Doha - Vodafone Qatar has signed a landmark partnership agreement with Microsoft, enabling the former to develop a generative AI center of excellence in Doha, leveraging Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI, with the aim of improving and augmenting generative AI capabilities in Vodafones digital product offerings to its customers.

Chief Technology Officer at Vodafone Qatar Ramy Boctor commented, "This exciting new partnership with Microsoft underscores our unwavering commitment to transform Vodafone Qatar from a Telco to a Tech-co through investments in cloud, Artificial Intelligence and digital transformation as well as our dedication to providing cutting-edge solutions to our customers while fostering a culture of continuous learning and development within our own workforce."

In turn, General Manager of Microsoft Qatar Lana Khalaf commented, "We are very excited to announce our partnership with Vodafone Qatar which will digitally transform Vodafones business and IT operations and enable Vodafone to provide cutting edge digital experiences built on Microsoft Azure and advanced AI to the consumer and enterprise customers. As part of this agreement, Microsoft will be working closely with Vodafone to accelerate the Generative AI skilling and adoption across the workforce to deliver on Vodafone Qatar vision of creating an innovative, modern and connected society."

The collaboration forms part of Vodafone Qatars commitment to enhancing its service offering to both its consumer and enterprise customers and will see the telecommunications provider migrate its information technology capabilities to Microsoft Azure. Key benefits of the roll out are improved efficiency, scalability and increased security of Vodafones data and applications.

Vodafone Qatar will also focus on upskilling and reskilling its workforce to be in a position to utilise latest innovations on Microsoft Azure cloud and Azure OpenAI: employees will be trained in new technologies and redeployed in strategic growth areas, ensuring they are equipped to handle the evolving demands of the digital landscape.

From a customer experience point of view, Vodafone Qatar will be able to utilize Microsoft Cloud Stack to offer truly hyper personalized experiences across all its customer touchpoints.

The new endeavor will also see Vodafone Qatar and Microsoft deliver a new partnership whereby the telecommunications provider will be able to develop bespoke cloud and AI offerings for the Qatar enterprise market, earning Microsoft partner designations and certifications which will help Vodafone Qatar demonstrate its technical capabilities, and expand its reach to customers.