NEW DELHI: India’s third-largest telecom operator, Vodafone Idea (Vi), on Tuesday partnered with IT firm IBM to infuse artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in managed services to improve reliability and accelerate the delivery of digital initiatives.
A key aspect of the companies’ partnership is the establishment of a new “AI Innovation Hub”, which will continuously modernise Vi’s IT and business processes. It will also enable the telco and the US-based IT company’s consulting arm to jointly create AI solutions, automation tools, and digital accelerators powered by IBM’s AI solutions.
The AI Innovation Hub will work closely with the unified DevOps team to find effective avenues of infusing AI into the development and operations function of Vi, according to a joint statement.
Vi and IBM, however, did not disclose the financial terms of their partnership.
“Our collaboration with IBM marks a pivotal milestone in Vi’s digital journey. It reflects our commitment to AI-led innovation and our ambition to drive accelerated growth through intelligent decision-making and automation,” said Jagbir Singh, chief technology officer (CTO), Vi.
He added that the innovation hub will play a critical role in modernising Vi’s operations and expediting its go-to-market execution of critical business initiatives, setting “new benchmarks for the telecom industry”.
Working alongside IBM Consulting’s AI and DevOps experts, Vi aims to deliver smarter digital experiences, enhance IT agility, and unlock new revenue opportunities.
Vi’s AI-enabled unified DevOps implementation will tap into IBM’s global partner ecosystem, accelerators, and industry know-how to support continuous innovation while helping strengthen long-term digital resilience.
“India’s telecom sector stands at the crossroads of surging data consumption, rapid digital transformation, and large-scale 5G deployments. In this dynamic landscape, our collaboration with Vi allows IBM to serve as a strategic enabler to help modernise the organisation’s IT ecosystem, enhance operational efficiencies, and fast-track their digital transformation,” said Juhi McClelland, managing partner, IBM Consulting, IBM Asia Pacific.
“With the AI Innovation Hub and unified DevOps execution, we’re bringing together the best of IBM’s global expertise to help Vi deliver superior customer experiences, drive innovation, and strengthen digital resilience for the future,” said Rishi Aurora, managing partner, IBM Consulting India & South Asia.
