Who leads AI at Vodafone Group?

AI at Vodafone Group is led by Scott Petty (Group Chief Technology Officer); Ignacio Garcia (Global Director for AI and Data Analytics); Alberto Ripepi (Group Chief Network Officer). Ownership of AI on the org chart: Scott Petty, Group Chief Technology Officer, who chairs the AI Governance Board and sits on the Executive Committee.

What AI platform does Vodafone Group use?

Vodafone Group builds its AI assistants and agents on vendor platforms, chiefly Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Foundry and Google Cloud's Vertex AI, with technical responsible AI guardrails on its internal AI development platforms (FY26 annual report).

Which AI models does Vodafone Group use?

Vodafone runs OpenAI models through Microsoft Azure for TOBi, SuperTOBi and SuperAgent, and Google's Gemini models through Vertex AI and Gemini Enterprise; Margherita Della Valle said in May 2026 that Vodafone uses different language models even within the same use case.

How many Vodafone employees use AI?

Vodafone reported an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users with over 90% monthly adoption (Nov 2025), an HR digital agent serving 75,000 employees and more than 5,000 developers using GenAI coding tools (May 2026), out of 91,128 employees.

What return has Vodafone Group reported from AI?

Vodafone Group sits in Piloting on one business return it credits to AI in the 18 months to Nov 2026: its results presentations credit GenAI-enabled software development with a 12% productivity increase across the development lifecycle, first in Nov 2025 for 2,800 engineers and again in May 2026 for more than 5,000 developers. Vodafone Group also reports a company-wide rollout with a user count and a named owner: its Nov 2025 results put an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users, its FY26 annual report says Microsoft's Copilot was made available to 49,343 users and 4,324 AI agents were active, and Group CTO Scott Petty chairs the AI Governance Board that sets AI strategy and policy. Vodafone Group falls short of Scaling because it reports no AI-credited return in a second function and no firm-level AI figure: CFO Pilar López said in May 2026 that AI is one of the key drivers of the opex savings targets without giving AI's share, and its care, network, procurement and HR results are resolution rates, satisfaction scores and time reductions, not cost or revenue.

Verified Nov 5, 2026

Vodafone Group

Piloting

Telecom
91,128 employees
Azure OpenAI and Gemini
GenAI assistant for 50,000+
12% developer productivity from AI

Vodafone Group deploys AI through partnerships with Microsoft and Google: Azure OpenAI models run its SuperTOBi and TOBi customer assistants, and Vodafone uses Google's Vertex AI and Gemini on Google Cloud, where its data lake sits, with several language models used for the same tasks. Vodafone reported an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users in Nov 2025 and credits GenAI coding tools with a 12% productivity increase in software development (May 2026). Group CTO Scott Petty chairs the AI Governance Board.

vodafone.com

Their approach to AI

The platform: Vodafone Group builds its AI assistants and agents on vendor platforms, chiefly Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Foundry and Google Cloud's Vertex AI, with technical responsible AI guardrails on its internal AI development platforms (FY26 annual report).
The models: Vodafone runs OpenAI models through Microsoft Azure for TOBi, SuperTOBi and SuperAgent, and Google's Gemini models through Vertex AI and Gemini Enterprise; Margherita Della Valle said in May 2026 that Vodafone uses different language models even within the same use case.
The reach: Vodafone reported an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users with over 90% monthly adoption (Nov 2025), an HR digital agent serving 75,000 employees and more than 5,000 developers using GenAI coding tools (May 2026), out of 91,128 employees.
The catch: Vodafone Group's only AI-credited return is the 12% productivity increase across software development; CFO Pilar López called AI one of the key drivers of its opex savings targets (May 2026) without saying how much of the savings AI delivers.

Snapshot

Employees: 91,128; At Mar 31, 2026; 39% in Shared Operations
Capital investment: €7.3B (FY26); Year to Mar 31, 2026; Vodafone publishes no separate technology or AI budget
AI/ML headcount: Not disclosed; More than 5,000 developers use GenAI coding tools (May 2026)
Who owns AI: Scott Petty; Group Chief Technology Officer; chairs the AI Governance Board
Platform: Azure OpenAI, AI Foundry, Vertex AI; Vendor AI platforms with Vodafone's own guardrails; data on Google Cloud
Models: OpenAI (via Azure), Google Gemini; Fully multi-vendor, with different LLMs within the same use case (May 2026)
Reach: 50,000+ on the GenAI assistant; Nov 2025; Copilot made available to 49,343 users per the FY26 annual report
Use cases: Care, network, software, procurement, HR; Plus marketing, field service and security; no total count published

