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Bharti Airtel Strengthens Cloud and AI Capabilities with Partnerships with IBM and Google

Bharti Airtel has announced partnerships — with IBM and Google — to enhance its cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in India. These collaborations aim to accelerate enterprise digital transformation, expand data center capacity, and build India’s AI-ready infrastructure.

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Airtel and IBM Partner to Enhance Airtel Cloud Capabilities

Airtel has entered into a partnership with IBM to strengthen its recently launched Airtel Cloud platform. The collaboration combines Airtel’s secure, compliant, and telco-grade cloud infrastructure with IBM’s leadership in hybrid cloud and AI technologies.

The partnership will enable enterprises in regulated sectors such as banking, healthcare, and government to scale AI workloads efficiently across multiple environments — on-premises, in the cloud, or at the edge.

Airtel Cloud customers will gain access to the IBM Power Systems portfolio-as-a-Service, including the next-generation IBM Power11 servers designed for AI and mission-critical applications. The Power11 hybrid platform supports enterprise workloads such as IBM Power AIX, IBM i, Linux, and SAP Cloud ERP. This will also help SAP customers on IBM Power transition to SAP Cloud ERP on IBM Power Virtual Server.

Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, said the partnership will enhance Airtel Cloud’s agility and compliance while expanding its availability zones in India from four to ten, hosted on Airtel’s sustainable next-generation data centers. The company also plans to set up two new Multizone Regions (MZRs) in Mumbai and Chennai.

Rob Thomas, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of IBM, added that the collaboration will help Indian enterprises balance modernization with growing regulatory and AI requirements.

Through this partnership, IBM will provide its watsonx AI platform, Red Hat OpenShift AI, and enterprise-grade IaaS and PaaS offerings. This integration will accelerate AI adoption, enhance productivity through generative AI automation, and prepare enterprises for future innovations in AI and quantum computing.

Airtel and Google to Establish India’s First AI Hub in Visakhapatnam

In a parallel development, Airtel also announced a partnership with Google to set up India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. This project will bring Google’s AI stack and consumer services closer to Indian businesses, accelerating AI adoption and strengthening India’s digital backbone.

The AI Hub represents a $15 billion (USD) investment by Google over five years (2026–2030). The project includes gigawatt-scale data center operations, a state-of-the-art Cable Landing Station (CLS), and a robust subsea and intra-city fiber network developed in collaboration with Airtel and AdaniConneX.

Airtel’s role involves building high-capacity, low-latency fiber networks to connect Google’s data centers and subsea cables, ensuring faster experiences for users and businesses. This network expansion will enhance the resilience and capacity of India’s digital infrastructure, promoting digital inclusivity and nationwide AI access.

Driving India’s AI and Cloud Transformation

With these partnerships, Bharti Airtel is positioning itself as a key enabler of India’s AI and cloud ecosystem. The collaborations with IBM and Google will help Indian enterprises modernize their IT environments, strengthen data sovereignty, and harness the full potential of AI and hybrid cloud technologies.

Baburajan Kizhakedath

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