Insider Brief

• Microsoft announced a R$14.7 billion investment over three years to expand cloud and AI infrastructure in Brazil, aiming to accelerate AI innovation and competitiveness in the country.
• Through the ConectAI program, Microsoft will train 5 million Brazilians in AI skills, partnering with organizations like SENAI, UNICEF, and the Ministry of Labor to boost workforce readiness and economic growth.
• This investment supports sustainability goals, including renewable energy projects and carbon removal initiatives, while enhancing public sector efficiency and promoting responsible AI practices in Brazil.

PRESS RELEASE — Microsoft announced its largest single investment in Brazil, with plans to spend 14.7 billion Reais in cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure over three years. This initiative aims to foster the development of AI ecosystem in Brazil, accelerating the country’s AI innovation. Microsoft will also support the country’s long-term competitiveness with the program ConectAI, training 5 million people over the next three years with AI skills, creating long-term benefits for the Brazilian economy.

Microsoft will expand its cloud and AI infrastructure across several datacenter campuses in the state of São Paulo. This new investment aligns with Microsoft’s push for greater innovation and increased competitiveness, and it is in line with the government´s vision to enhance public sector efficiency, national resilience and sustainability. Microsoft already has two Azure regions: Brazil South, based in São Paulo state and launched in 2014, and Brazil Southeast, based in Rio de Janeiro, launched in 2020.

“We are committed to supporting Brazil’s AI transformation and ensuring it benefits everyone,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Our new investments in cloud and AI infrastructure and training in Brazil will help ensure broad access to both the technology and skills needed for Brazil’s people and economy to thrive in this AI era.”

ConectAI: Equipping 5 million Brazilians with essential AI skills

Microsoft is launching ConectAI, a program that will provide AI skills training to 5 million people, aiming to address the AI-driven shift in the workforce and ensure an equitable future by offering AI fluency at scale.

A study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by the consultancy FrontierView in 2020 shows that if Brazil strongly adopts AI, it could add 4.2 percentage points to the country’s GDP growth through 2030. Even with minimal AI adoption, Brazil could see an increase of 1.8 percentage points in GDP over the same period.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to supporting inclusive economic growth in Brazil. We are empowering individuals, companies, and society to enhance innovation and democratize the use of AI through skills development, knowledge sharing, and access to cutting-edge technology and digital infrastructure, while also meeting our sustainability goals,” says Tania Cosentino, General Manager of Microsoft Brazil

The ConectAI Program makes this premise tangible and will support the Brazilian population in reaping the benefits of adopting AI. The company is collaborating with 26 organizations, including governments, educational institutions, and nonprofits to achieve this goal. Microsoft closed a new collaboration with SENAI São Paulo (Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial) to offer AI fluency courses and training to the certification AI 900 to its students, teachers and the community.

Additionally, Microsoft will continue the collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and Employment to offer AI skills training through the “School of Workers 4.0” program, which aims to provide access to digital skills so that Brazilians can stay updated with the technologies demanded by the labour market. “The Ministry of Labor and Employment has been working with Microsoft for years in building digital skills training to support the Brazilian population in becoming proficient in current technologies. The new initiatives we are developing together to disseminate knowledge in artificial intelligence will be essential to promote the inclusion of people in the digital environment and generate more employment opportunities in the country, supporting the economic and professional growth of citizens”, says Luiz Marinho, Minister of Labor and Employment.

Furthermore, Microsoft, in collaboration with Nova Escola, a nonprofit focused on supporting Brazilian teachers, will provide AI skills training for educators. This initiative seeks to equip teachers with resources to simplify class preparation and enhance public education through innovative resources and training. To target youth Microsoft is partnering with UNICEF to bring AI skills to 1mio program, aiming to reduce the number of people between 18 and 25 years old that are neither studying nor working. Another important audience are government workers. To empower public servants to be more productive and with that better serve society Microsoft is partnering with ENAP to provide both fluency and productivity content and also technical skills to foster technological innovation in the public sector.

In addition to the 26 ConectAI partners skilling platforms, Brazilians will also have a Microsoft one-stop-shop website (https://aka.ms/conectAI) to access more than 130 learning paths at no cost. The learning paths will cover digital literacy, productivity, AI and technical trainings. These courses cover topics such as Microsoft 365 applications, the history of AI, generative artificial intelligence, prompt engineering and how to use Microsoft Copilot. More technical courses are also available, focusing on providing knowledge on AI fundamentals in the cloud.