Key findings

Vodafone Group credits GenAI-enabled software development with a 12% productivity increase across the development lifecycle, reported in Nov 2025 for 2,800 engineers and in May 2026 for more than 5,000 developers, its only return credited to AI since May 2025.
Vodafone Group reported an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users with over 90% monthly adoption in Nov 2025, and its FY26 annual report says Copilot was made available to 49,343 users and 4,324 AI agents were active.
Vodafone Group's TOBi and SuperTOBi assistants, which use Microsoft Azure OpenAI, handled about 60 million customer conversations a month in Nov 2025, and SuperTOBi was live in all European markets with more than 70% end-to-end resolution by May 2026.
CFO Pilar López said on May 12, 2026 that AI is one of the key drivers of Vodafone's opex savings targets and an enabler of capital discipline, but Vodafone has not said how much of its savings or its 11,000 role reductions since FY24 comes from AI.
Group CTO Scott Petty chairs Vodafone's AI Governance Board, attended by the CEO of Vodafone Business, the Chief HR Officer and the General Counsel, and the board's Technology Committee keeps Vodafone's use of AI as a standing agenda item (FY26 annual report).

Where Vodafone sits

Stage: Piloting
Vodafone Group sits in Piloting on one business return it credits to AI in the 18 months to Nov 2026: its results presentations credit GenAI-enabled software development with a 12% productivity increase across the development lifecycle, first in Nov 2025 for 2,800 engineers and again in May 2026 for more than 5,000 developers. Vodafone Group also reports a company-wide rollout with a user count and a named owner: its Nov 2025 results put an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users, its FY26 annual report says Microsoft's Copilot was made available to 49,343 users and 4,324 AI agents were active, and Group CTO Scott Petty chairs the AI Governance Board that sets AI strategy and policy. Vodafone Group falls short of Scaling because it reports no AI-credited return in a second function and no firm-level AI figure: CFO Pilar López said in May 2026 that AI is one of the key drivers of the opex savings targets without giving AI's share, and its care, network, procurement and HR results are resolution rates, satisfaction scores and time reductions, not cost or revenue.
How the stages are defined
Ownership: Scott Petty, Group Chief Technology Officer, who chairs the AI Governance Board and sits on the Executive Committee
Platform: Hybrid: Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Foundry and Google Vertex AI, with in-house assistants and agents
Models: OpenAI models via Azure OpenAI and Google Gemini, with several LLMs per use case
Hosting: Microsoft Azure for Azure OpenAI and AI Foundry; Google Cloud for Vertex AI, Gemini and the data lake; Oracle OCI Dedicated Regions in Vodafone data centres run IT, no AI named
Reach: GenAI assistant live for 50,000+ of ~91,000 employees (Nov 2025)

How they deploy

AI in how Vodafone runs the company

Margherita Della Valle said on May 12, 2026 that AI's biggest effect on Vodafone so far is on the productivity of how the company is run, and CFO Pilar López called AI an enabler of cost efficiency, productivity and capital discipline and one of the key drivers of Vodafone's gross and net opex savings targets. López said Vodafone's focus is embedding AI in core operations and driving measurable savings, with customer care, shared operations and networks the areas where AI makes the most difference today. Vodafone's board reviewed a FY26 to FY30 Long Range Plan that includes embedding AI-driven productivity gains (FY26 annual report).

Build once in shared operations

Vodafone Group names AI as one of its scaled foundations, alongside its people and a data ocean of more than 40 petabytes, and says agentic AI is deployed across care and operations (FY26 results, May 2026). Vodafone runs procurement, technology and other services centrally in its Shared Operations unit, which held 39% of its 91,128 employees at Mar 31, 2026, and Pilar López said in May 2026 that shared operations are where Vodafone applies AI at scale, citing a GenAI procurement platform used in more than 90% of tenders.

Several models, 2 cloud partners

Margherita Della Valle said in May 2026 that Vodafone has a fully multi-vendor AI architecture, using different large language models even within the same use case to keep its options open, and a single data ocean for all its European markets that feeds its AI use cases. Vodafone signed a 10-year partnership with Microsoft in Jan 2024 that brought Azure OpenAI into its customer care and Copilot to its employees, and expanded a 10-year partnership with Google in Oct 2024 under which Vodafone uses Vertex AI and Gemini models to build and deploy AI applications.

Care as the first proving ground

Vodafone Group's largest AI deployment faces customers: the TOBi and SuperTOBi assistants, GenAI call centre agent assist and the Ask Once service promise, which Vodafone calls AI-enabled. Vodafone reallocated €140 million in the year to Mar 2025 to a customer experience overhaul centred on SuperTOBi (Jul 2024), and in Jul 2026 said Ask Once, enabled with GenAI in Germany's broadband business, had reduced detractors by about 20%.

AI for business customers

Vodafone Business launched AI Concierge in Apr 2026, a voice and data AI agent for small businesses built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform and Gemini models, first in Germany and Greece, and called it the first of a planned suite of agentic AI products. Vodafone's FY26 annual report says Vodafone plans agentic AI solutions to help small businesses digitise over the coming year.

