Vodafone and Microsoft Forge 10-Year Partnership to Extend AI, Digital Services, and Cloud to 300 Million Users

Vodafone and Microsoft have entered a 10-year strategic partnership to revolutionize digital services, generative AI, and the cloud for over 300 million businesses and consumers in Europe and Africa. The collaboration aims to enhance Vodafone's customer experience using Microsoft's generative AI, scale Vodafone's IoT business, expand M-Pesa for financial inclusion in Africa, and grow enterprise services for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Vodafone will invest $1.5 billion in cloud and customer-focused AI services over the next decade.

The partnership includes Microsoft's investment in Vodafone's IoT platform and accelerates Vodafone's cloud transformation with the modernization of data centers on Microsoft Azure. The strategic alliance will focus on generative AI, scaling IoT, Africa digital acceleration, enterprise growth, and cloud transformation. Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle emphasizes the commitment to the digital future of Europe and Africa, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sees the collaboration unlocking new opportunities globally. The partnership aims to offer highly personalized and ethical digital services using the latest AI technology.