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Microsoft Corp. and The Coca-Cola Company have announced a strategic partnership that will last for five years. The partnership aims to align Coca-Cola’s core technology strategy systemwide, foster innovation and productivity globally, and enable the adoption of leading-edge technology.
Coca-Cola inked a $1.1 billion five-year partnership deal on April 23 with Microsoft to explore and integrate the tech company’s cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions across the beverage giant’s global operations.The companies will jointly experiment with new technology such as Azure OpenAI Service to develop innovative generative AI use cases across various business functions. They will also test how Copilot for Microsoft 365 could help improve workplace productivity.
Judson Althoff, executive vice president, and chief commercial officer at Microsoft said, “Through our long-term partnership, we have made significant progress to accelerate system-wide AI transformation across The Coca-Cola Company and its network of independent bottlers worldwide. We are proud to support Coca-Cola as it continues to embrace the era of AI and looks to solutions like Azure OpenAI Service and Copilot for Microsoft 365 to drive innovation across every area of its business.”
Coca-Cola has migrated all its applications to Microsoft Azure, with most major independent bottling partners following suit. As a pioneer in AI adoption, Coca-Cola has been innovating with generative AI for nearly a year and has already leveraged Azure OpenAI Service to reimagine everything from marketing to manufacturing and supply chain and beyond. The company is currently exploring the use of generative AI-powered digital assistants on Azure OpenAI Service to help employees improve customer experiences, streamline operations, foster innovation, gain a competitive advantage, boost efficiency, and uncover new growth opportunities.
John Murphy, president, and chief financial officer of The Coca-Cola Company, said, “This new agreement builds on the success of Coca-Cola’s partnership strategy with Microsoft, showing our commitment to ongoing digital transformation. Our partnership with Microsoft has grown exponentially, from the $250 million agreement we initially announced in 2020 to $1.1 billion today.”
The agreement reflects a significant step in advancing Coca-Cola’s digital transformation, providing expanded access to Microsoft’s cloud and AI platforms, solutions such as Microsoft 365, Power BI, Dynamics 365, Defender, and Fabric, enhancing efficiency and scalability, and fostering innovation across the system.
Neeraj Tolmare, senior vice president, and global chief information officer for The Coca-Cola Company, said, “Our expanded partnership with Microsoft is an important next chapter in Coca-Cola’s journey toward a digital-first enterprise powered by emerging technologies. Microsoft’s capabilities help accelerate our adoption of AI to create incremental enterprise value.”