Deployment model: Vodafone Group runs AI from Group Technology under Scott Petty, the Group CTO, who chairs the AI Governance Board that defines AI strategy and policy and monitors its execution; the board is attended by the CEO of Vodafone Business, the Group Commercial Functions Director, the Chief HR Officer and the General Counsel and Company Secretary. Vodafone's Executive Committee also lists an AI Governance Steering Committee that sets the vision, strategy and policy for AI, agrees resource allocation and takes AI risk decisions; Vodafone does not say whether it is the same body. Use cases are built once and deployed across markets through Shared Operations, which runs procurement and technology services for the group, and through Group Network under Alberto Ripepi for network operations. Vodafone trains employees to build their own agents: 1,947 employees were upskilled on agentic AI and a Citizen Developer community started with 30 colleagues (FY26 annual report).
Model providers: Vodafone Group uses OpenAI models through Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service for SuperTOBi (Jul 2024), TOBi and SuperAgent, and builds with Azure AI Foundry, according to a Microsoft case study; employees use Microsoft 365 Copilot, rolled out from a 300-person trial in 2024. Vodafone uses Google Cloud's Vertex AI and Gemini models under its Oct 2024 partnership, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform for Vodafone Business AI Concierge (Apr 2026), and, according to Google, Gemini Enterprise agents to resolve network outages and automate network planning (Apr 2026). Margherita Della Valle said in May 2026 that Vodafone uses different LLMs within the same use case, and Vodafone's annual report says employees reach AI through controlled access to LLMs from its technology partners. Microsoft's Feb 2026 video with Scott Petty covers Vodafone's use of GitHub Copilot; Vodafone's results presentations do not name its coding tool.
Data and infrastructure: Vodafone Group's AI runs on 2 public clouds: Microsoft Azure, which hosts Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Foundry for TOBi, SuperTOBi and SuperAgent, and Google Cloud, which hosts Vodafone's data lake of data and existing AI and analytics services (Oct 2024), Vertex AI and Gemini, and the Field Technician Assist tool. Vodafone agreed in Jan 2024 to modernise its data centres on Microsoft Azure, replacing physical data centres with virtual ones across Europe, and Oracle said in Jun 2026 that Vodafone runs OCI Dedicated Region in its own data centres; Vodafone has named no AI workload on Oracle or in its own facilities. Vodafone restricts employee access to public LLMs and tells employees not to share confidential data with public AI services, and its AI requirements call for risk assessment, transparency, bias checks and human oversight (FY26 annual report).

Platforms and internal tools

TOBi and SuperTOBiSuperTOBi Jul 2024
TOBi is Vodafone's customer service virtual assistant, and SuperTOBi is its GenAI version built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI, launched in Italy and Portugal and then Germany and Türkiye in Jul 2024. Vodafone said in Nov 2025 that TOBi and SuperTOBi handle about 60 million customer conversations a month, and in May 2026 that SuperTOBi is live in all European markets with more than 70% end-to-end resolution and an 8-point NPS gain over the previous AI agent.
Models
OpenAI models via Microsoft Azure OpenAI
Source
SuperAgent call centre assistJul 2024
SuperAgent is a GenAI assistant for Vodafone's human care agents, based on Azure OpenAI, that finds answers in Vodafone's own knowledge base and, in Ireland, summarises the customer's online conversation for the agent (Jul 2024).
Models
OpenAI models via Microsoft Azure OpenAI
Source
Employee GenAI assistant (Microsoft 365 Copilot)2024
Vodafone extended a 300-person Microsoft 365 Copilot trial to up to 68,000 employees from Sep 2024. Vodafone's Nov 2025 results put an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users with over 90% monthly adoption, and its FY26 annual report says Copilot was made available through on-demand learning to 49,343 users; Vodafone has not said whether the two figures describe the same tool.
Users
More than 50,000 (Nov 2025); 49,343 with Copilot made available (FY26)
Models
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Source
HR digital agent
Vodafone's HR digital agent gives employees personalised, multilingual answers to HR requests, serving more than 69,000 employees in Nov 2025 and 75,000 in May 2026 with an 86% request resolution rate.
Users
75,000 employees (May 2026)
Source
Autonomous procurement portal
Vodafone's GenAI sourcing platform is used in more than 90% of its tenders, lets procurement re-tender more often and holds more than 10,000 suppliers (May 2026).
Source
Azure AI Foundry
Vodafone builds generative AI tools in Microsoft's Azure AI Foundry and has extended it beyond developers, training senior call centre operators to build their own solutions, according to an undated Microsoft case study.
Models
Azure OpenAI Service models
Source
Vodafone Business AI ConciergeApr 2026
AI Concierge is a voice and data AI agent Vodafone Business sells to small businesses to answer customer inquiries and book appointments, built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform and Gemini models and offered first in Germany and Greece.
Models
Google Gemini
Source

