Microsoft's board is expected to soon choose the company's next CEO. The current front runners are Ford CEO Alan Mulally, and Satya Nadella who leads Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group.

But according to Adam Charlson, CEO headhunter and vice president for executive recruiting firm DHR International, Microsoft is most likely pick former Nokia CEO Steven Elop.



Charlson might not be involved in the selection process,  he has worked with Microsoft in the past, finding an executive to run Microsoft's American sales organization a few years ago,

As Chalson explains, since both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are involved in the search for the new CEO, the candidate must possess the following criteria:

• someone who understands Microsoft's culture.
• someone who understands the tech world, particularly enterprise software (Microsoft's bread and butter).
• someone with the experience of running a publicly traded company
• someone who understands mobile, the strategy where Microsoft has staked its future by building its own PCs and buying Nokia's device business for $7 billion.

"Microsoft plans to become more of a mobile company. If they are going to abandon that strategy after buying Nokia for $7 billion, that's highly doubtful. And if they are going to go with a mobile, Elop is the obvious choice," Charlson said.