enthusiasts behind-the-scenes to meet AI experts, computer scientists, authors, musicians, digital leaders, bioengineers and neuroscientists who have made discoveries, built tools, and literally helped make our modern world possible.