Vendors and partners

MicrosoftJan 2024 (10-year partnership)
Azure OpenAI for TOBi, SuperTOBi and SuperAgent; Azure AI Foundry; Microsoft 365 Copilot; Azure data centre migration · Vodafone committed $1.5 billion over 10 years to cloud and customer-focused AI services developed with Microsoft (Jan 2024), and Microsoft's Feb 2026 video with Scott Petty says Vodafone rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot to 60,000 employees.
Google CloudOct 2024 (10-year expansion)
Vertex AI and Gemini models; data lake; network agents; AI Concierge for small businesses · Vodafone and Google expanded their partnership for 10 years in Oct 2024, and Vodafone Business called it a $1 billion partnership in Apr 2026. Google said in Apr 2026 that Vodafone is using its tools to resolve outages proactively, automate network planning and target capacity.
Oracle
OCI Dedicated Region in Vodafone's own data centres · Oracle said in Jun 2026 that Vodafone chose OCI Dedicated Region at its data centres along with Oracle's multicloud database and applications; no AI use was named.
CelfocusBy 2025
Built Field Technician Assist on Google Cloud
KPMG2024
Measured the Microsoft 365 Copilot trial with Vodafone and Microsoft

Leadership

AI, data and platform leaders

Scott Petty

Group Chief Technology Officer

Scott Petty became Group CTO and joined the Executive Committee in Jan 2023, after serving as Chief Digital and Information Officer from Apr 2021 and UK CTO from 2017; Petty joined Vodafone in 2009 and earlier held executive roles at Dimension Data. Petty chairs Vodafone's AI Governance Board and spoke for Vodafone on the Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout in 2024, describing Vodafone's AI aims in 2024 as operational efficiency, a rewired customer experience and new generative AI products.

Ignacio Garcia

Global Director for AI and Data Analytics

Unconfirmed

Ignacio Garcia was named Global Director Data Analytics and AI for Vodafone Group in an undated Microsoft case study on Vodafone's TOBi and SuperAgent work, and his Google Cloud Next 2026 speaker biography says he has held leadership roles at Vodafone for more than 16 years; Vodafone itself has not published his current title.

Alberto Ripepi

Group Chief Network Officer

Alberto Ripepi is responsible for the strategy, architecture, design and operation of Vodafone's network in Europe, where Vodafone runs GenAI-based Zero Touch Operations and AI energy management. Ripepi joined Vodafone in 2001, was CTO of Italy and CTO of Europe, and joined the Executive Committee in Jan 2023.

Executives

Margherita Della Valle

Group Chief Executive

Margherita Della Valle was Vodafone's Group CFO and became interim Group Chief Executive after her predecessor left at the end of 2022, overseeing a €1 billion cost-savings plan at the time (TelecomTV, Feb 2023). Della Valle said on May 12, 2026 that Vodafone's AI architecture is fully multi-vendor and that AI's biggest effect today is on productivity.

Pilar López

Group Chief Financial Officer

Pilar López became Vodafone's Group CFO on Dec 1, 2025 and leads supply chain management, including Vodafone Procure & Connect, besides finance. López spent 10 years at Microsoft, including as COO for Western Europe and country general manager for Spain, and 16 years at Telefónica, including as CFO of Telefónica Europe and O2. López sits on the AI Governance Steering Committee and said in May 2026 that AI is one of the key drivers of Vodafone's opex savings targets.

Marika Auramo

CEO, Vodafone Business

Marika Auramo became CEO of Vodafone Business on Jul 1, 2024 after a career at SAP from 1999, most recently as Chief Business Officer for its EMEA region. Auramo attends the AI Governance Board, and Vodafone Business launched AI Concierge with Google in Apr 2026.

Ruth McGill

Chief Human Resources Officer

Ruth McGill became Chief Human Resources Officer and joined the Executive Committee on Jan 1, 2026, after more than 5 years as Chief HR Officer of ING. McGill attends the AI Governance Board, and Vodafone's HR function runs the HR digital agent that served 75,000 employees in May 2026.

Maaike de Bie

Group General Counsel and Company Secretary

Maaike de Bie is Vodafone's Group General Counsel and Company Secretary and a member of the Executive Committee and its AI Governance Steering Committee, and attends the AI Governance Board, which Vodafone's annual report says has formalised AI policies, internal risk assessments and role-specific training.

AI org map

Group CTO chairs AI governance; use cases built once and deployed through shared operations

Vodafone Group sets AI strategy and policy through an AI Governance Board chaired by Group CTO Scott Petty, with the heads of Vodafone Business, Group Commercial Functions, HR and Legal attending, and lists an AI Governance Steering Committee among the Executive Committee's management committees. Group Technology builds on Microsoft and Google platforms, Shared Operations deploys AI across procurement, HR and other group services, Alberto Ripepi's Group Network runs network AI, and each market's care team runs TOBi, SuperTOBi and agent assist.

Vodafone Group has not published how many data scientists or AI engineers it employs. Vodafone reported more than 5,000 developers using GenAI coding tools in May 2026, up from 2,800 engineers in Nov 2025, 1,947 employees upskilled on agentic AI, and a Citizen Developer community that started with 30 colleagues (FY26 annual report). Vodafone's AI work sits in Group Technology under Scott Petty, in Shared Operations, which held 39% of Vodafone's 91,128 employees at Mar 31, 2026, and in the customer care teams of each market.

