Vodafone has signed a 10-year partnership with Microsoft to provide artificial intelligence (AI), digital, enterprise and cloud services to more than 300 million enterprises and users in its European and African markets.。

Vodafone will invest $1.5 billion to develop customer-centric AI services by applying Microsoft's Azure OpenAI and Copilot technologies, and replace data center entities with cheaper, scalable Microsoft Azure cloud services.。

Vodafone's IoT management platform will begin operating independently by April 2024, when Microsoft will become an equity investor in the platform and leverage Vodafone's fixed and mobile connectivity services to help it expand its mobile finance platform in Africa.。Microsoft said the move will attract new partners and customers, drive growth and expand the platform's connectivity to cover more devices, vehicles and machines.。

According to the agreement, the two sides identified five key areas of cooperation:

1.Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)

Both parties will apply the power of Microsoft Azure OpenAI to deliver smooth, real-time and personalized experiences across all of Vodafone's customer touchpoints, including its digital assistant TOBi (available in 13 countries).。Vodafone employees can also use Microsoft Copilot to change the way they work, increase productivity and digital efficiency。

2. Expanding the Internet of Things (IoT)

Microsoft plans to invest in Vodafone's new, independent global IoT management connectivity platform (which can connect the world 1.7.5 billion devices and platforms), Vodafone also plans to join the Microsoft Azure ecosystem to deliver an IoT platform to developers and third parties using open application program interfaces (APIs)。

3.Digital Acceleration in Africa

Vodafone's M-PESA mobile payment platform, which operates in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and other African countries with more than 51 million users, will be further scaled up by integrating with Microsoft Azure and supporting the launch of new cloud-native applications.。

Moreover, the two companies share the same goal: to enrich the lives of 100 million consumers and 1 million SMEs on the continent by strengthening digital literacy, skills training and youth outreach programs, to provide digital services to underserved SME markets, and to build a community of certified developers.。

4.Enterprise Growth

Vodafone will continue to focus on distributing Microsoft services, including Microsoft Azure, security solutions and modern office products such as Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile, as part of its strategy to become Europe's leading enterprise platform.。This enables enterprise customers to quickly deploy Microsoft's cloud-based services at low adoption and operating costs, and support approximately 24 million SMEs in Europe by providing a hosting platform that grows with the business.。

5.Cloud transformation

Vodafone to accelerate cloud transformation by modernizing data centers on Microsoft Azure。This will increase Vodafone's responsiveness to customers, while simplifying and reducing operating costs in its IT industry; combined with the replacement of multiple physical data centers with virtual data centers, it will greatly facilitate the advancement of sustainable business strategies。

Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, said: "The next generation of AI will bring a lot of new opportunities to every organization and every industry around the world.。We are excited to work with Vodafone to apply the latest cloud and AI technologies to enhance the customer experience for hundreds of millions of people and businesses in Africa and Europe, create new products and services, and accelerate the company's transition to cloud computing.。"

Margherita Della Valle, CEO of Vodafone Group, said: "Vodafone has made a bold commitment to the digital future of Europe and Africa, and this unique strategic partnership with Microsoft will accelerate the digital transformation of our enterprise customers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and improve the quality of customer experience for consumers.。"

According to industry analysts, Microsoft's leading position in the AI field, coupled with the support of its OpenAI partnership, will seize the pain points of every Vodafone customer, and the TOBi chatbot based on its AI capabilities will also be intelligent.。

For Microsoft, IoT assets are critical to meeting its massive sustainability needs。Previously, Microsoft deployed "digital twins" to simulate manufacturing environments to test process improvements in the cloud.。With this agreement, Vodafone's strengths in IoT and financial services will help Microsoft enter and model these environments, create large-scale data stores, and use AI to help customers achieve their sustainability goals.。