Coca-Cola and Microsoft ink $1.1 Billion Agreement to Use AI

Coca-Cola's $1.1 billion, five-year agreement with Microsoft to use its cloud computing and artificial intelligence capabilities is proof that the corporation has begun utilising Microsoft's AI services. Recently, Coca-Cola began experimenting with generative AI for supply chain, production, and marketing. Additionally, Coca-Cola is investigating a chance to use AI to enhance consumer experience, expedite processes, and promote innovation through this strategic alliance.

Coca-Cola’s announcement to invest $1.1 billion in Microsoft, is redirected by its focus on global AI transformation over the next five years. The expansion includes the use of Microsoft's generative AI technology in various areas of Coca-Cola's business such as marketing, workflows and internal management, customer service, sales, and more. This partnership aims to enhance Coca-Cola's marketing efforts while improving business operations and exploring new capabilities using AI.

The partnership between Coca-Cola and Microsoft began in April 2020, Coca-Cola entered into a $250 million five-year deal with Microsoft to leverage its software and cloud products including Azure, Dynamic 365, and Microsoft 365 to streamline its operations. That partnership replaced the disparate and fragmented systems and provided a new approach to data across the enterprise. It also facilitated remote work for Coca-Cola employees worldwide by providing access to Dynamic 365 Customer Service, the Power Platform, and Microsoft Teams to all its employees at that time. The employees were enabled to connect and collaborate with instant chats, calls, meetings, and sharing of documents in a single hub.

In 2023, Coca-Cola named Pratik Thakar as its Global Head of Generative AI, and since then the company has been using AI as a tool to connect with its customers.

Coca-Cola may utilize Microsoft's AI services to improve its business operations in multiple ways.

· Firstly, the company can use Dynamic 365 Customer Service, Microsoft's Power Platform, and Microsoft Teams to gain insights into customer satisfaction and better communication between employees.

· Coca-Cola can use Azure as its cloud platform to gain new insights from data across the enterprise. Its capabilities will enable it to modernize the way how the company engages with its employees and customers, ultimately creating effective business operations.

· The utilization of Dynamic 365 dashboards with AI capabilities. These dashboards provide real-time insights into customer satisfaction and allow Coca-Cola to address issues swiftly.

· Finally, Coca-Cola is exploring the use of Azure OpenAI Services to leverage generative AI technology for marketing and consumer experiences, as well as for improving business operations and capabilities.

In the past, Coca-Cola has already conducted a pilot using a platform that combines GPT-4 and DALL-E to generate original artwork using assets from Coke's archives and plans to utilize AI technology in the areas of marketing, customer services, and sales.