Reporting lines

Group Chief Executive
Margherita Della Valle
- AI Governance Steering Committee
  Executive Committee management committee that sets AI vision, strategy and policy, allocates resources and takes AI risk decisions
- Group Technology
  Scott Petty, Group CTO
  Chairs the AI Governance Board; builds on Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Foundry and Vertex AI
  - Data analytics and AI
    Ignacio Garcia (title not confirmed by Vodafone)
    Reporting line inferred from Garcia's speaker biography, which places him under the Vodafone Technology model
- Group Network
  Alberto Ripepi, Group Chief Network Officer
  Zero Touch Operations and AI energy management in the European network
- Finance and supply chain
  Pilar López, Group CFO
  Includes Vodafone Procure & Connect and the GenAI procurement platform
- Vodafone Business
  Marika Auramo, CEO
  Sells AI Concierge and other AI services to business customers
- Human Resources
  Ruth McGill, Chief Human Resources Officer
  HR digital agent for 75,000 employees
- Legal
  Maaike de Bie, General Counsel and Company Secretary
- Shared Operations
  39% of employees at Mar 31, 2026; Vodafone's board asked VOIS, its shared services unit, for a 5-year vision centred on quality, productivity and AI-enabled operations

Vodafone does not publish reporting lines below the Executive Committee; the lines to the Group Chief Executive follow the Executive Committee list in the FY26 annual report, as at May 19, 2026. Vodafone has named no Chief AI Officer or Chief Data Officer. The annual report describes both an AI Governance Board chaired by the Group CTO and an AI Governance Steering Committee of the Executive Committee without saying whether they are one body.

Where the AI workforce sits

Group Technology and software development
More than 5,000 developers use GenAI coding tools (May 2026).
Not disclosed
Shared Operations
Shared Operations held 39% of Vodafone's employees at Mar 31, 2026 and runs AI in procurement, HR and other group services; Vodafone does not say how many work on AI.
Not disclosed
Customer care in each market
Care teams use TOBi, SuperTOBi, SuperAgent and Ask Once.
Not disclosed

Named people

Executive sponsors

Margherita Della Valle
Group Chief Executive
Pilar López
Group Chief Financial Officer · Leads supply chain, including the GenAI procurement platform

Technology, data and AI

Not disclosed

Scott Petty
Group Chief Technology Officer · Chairs the AI Governance Board
Ignacio Garcia
Global Director for AI and Data Analytics · Title from a Microsoft case study; not confirmed by Vodafone
Alberto Ripepi
Group Chief Network Officer

AI Governance Board members

Marika Auramo
CEO, Vodafone Business
Ruth McGill
Chief Human Resources Officer
Maaike de Bie
Group General Counsel and Company Secretary

Use cases

Vodafone Group runs AI in customer care, network operations, software development, procurement, HR, marketing, field service and security, but has published no count of use cases. Vodafone Group credits one business return to AI: a 12% productivity increase across the software development lifecycle from GenAI coding tools (Nov 2025 and May 2026). CFO Pilar López said in May 2026 that AI is one of the key drivers of Vodafone's opex savings targets, without giving AI's share, and Vodafone reports its other AI results as resolution rates, satisfaction scores and time reductions rather than cost or revenue.

