Into the Gaming Industry

It is the 1st of November, 2024.

I am sitting in the dining area of my home, laptop open in front of me, preparing for what could be a pivotal moment in my professional journey: my interview with Microsoft.

This corner of my home, just next to my cozy kitchen is one of my favorite spots in my house. I think, by nature of how the lighting was designed, it is the brighest point of my home, and to me: the perfect mix of clarity and warmth.

I’ve arranged myself just right: not just for the video call, but for the energy I want to bring into this conversation. Intentional. Ready. Aligned.

What many might not realize is just how much led up to this 3 hour interview. I didn’t just skim Microsoft’s website or check Glassdoor. I spent the past week immersed in learning about Microsoft’s direction, with a laser focus on the business development landscape. I thought about this less as an international development professional, and more as an entrepreneur.

Where is Microsoft placing its bets? What is the future vision? What does the shift toward AI mean for business and user interaction?

On the night before the interview, I stayed up working on a 14-page strategy document. Fourteen pages. I went deep into Microsoft’s AI strategy; particularly Copilot, their AI companion… and explored where the company has been, where it seems to be heading, and most importantly, how I, as a prospective intern, could contribute meaningfully to that journey.

Then, the interview begins. The screen flickers to life, and my first interviewer logs on. He’s wearing an Xbox T-shirt.

Pause.

It should have clicked to me in a moment, but it did not.

“He must really like Xbox,” I thought to myself.

We start talking, and instead of going straight into the expected questions, he asks me to ask him questions.

This was odd, I thought, but I leaned in.

I asked him questions about his journey. About what it’s like working at Microsoft. About what he’s been building, what’s bringing him joy. He told me about when he joined Microsoft, how he came to work at Xbox, and the projects he’s been part of.

Then he asks me: “Did you apply to Xbox?”

I said, “No.”

Another pause — this one heavier. That question lingered in the air.

When applying, I applied to the Business Development Management MBA internship on the Microsoft Careers website.

Up until that moment, I hadn’t thought of myself as someone who belonged in gaming. I had never considered myself a gamer. I didn’t grow up immersed in consoles or video games. My world had always been creative, yes; but rooted in public service, storytelling, digital strategy, and social impact. Gaming felt like a completely different universe.

For a while, it did not click to me. It took VERY long for me to realize that maybe this is the place. Maybe gaming is where I’m supposed to be.

Six weeks later, at the midpoint of my internship, I can confidently say: I’m so grateful I didn’t say no to the opportunity when it came knocking. Because now, I’m sitting with the full weight of that decision, and I know I made the right one.

The Entertainment Reframe

When I received my offer to work with Microsoft for my summer MBA internship, I remember thinking: “I’ll learn about Xbox, I’ll get to understand gaming as a business unit, I’ll do my best, and then… I’ll pivot to a different part of Microsoft that’s more aligned with my experience.”

This was my plan.

Now, six weeks in, I’ve fallen in love with gaming — not just as a product, but as an industry.

In a recent conversation over lunch with the manager of the Developer Acceleration Program, James Lewis, he said something that completely reframed things for me:

Gaming is more entertainment than it is technology.

That statement transformed the way I saw Xbox — and myself.

I’ve always existed in the creative industries, or at least at the margins of them: from digital media and content creation to educational storytelling. I’ve flirted with film and dreamed of working in the global entertainment space. And suddenly, there it was, staring me in the face: gaming is entertainment. And it is the most lucrative form of entertainment in the world.

It made perfect sense. What better way to step into the global entertainment industry than through the front door marked Xbox?

That shift in perspective — from seeing this as a complex tech internship to realizing it’s a creative and entertainment pathway, has given me a lot of soul clarity. I was never pivoting out of my lane. I was accelerating within it.

The Analyst’s Arc

Now, let’s get into the work.

On paper, I’m a Business Development Manager. But functionally, I’m a systems thinker who’s moved from coordination, to monitoring and evaluation at the UN, to project management, and now business development at Microsoft.

Some might look at this and say, “Wow, that’s a huge shift.” But is it?

At the UN, I worked in evaluation: collecting data, analyzing program performance, understanding what works and what doesn’t. I was doing analytics, but on social programs. Here at Xbox, I’m analyzing developer performance, title release patterns, monetization strategies. It’s still evaluation; just from a different lens.

I used to analyze the impact of public sector programs. Now I analyze how games perform on a global platform. Same core skill. Different application. This realization has been grounding.

Lessons: Getting into the Why

This is always the core of my thinking: What works? In what context? Under what circumstances? And, why?

This is the foundation of Lessons — my upcoming book. It’s also the premise of Lessons Conversation, my podcast launching soon.

I’ve been a “why” person since I was a child (my daddy says). I dig for patterns, insights, best practices. I look for systems that make sense and hold under scrutiny. That’s what fuels my creativity — and my work.

