Vodacom Group has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud, adopting the company’s data-analytics tools and generative AI models to create new digital services for African consumers and businesses.
Under the agreement, Google Cloud will consolidate and modernize Vodacom’s dispersed data assets through its data cloud platform, including BigQuery. Vodacom said the overhaul will establish a unified data layer to support real-time insights, strengthen governance and provide a single source of truth for operational and strategic decision-making.
Google Cloud will also deploy a suite of generative AI models across Vodacom’s operations — including Gemini, the Veo text-to-video model and the Imagen text-to-image tool. Vodacom plans to use these capabilities to improve internal processes, enhance customer engagement and speed up product development.
Three workstreams to drive adoption
The collaboration is organized around three main pillars.
• Data modernisation and unification: Moving Vodacom’s data into a cloud-based structure to enable analytics at scale.
• AI expansion across networks and customer channels: Applying Google’s AI models to optimise network performance and automate service delivery.
• Co-creation of new digital services: Jointly building fintech solutions, enterprise digital tools and consumer-facing products designed to improve access to content and education.
Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said the partnership will help deliver solutions tailored to “the unique challenges and opportunities of the continent” and ensure AI tools reach millions of users and small businesses.
Maureen Costello, Google Cloud’s vice president for the UKI and Sub-Saharan Africa region, said providing Vodacom with advanced generative AI models and data infrastructure will support the operator’s efforts to expand digital access and develop locally relevant services.
