Icy Cold Tech, Anyone? Coca-Cola, Microsoft Announce Multi-Year AI Partnership

The Coca-Cola Company and Microsoft unveiled a five-year partnership involving cloud and generative AI initiatives, Microsoft said in a blog post Tuesday.  

The collaboration is part of Coca-Cola's digital transformation strategy, the company said. The soft drink titan has committed $1.1 billion to Microsoft Cloud and Microsoft's GenAI technologies.  

Coca-Cola has migrated its applications to Azure and, according to the blog post, most of its major independent bottling partners will soon do the same. The beverage giant said it has already been leveraging artificial intelligence, incorporating the technology into its marketing, manufacturing and supply chain operations.  

On the road map, Coca-Cola said it plans to use GenAI digital assistants on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI platform to aid in customer experiences, streamline operations and "foster innovation."  

According to an X post by Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, the move is part of a "longtime partnership" with Coca-Cola: 

"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," said Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft, in a statement. "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," said John Murphy, president and CFO of The Coca-Cola Company, in a statement. "Our partnership with Microsoft has grown exponentially, from the $250 million agreement we initially announced in 2020 to $1.1 billion today."