Google-Airtel Partnership in India for AI, Cloud Services

Google-Airtel partnership in India to provide some generative AI and Cloud services/ products to locals in the country.

Airtel, the second-largest telecommunications provider in India, announced on Monday that it and Google Cloud have formed a long-term partnership to develop and distribute cloud and generative AI products to Indian enterprises.

The collaboration seeks to leverage Airtel’s vast clientele, which comprises one million emerging businesses and 2,000 significant enterprises, as stated by the organization. Both organizations intend to provide AI-based solutions, one of which will be generative AI trained by Airtel using its enormous data collections.

Through their partnership, Airtel and Google Cloud will offer enterprises a range of services, including geospatial analytics, location intelligence (for trend detection), predictive capabilities, market evaluation, site selection, risk mitigation, and asset monitoring. 

Voice analytics for language-aware conversational applications and marketing technology to predict consumer behavior, segment audiences, and expedite content creation with contextual advertisements are also in the works. Airtel has established a managed service center in Pune, which is staffed by over 300 “experts” responsible for delivering support.

Technology titans Prominent technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, are progressively focusing on the telecommunications sector to profit from the enormous amounts of data produced by the industry’s billions of customers around the globe. The three companies have entered into agreements with telecommunications providers worldwide, including those in the United States and the United Kingdom. Additionally, companies are striving to sell their generative AI solutions to organizations worldwide.

Google has already committed to investing a maximum of $1 billion in 2022 in Airtel, an Indian carrier. Additionally, the search behemoth has invested in Jio Platforms, the operator of India’s largest carrier. Jio maintains a comparable enduring alliance with Microsoft, whereby the Indian telecommunications provider cross-sells Office 365 and Azure to domestic enterprises.

Airtel and Google refrained from disclosing the financial details of the agreement.

As Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian stated, the partnership between Google Cloud and the Android manufacturer is “a significant milestone” in the company’s effort to accelerate the adoption of cloud computing and artificial intelligence in India.