The partnership will harness Google Cloud’s advanced data analytics and AI product portfolio. Vodacom hopes the collaboration will also enhance its core solutions and establish a powerful platform for creating new products and services that are tailored for the African market.

As part of the collaboration, Vodacom will harness Google Cloud’s secure and scalable infrastructure to unify its data assets. It will then apply generative AI (Gen AI) models – which includes Gemini, Veo and Imagen – across its business.

Ultimately, Vodacom stands to improve operational efficiencies and deliver new AI-powered services for consumers across Africa.

“This collaboration is more than a technology upgrade – it is a deep commitment to Africa’s digital revolution,” said Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom. “Integrating Google Cloud’s data and AI solutions into our business will modernise our infrastructure and fundamentally shift our operational paradigm.

“This collaboration is essential for us to build and deploy solutions that address the unique challenges and opportunities of the continent, ensuring the transformative power of AI is accessible to millions of customers and businesses across Africa.”

The collaboration is focused on three strategic pillars:

Data modernisation and unification

Vodacom will migrate and unify its critical data platforms onto Google Cloud’s data cloud, including BigQuery. This will enable Vodacom to achieve real-time insights, enhanced data governance and a single, secure source of truth for business decisions.

The companies say this foundation is essential for deploying large-scale AI models.

Accelerated AI adoption in Africa

Vodacom will harness Google Cloud’s AI capabilities, including Vertex AI and Gemini, to rapidly integrate intelligent services into its offerings. This includes optimising network performance, enhancing customer service with AI-powered personalised care and combating fraud through advanced machine learning models – effectively bringing powerful AI capabilities closer to African consumers.

Product innovation for the future

By using Google Cloud’s AI capabilities, Vodacom will focus on developing cutting-edge solutions for the African market. Initial focus areas include creating new fintech services for greater financial inclusion, developing enterprise solutions and designing consumer experiences to improve content accessibility and education.

Both companies seek to build on the existing partnership between Vodafone, Vodacom Group’s parent company, and Google Cloud. Having first partnered in 2021, both continue to demonstrate a commitment to scaling digital innovation and providing enterprise-level security and reliability across all markets.

Vodafone and Google Cloud deepened their partnership last year to bring new Gen AI-powered devices through Google’s Gemini model to millions of Vodafone customers across Europe and Africa.

“Google Cloud is proud to support Vodacom in accelerating AI across Africa,” said Maureen Costello, vice president, UKI and SSA at Google Cloud.

“By providing access to our most advanced generative AI models from Gemini and our leading data infrastructure, we are supporting Vodacom’s ambitious vision to build technology solutions that improve the lives of Africans.”

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