Use case	Area	Status	ROI
GenAI-enabled software development Vodafone gives its developers a GenAI coding tool: 2,800 engineers used AI in software development with 30% of AI code suggestions accepted in Nov 2025, and more than 5,000 developers with more than 35% acceptance in May 2026. Microsoft's Feb 2026 video with Scott Petty covers Vodafone's use of GitHub Copilot.	Technology	In production	12% productivity increase across the software development lifecycle from GenAI coding (May 2026)
TOBi and SuperTOBi virtual assistants TOBi and its GenAI version SuperTOBi, built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI, handled about 60 million customer conversations a month in Nov 2025; SuperTOBi is live in all European markets with more than 70% end-to-end resolution and an 8-point NPS gain over the previous AI agent (May 2026).	Customer care	In production
Call centre agent assist GenAI gives Vodafone's care agents an immediate overview of each customer's communication history, first reported in Germany (Nov 2025), with a more than 60% improvement in the agents' helpfulness rating (May 2026). Vodafone also runs SuperAgent, an Azure OpenAI assistant for care agents launched in 2024, and has not said whether the 2 are one tool; a Microsoft case study reported calls at least one minute shorter in a pilot at an Italian call centre.	Customer care	In production
Ask Once service promise Ask Once is an AI-enabled service proposition aimed at first-time resolution, with 96% promise delivery (May 2026); in Germany, Ask Once enabled with GenAI was rolled out for broadband and reduced detractors by about 20% (Jul 2026).	Customer care	In production
AI-powered customer value management AI models for customer retention offers and campaign planning are live in all European markets, with the first agentic use cases in Germany and an 85% reduction in campaign analysis time (May 2026).	Marketing	In production
Autonomous procurement portal A GenAI sourcing platform is used in more than 90% of Vodafone's tenders, with more than 30% less sourcing time and more than 10,000 suppliers on the platform (May 2026).	Procurement	In production
HR digital agent Vodafone's HR digital agent gives personalised, multilingual support to 75,000 employees with an 86% request resolution rate (May 2026); the FY26 annual report gives the resolution rate as 96%.	Human resources	In production
Employee GenAI assistant and Microsoft 365 Copilot Vodafone's employee GenAI assistant was live for more than 50,000 users with over 90% monthly adoption and 93% saying they felt more productive (Nov 2025). A 2024 trial of 300 Copilot users measured with KPMG found about 3 hours saved per person per week, a figure Vodafone has not converted to cost.	Enterprise	In production
Zero Touch Operation GenAI automates and optimises network and field service operations from real-time diagnostics, with a 43% reduction in mean time to repair (Nov 2025) and more than 70% of issues resolved automatically (May 2026).	Network	In production
Gemini Enterprise network agents Google said in Apr 2026 that Vodafone uses its agents to resolve outages proactively, automate network planning and target capacity; Google's use-case list says the work saves millions every year, a figure Vodafone has not reported.	Network	In production
AI energy management Vodafone uses AI for radio network energy optimisation, automated energy billing reconciliation and year-ahead consumption forecasts with 98% accuracy (May 2026), and AI-based energy tracking tools that detect anomalies (FY26 annual report).	Network	In production
Field Technician Assist Field Technician Assist, built by Celfocus on Google Cloud, offers Vodafone engineers the 3 most likely fixes for an incident; Vodafone reported 28% fewer repeat site visits and about 10 minutes saved per incident for engineers using it, at a 2025 TM Forum event.	Field service	Pilot
AI-assisted security operations Vodafone uses AI-enabled detection rules and AI-assisted compromise assessments in security operations, and plans agentic workflows leading to autonomous detection and response (FY26 annual report).	Security	In production
Scam Call Protection Vodafone UK launched Scam Call Protection on Apr 15, 2026, which uses AI in the network to flag likely scam and nuisance calls to Secure Net Mobile customers before they answer; Margherita Della Valle said in May 2026 that Vodafone is rolling out fraud alerts across its European markets.	Consumer	In production
AI Concierge for small businesses AI Concierge is an AI agent on Google's Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform that answers customer inquiries and books appointments for small businesses in Germany and Greece (Apr 2026).	Vodafone Business	Announced

Adoption

Vodafone Group reported an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users with over 90% monthly adoption in Nov 2025, and its FY26 annual report says Copilot was made available through on-demand learning to 49,343 users, with 4,324 AI agents active; Microsoft said in Feb 2026 that Vodafone had rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot to 60,000 employees, a figure Vodafone has not repeated. The HR digital agent served 75,000 employees and more than 5,000 developers used GenAI coding tools in May 2026, out of 91,128 employees at Mar 31, 2026. Vodafone moved from a 300-person Copilot trial and the first GenAI care assistants in 2024 to group-wide assistants, coding tools and agents in 2025 and 2026.

By the numbers

Software development productivity credited to GenAI: 12%; Across the development lifecycle, with more than 5,000 developers using the tool; FY26 results, May 12, 2026

Employee GenAI assistant users: 50,000+; Live users with over 90% monthly adoption; H1 FY26 results, Nov 11, 2025

Employees served by the HR digital agent: 75,000; 86% request resolution rate; FY26 results, May 2026

Active AI agents deployed: 4,324; With 1,947 employees upskilled on agentic AI; FY26 annual report, May 2026

Microsoft cloud and AI commitment: $1.5B; Over 10 years for cloud and customer-focused AI services developed with Microsoft; announced Jan 2024

Employees: 91,128; At Mar 31, 2026, up from 87,007 a year earlier after the VodafoneThree merger

Rollout, first pilot to today

Jan 2024
Vodafone and Microsoft signed a 10-year partnership: Azure OpenAI for customer care, Copilot for employees and a $1.5 billion commitment to cloud and AI services.
Vodafone
Jul 2024
Vodafone launched SuperTOBi, its Azure OpenAI customer assistant, in Italy and Portugal, then Germany and Türkiye, with SuperAgent for care agents.
Vodafone
Sep 2024
After a 300-person trial, Vodafone extended Microsoft 365 Copilot to up to 68,000 employees.
Microsoft
Oct 2024
Vodafone and Google expanded their partnership for 10 years, with Vodafone using Vertex AI and Gemini models to build and deploy AI applications.
TelecomTV
Nov 2025
Vodafone reported an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users, 2,800 engineers using AI in software development and about 60 million TOBi and SuperTOBi conversations a month.
H1 FY26 results presentation
May 2026
Vodafone reported more than 5,000 developers on GenAI coding tools, an HR digital agent for 75,000 employees, SuperTOBi in all European markets and 4,324 active AI agents.
FY26 results presentation
Jul 2026
Vodafone said Ask Once, enabled with GenAI in Germany's broadband business, had reduced detractors by about 20%.
Q1 FY27 trading update presentation

Economics & controls

Spend and ROI

Technology and AI spending

Vodafone Group does not publish a technology or AI budget. Vodafone's capital investment was €7.3 billion in the year to Mar 31, 2026. Vodafone committed $1.5 billion over 10 years to cloud and customer-focused AI services developed with Microsoft (Jan 2024), and reallocated €140 million in the year to Mar 2025 to a customer experience overhaul centred on SuperTOBi (Jul 2024). Vodafone has not disclosed what it spends on models, Copilot licences or its Google partnership.

