A new strategic partnership between Vodafone and Microsoft Corp. was announced by both companies on Tuesday, leveraging their respective strengths to offer scaled digital platforms to more than 300 million businesses, public sector organizations, and consumers across Europe and Africa in a 10-year period.
In this partnership, the two companies will collaborate on how to transform Vodafone's customer experience using Microsoft's generative artificial intelligence, hyperscale Vodafone's leading managed IoT connectivity platform, develop new digital and financial services for businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses in Europe and Africa, and revamp Vodafone's global cloud strategy for data centers.  
The partnership between the two companies will enable Vodafone to transform its customer experience through the use of Microsoft's generative artificial intelligence; hyperscale Vodafone's leading managed IoT connectivity platform; develop new digital and financial services for businesses, primarily SMEs, throughout Europe and Africa; and overhaul its global data center cloud strategy.  
There is no doubt that Vodafone will invest $1.5 billion over the next 10 years in cloud and customer-focused artificial intelligence services developed in partnership with Microsoft, as well as using Vodafone's fixed and mobile connectivity services to do so.
Furthermore, Microsoft plans to invest in Vodafone's managed IoT connectivity platform, which will become a separate, standalone business by April 2024. In addition to attracting new clients and partners, the new company will be able to expand the platform to connect more devices, vehicles, and machines as well as growing applications.
Using the latest generative artificial intelligence technology, the new partnership will provide a highly customized and differentiated customer experience across multiple channels using the latest generative AI technologies. In accordance with Vodafone's established framework for responsible AI, they will be built on unbiased and ethical privacy and security policies.  
As Vodafone Group chief executive Margherita Della Valle said, "Today, Vodafone has made a significant commitment to the digital future of Europe and Africa. The unique strategic partnership between Microsoft and our company will help accelerate the digital transformation of our business customers, especially small and medium-sized businesses, as well as improve the level of customer service for consumers."
Satya Nadella, the chairman and CEO of Microsoft, stated that this new generation of artificial intelligence will open up massive opportunities for organizations and industries around the globe. In the future, we will apply the latest cloud and artificial intelligence technology to enhance the customer experience of hundreds of millions of people and businesses across Africa and Europe, to create new products and services, and to accelerate the company's transition to the cloud as a company."
There are five key areas of collaboration between the two companies:  
Visit www.vodafone.com for more information. You can also follow us on Twitter at @VodafoneGroup or connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone.
In order for people and organizations to be able to achieve more, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) is enabling digital transformation for an era of an intelligent cloud and intelligent edge. Its goal is to empower every individual and organization on this planet to succeed.
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