Coca-Cola inks $1.1B deal with Microsoft for AI integration
Coca-Cola is investing $1.1 billion in a five-year partnership with Microsoft to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for gaining a competitive edge over rivals. The beverage giant aims to enhance workplace operations, manage costs, and boost productivity through this collaboration. As part of the deal, Coca-Cola will migrate all its applications to Microsoft's cloud-based platform, Azure. The company is also exploring the use of AI-driven digital assistants on Azure to improve customer interactions and streamline operations.
Investment in AI is part of company's strategy
Coca-Cola's investment in AI is part of the company's strategy to revamp its marketing approach and meet the demands of manufacturing and supply chain management. The latest $1.1 billion injection represents a significant increase from the $250 million it invested in AI in 2020. Major competitors of Coca-Cola, including Red Bull and PepsiCo, have already embraced AI to assess customer engagement.
Microsoft partnership to drive Coca-Cola's AI enterprise evolution
Neeraj Tolmare, Coca-Cola's senior VP and global chief information officer, described the expanded alliance with Microsoft as "an important next chapter" in their journey "to becoming a digital-first enterprise." He said, "Microsoft's capabilities can help accelerate our adoption of AI to create incremental enterprise value."