Reported ROI

Vodafone Group credits one business return to AI: a 12% productivity increase across the software development lifecycle from GenAI coding tools, reported in Nov 2025 and May 2026. CFO Pilar López said on May 12, 2026 that AI is one of the key drivers of Vodafone's gross and net opex savings targets and that Vodafone is already seeing significant savings, but Vodafone has given no figure for AI's share. Vodafone's results present AI and shared operations together, and the double-digit unit cost reduction in radio site rollout, the 76% reduction in cost per Mbps and the more than 10% annual productivity gain in its network operations centre on the same slide are not credited to AI.

Earlier automation savings

Scott Petty said in Feb 2023 that automating how Vodafone runs its network had saved more than €500 million of opex and capex over the previous 3 years, credited to digital operations and automation work with machine learning among its tools; the figure predates Vodafone's generative AI rollout and gives AI no separate share.

Headcount

Vodafone had 91,128 employees at Mar 31, 2026, up from 87,007 a year earlier, after the VodafoneThree merger completed on May 31, 2025. Vodafone reached about 11,000 role reductions in its European markets and Shared Operations between FY24 and FY26 against a 10,000 target, and cumulative European opex savings against a €0.7 billion FY23 to FY26 target; Vodafone has not attributed either to AI.

Governance and risk

AI Governance Board

Vodafone Group's AI Governance Board is a senior steering group, chaired by the Group CTO, that defines AI strategy and policy and monitors its execution; the CEO of Vodafone Business, the Group Commercial Functions Director, the Chief HR Officer and the General Counsel and Company Secretary attend. Vodafone's Executive Committee also lists an AI Governance Steering Committee that sets AI vision, strategy and policy, agrees resource allocation and takes risk decisions on AI.

Responsible AI requirements

Vodafone's AI requirements mandate risk assessment, design for transparency, freedom from bias and the right degree of human oversight, and require human input on the final decision when an AI model could have a high impact on people (FY26 annual report). Vodafone has formalised AI policies, internal risk assessments and role-specific training, and applies technical responsible AI guardrails to its internal AI development platforms.

Access to models

Vodafone gives employees controlled access to LLMs from its technology partners, restricts access to public LLMs and reminds employees not to share confidential data with public AI services (FY26 annual report). Vodafone applies security controls to AI in proportion to its risks and warns that agentic AI will further blur the boundary between insider and external cyber threats.

Board oversight

Vodafone's board Technology Committee receives updates on Vodafone's use of AI as a standing agenda item, and the board examined the strategic implications of agentic AI for Vodafone's operating model during FY26. Vodafone's annual report names the EU AI Act among the new European rules that will add legal requirements to its data management.

Industry commitments

Vodafone helped develop the GSMA Responsible AI Maturity Roadmap, is a standing member of the GSMA Responsible AI working group, and has signed the AI Pact set up by the European Commission through the European AI Office (FY26 annual report).

Recent signals

Jul 2026
Vodafone's Q1 FY27 update said Ask Once, enabled with GenAI in Germany's broadband business, had reduced detractors by about 20%, and that Vodafone Business had launched AI Concierge with Google for small businesses.
Q1 FY27 trading update presentation
May 22, 2026
Vodafone's FY26 annual report said Copilot was made available to 49,343 users, 4,324 AI agents were active and the Group CTO chairs the AI Governance Board.
FY26 annual report
May 12, 2026
CFO Pilar López said AI is one of the key drivers of Vodafone's opex savings targets, and Margherita Della Valle said Vodafone uses different LLMs within the same use case.
FY26 results Q&A transcript
May 12, 2026
Vodafone credited GenAI coding tools used by more than 5,000 developers with a 12% productivity increase and reported an HR digital agent serving 75,000 employees.
FY26 results presentation
Apr 22, 2026
Vodafone Business and Google Cloud launched AI Concierge, an AI agent on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform for small businesses in Germany and Greece.
TechAfrica News
Apr 15, 2026
Vodafone UK launched AI-powered Scam Call Protection, which flags likely scam calls in the network before customers answer.
Vodafone UK
Apr 2026
Alphabet said Vodafone is using Google's tools to resolve outages proactively, automate network planning and target capacity.
Alphabet Q1 2026 remarks
Feb 19, 2026
Microsoft said in a video with Scott Petty that Vodafone had rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot to 60,000 employees and uses AI agents and GitHub Copilot.
Microsoft UK Stories
Jan 1, 2026
Ruth McGill became Chief Human Resources Officer and joined the Executive Committee; Vodafone's Chief HR Officer attends the AI Governance Board.
FY26 annual report
Dec 1, 2025
Pilar López, a former Microsoft and Telefónica executive, became Vodafone's Group CFO.
FY26 annual report
Nov 11, 2025
Vodafone reported an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users and a 12% productivity increase from AI in software development.
H1 FY26 results presentation

