Vodafone: Microsoft 365 Copilot for most of its workforce

Vodafone wanted higher productivity, better work quality and faster innovation across a large multinational workforce. The Copilot rollout builds on the 10-year strategic partnership with Microsoft signed in January 2024, which also covers generative AI for customer experience, the IoT business, services for small and medium businesses and moving data to Azure.¹

Vodafone first ran a trial of Microsoft 365 Copilot with Microsoft and KPMG. In September 2024 it extended its agreement to roll Copilot out to up to 68,000 employees across multiple countries and most business functions. A February 2026 Microsoft UK feature says Copilot has been rolled out to 60,000 employees, the majority of the global workforce, and that Vodafone also uses AI agents and GitHub Copilot, but it gives no details of either.²³

In our view, the step worth copying is that Vodafone brought in an outside firm, KPMG, alongside Microsoft to evaluate its trial before committing to tens of thousands of licenses. Operators weighing a large commitment should do the same and publish the method internally. The figures are trial results gathered from users, with no sample size or method made public, and the 2026 feature reports no outcomes at all. The rollout scope also moved from up to 68,000 in 2024 to 60,000 in 2026, without explanation. Teams whose work is mostly in network tools rather than documents and email may see less benefit than office roles.