So whether I’m in public administration or business development, whether I’m advising government or building dashboards at Xbox — my guiding light remains the same: what works, why it works, and how we replicate that for greater impact.

Is it part of why I call myself the Patron of Creativity and Innovation. I sit right at that intersection — the margin between imagination and execution.

Full Circle with Power BI

When I first joined the United Nations Development Programme, I had a meeting with Oscar Garcia, then Director of the Evaluation Office. He told me,

“You should consider data visualization. I think with your creativity and business understanding, you’d enjoy it.”

It was my first time hearing of the phrase data visualization. I hadn’t even heard of Power BI back then. My manager, Ana Rosa Soares, asked if I could give it a try. I created one simple visual. She loved it. But that was it. I didn’t dive any deeper at the time.

Fast forward to my time working with the College of Engineering at the Michigan State University — supporting capstone students who were building Power Apps and using complex Excel sheets. I started to see the magic of Microsoft 365.

Still, I’d never built anything major in Power BI myself.

Then I arrived at Microsoft. I was given a large data analysis project. I knew immediately: we needed a Power BI dashboard. And I said, “Let’s do it.”

With help from the data team, and guided by AI and my own stubborn belief that I could learn, we built it. Two stunning Power BI dashboards that synthesize critical developer data across geographies, monetization models, publisher partnerships, release timelines, and more.

And here’s the most beautiful part: these dashboards are going to outlive me. They’re going to be used long after my internship ends. They’ll become part of the internal toolkit. A visual artifact of my contribution.

That moment… that knowledge, reminded me that internships aren’t just about learning. They’re about impact.

Walking the Halls of Legends: Studio Tours & Strategic Fire

As part of my internship experience, I’ve had the rare and thrilling opportunity to tour some of the most iconic studios under the Xbox umbrella — and these visits have ignited something new in me. It’s one thing to work on business development in the abstract, reading about games and analyzing performance metrics. It’s another thing entirely to walk the halls where the worlds are built.

On the 17th of June, my manager’s manager’s manager, Chris Charla, invited me to join the team as they visited Wizards of the Coast — the powerhouse behind Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. I was completely blown away. Not just by the creative vibrancy of the space, but by the deeply strategic business thinking that fuels it.

This wasn’t just a group of passionate creatives making magic — it was a deeply intentional business operation. Every decision, from game mechanics to IP expansion to fan engagement, is backed by sharp commercial insight and long-term planning.

I found myself absorbing everything: how the teams present their roadmap, how they package their IP for various platforms, how they align storytelling with revenue models. I left the studio thinking, this is how I want to pitch my companies. Q2 Corporation to me isn’t just an idea. It’s an expansive company (with a studio in it) in the making. A platform for a lot of supply chain solutions, yes — but also for edutainment, storytelling, systems innovation, and scalable creativity.

That visit reminded me of something simple but powerful: go big or go home. You don’t pitch vision halfway. You step up, you light up the room, and you make people see it.

Today, the 21st of June, I joined my colleague Lantao Wu as we visited the Halo Museum (where he works from) — a moment I know will always be unforgettable.

𝘔𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳: *telling my dad I am moving back to the U.S. to work seriously seriously work on my career*

𝘔𝘦 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬: pic.twitter.com/QBbJztRHGX
— Ms. Manduwi 🌍🌎 (@NthandaManduwi) June 22, 2025

The Halo franchise is one of the most iconic and enduring legacies in gaming history. To stand in the space where it is built, to meet the minds shaping its next chapter, is an extraordinary full-circle moment. Especially because I’m not just visiting as a fan, I’m walking in as a business strategist. I was VERY curious about scale. For audience insight. For legacy-building. I was looking for how they think, because that’s the muscle I’m here to strengthen.

Building Worlds, Crafting Futures

These studio visits are more than corporate perks to me; they’re windows into the future I’m building. Every conversation, every observation, becomes fuel for how I design, pitch, and scale my own ventures: from Q2 Corporation to the Kwathu Kollective. I no longer see myself as separate from this world. I am part of it, and I think this is critical at my midpoint: I am learning its language, absorbing its tempo, sharpening my tools.

This midpoint is not just a milestone. It’s a mirror. I see the founder in me standing tall beside the strategist, the creator, the analyst — all of them aligned. This is what it means to be prepared: not just technically competent, but spiritually and creatively ready.

And, when I eventually pitch Q2 to the world (soon) — to investors, to governments, to global partners; I’ll do it with the confidence of someone who has walked among legends and learned not just what they build, but how they think.

Big vision. Strategic execution. A touch of magic. That’s the path forward.

At the midpoint of this internship, I’m no longer wondering if I want to work in gaming. I know I do.

And not just any gaming — I want to be part of building ecosystems. Telling stories. Supporting developers. Merging the power of data and creativity to create worlds that people inhabit, play in, and build lives around. At least, for a while.

Still curious, always curious,

Ntha 🎮💚