Coca-Cola and Microsoft announce partnership in alignment with Coca-Cola’s core technology strategy. The partnership will enable the creation of leading technology and promote productivity worldwide.
Coca-Cola made a $1.1 billion commitment to Microsoft Cloud and its generative AI capabilities as part of the deal. The two companies disclosed this information on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024.
In the statement, the collaboration outlines Coca-Cola’s ongoing technological transformation enhanced by the Microsoft Cloud as Coca-Cola’s globally preferred AI platform and strategic cloud.
After the partnership and collaboration, the two companies will jointly experiment on a revolutionary new technology to develop innovative generative AI use across other business functions. The experiment also includes testing how Copilot in Microsoft 365 could help enhance workplace productivity.
Long-term partnership
The Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Microsoft, Judson Althoff, commented on the new partnership deal. Althoff said:
“Through our long-term partnership, we’ve made significant progress to accelerate systemwide AI transformation across The Coca-Cola Company and its network of independent bottlers worldwide.
“We’re proud to support Coca-Cola as it continues to embrace the era of AI and looks to solutions like Azure OpenAI Service and Copilot to drive innovation across every area of its business.”
“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,” said John Murphy, President and Chief Financial Officer of the Coca-Cola Company.
Coca-Cola has migrated all its applications to Microsoft Azure as part of the deal, and other major independent partners have joined. Coca-Cola, a major pioneer in AI adoption, has been innovating with generative AI for about a year and has already used Azure OpenAI Service to reconstruct everything from marketing to manufacturing and supply chain.
The company is currently exploring the use of generative AI-powered digital assistance on Azure Open-AI service to enhance customer experiences, streamline operations, foster innovation, gain a competitive advantage, and discover new growth opportunities.
Coca-Cola’s digital journey
The Coca-Cola Global Information Officer and Senior Vice President Neeraj Tolmare said they had to expand their partnership with Microsoft because it was important for the next chapter in the company’s journey toward a digital-first enterprise empowered by new technologies.
“Microsoft’s capabilities help accelerate our adoption of AI to create incremental enterprise value,” he said.
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