A Microsoft exec said that women are an emerging market

Microsoft's SVP of Business Development Peggy Johnson, the first person CEO Satya Nadella hired from outside the company, has given a speech about woman in tech at the Hack for Her Summit.

"We all have to think about the emerging markets. And you probably have given a lot of thought to the largest emerging markets, China and India," Johnson said, according to GeekWire. "But I think what gets lost is that a bigger emerging market is, surprisingly, women."

"Women themselves are an emerging market," she continued. "There are more and more women entering into the workforce themselves [and] more and more of them are making more money."

Johnson has become a public face of Microsoft since she was hired, appearing on stage regularly and working with Silicon Valley startups to help increase the company's talent pool and contacts.

In fact, some of Microsoft's most significant deals, like that with Cyanogen, have been brokered by Johnson.

"It's not just about checking the box on corporate social responsibility," Johson said. "It's about hitting our bottom line."

Johnson then talked about Surface, the company's line of tablet/laptop hybrids. "One of the key designers on it was a woman," she said.

This is important because, as Johnson stressed, woman often don't have pockets. "[Surface was] the first time I've had [the full] capability of a laptop in this 2-in-1 device that can fit inside my purse," she said.