Quick answers

How does Vodafone Group deploy AI?: Vodafone Group deploys AI through partnerships with Microsoft and Google: Azure OpenAI models run its SuperTOBi and TOBi customer assistants, and Vodafone uses Google's Vertex AI and Gemini on Google Cloud, where its data lake sits, with several language models used for the same tasks. Vodafone reported an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users in Nov 2025 and credits GenAI coding tools with a 12% productivity increase in software development (May 2026). Group CTO Scott Petty chairs the AI Governance Board.
What does Vodafone Group use AI for?: Vodafone Group runs AI in customer care, network operations, software development, procurement, HR, marketing, field service and security, but has published no count of use cases. Vodafone Group credits one business return to AI: a 12% productivity increase across the software development lifecycle from GenAI coding tools (Nov 2025 and May 2026). CFO Pilar López said in May 2026 that AI is one of the key drivers of Vodafone's opex savings targets, without giving AI's share, and Vodafone reports its other AI results as resolution rates, satisfaction scores and time reductions rather than cost or revenue.
Who leads AI at Vodafone Group?: AI at Vodafone Group is led by Scott Petty (Group Chief Technology Officer); Ignacio Garcia (Global Director for AI and Data Analytics); Alberto Ripepi (Group Chief Network Officer). Ownership of AI on the org chart: Scott Petty, Group Chief Technology Officer, who chairs the AI Governance Board and sits on the Executive Committee.
What AI platform does Vodafone Group use?: Vodafone Group builds its AI assistants and agents on vendor platforms, chiefly Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Foundry and Google Cloud's Vertex AI, with technical responsible AI guardrails on its internal AI development platforms (FY26 annual report).
Which AI models does Vodafone Group use?: Vodafone runs OpenAI models through Microsoft Azure for TOBi, SuperTOBi and SuperAgent, and Google's Gemini models through Vertex AI and Gemini Enterprise; Margherita Della Valle said in May 2026 that Vodafone uses different language models even within the same use case.
How many Vodafone employees use AI?: Vodafone reported an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users with over 90% monthly adoption (Nov 2025), an HR digital agent serving 75,000 employees and more than 5,000 developers using GenAI coding tools (May 2026), out of 91,128 employees.
What return has Vodafone Group reported from AI?: Vodafone Group sits in Piloting on one business return it credits to AI in the 18 months to Nov 2026: its results presentations credit GenAI-enabled software development with a 12% productivity increase across the development lifecycle, first in Nov 2025 for 2,800 engineers and again in May 2026 for more than 5,000 developers. Vodafone Group also reports a company-wide rollout with a user count and a named owner: its Nov 2025 results put an employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users, its FY26 annual report says Microsoft's Copilot was made available to 49,343 users and 4,324 AI agents were active, and Group CTO Scott Petty chairs the AI Governance Board that sets AI strategy and policy. Vodafone Group falls short of Scaling because it reports no AI-credited return in a second function and no firm-level AI figure: CFO Pilar López said in May 2026 that AI is one of the key drivers of the opex savings targets without giving AI's share, and its care, network, procurement and HR results are resolution rates, satisfaction scores and time reductions, not cost or revenue.

Open questions

How much of Vodafone's opex savings, which CFO Pilar López said AI is one of the key drivers of, comes from AI, and how much of its 11,000 role reductions since FY24?
Is the employee GenAI assistant live for more than 50,000 users (Nov 2025) Microsoft 365 Copilot, and how do 49,343 users (FY26 annual report) and Microsoft's 60,000 employees (Feb 2026) relate?
What cost or revenue return have TOBi, SuperTOBi, SuperAgent, Ask Once, the procurement portal, Zero Touch Operation and the Google network agents delivered?
How is the 12% software development productivity increase measured, and what has it saved in cost or capacity?
Is the HR digital agent's resolution rate 86%, as the FY26 results presentation says, or 96%, as the FY26 annual report says?
Are the AI Governance Board and the AI Governance Steering Committee the same body, and who leads data and AI below the Group CTO?
Which LLMs besides OpenAI's and Google's models does Vodafone use, and does any AI run in Vodafone's own data centres?
What do Vodafone's AI licences, models and partnerships cost each year?

Sources

Vodafone

Filings and investor materials

Partners

News

Data confidence

Confirmed: Stated in a primary or reputable public source.
Estimated: Derived or approximated from public reporting.
Unconfirmed: Reported, but not yet corroborated.

Vodafone Group profile · Enterprise AI diffusion report by Imagine · facts checked against their sources on Nov 5, 2026

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