Microsoft has already helped many Brazilians gain digital skills through the Mais Brasil and ConectAI (former Conecta+) programs and partnerships. From January 2021 to August 2024, we have engaged 12.7 million people to learn more about digital literacy and productivity and trained and certified 2.8 million people in digital skills.

Fostering the AI Ecosystem in Brazil

To support the growing demand for cloud services and AI in Brazil, we have been investing in the Brazilian AI ecosystem, including developers and startups. Today, the GitHub developer community in Brazil numbers more than 4.8 million people*. The country is the sixth largest developer community contributing to generative AI projects and is expected that Brazil will overtake China in developer population by 2028, becoming the third largest developer population globally**. Microsoft is also supporting the local startup community by offering more than USD 9 million in Azure credits to around 3,300 local startups since July 2023 through the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub.

Additionally, the company has 25,000 partners and hundreds of thousands of customers in Brazil. Microsoft empowers Brazilian organizations to leverage the power of AI. This investment in infrastructure and skill development aims to foster innovation in established businesses, new ventures, and the renowned Brazilian start-up community. It also addresses the critical need for upskilling with AI competencies.

“The use of generative AI combined with a responsible AI discipline allowed us to deliver a unique cloud-native solution for digital service to our customers, achieving resolution rates above 90%,” comments Rafael Cavalcanti, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Bradesco.

Powering world class sustainable and secure cloud and AI infrastructure

Sustainability is fundamentally important to Microsoft and is reflected in our ambitious corporate targets to become carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste company that protects ecosystems by 2030. At Microsoft, we design, build, and operate cloud computing infrastructure spanning the whole stack, from datacenters to servers to custom silicon. With the expansion of its cloud and AI infrastructure, Microsoft’s cloud will span more than 60 datacenter regions globally launched. This creates unique opportunities for orchestrating how each element can work together to enhance both performance, efficiency and sustainability.

Microsoft continues to evaluate and diligently work to address sustainability and resource needs associated with infrastructure growth. Microsoft has taken a first-mover approach to our planning, making long-term investments to bring more carbon-free electricity onto the grids where we operate. Our Power Purchase Agreements, or PPAs, are at the centre of our approach. Today, we have contracted over 34 GW of renewable energy across 24 countries, marking progress toward accelerating renewable energy markets and supporting the global energy transition. We continue to advocate for the expansion of clean energy solutions around the world.

Further, we continue to pursue our goal of becoming Carbon Negative by 2030 as one of the largest buyers of carbon removal in the world. In our last fiscal year, Microsoft purchased tens of millions of tons of carbon removal, across a global portfolio of nature-based, e.g. afforestation, and engineered solutions, e.g. direct air capture and biochar.

In 2023, Microsoft signed a 15-year renewable energy contract with AES Brasil, for a wind generation project that started commercial operations in July 2024. The power will be generated by the Cajuína Wind Complex, located in Rio Grande do Norte, approximately 130 kilometers from Natal. The project will be operated by an all-female operations and maintenance (O&M) team. AES Brasil is the first company in the country to have a wind farm operated and maintained locally by a team composed entirely of women.

In support of Microsoft’s Carbon Negative by 2030 target, Microsoft signed an agreement with Amazon Reforestation Fund operated by a Brazilian-based start-up Mombak, to provide high-quality carbon removal from native biodiversity reforestation projects across the Amazon, totalling up to 1.5 million tons of carbon removal by 2032 from millions of trees planted. This novel agreement provided a foundation for the World Bank to issue a $225M Amazon Reforestation-Linked Outcome Bond — the first bond ever of this type — to foster further investment in Mombak’s reforestation efforts. A second agreement with another Brazilian company, re.green, is anticipated to deliver approximately 3 million tons of carbon removal credits over a 15-year period through the restoration of forests using solely native species, including the planting of at least 10 million seedlings. This offtake agreement is estimated to support the restoration of over 16,000 hectares across Brazil, including in the states of Maranhão and Bahia.

Finally, under an agreement with BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (TIG), TIG plans to provide Microsoft with up to 8 million nature-based carbon removal credits through 2043 — the largest corporate carbon removal purchase known to date. The credits will be delivered from TIG’s $1 billion reforestation and restoration strategy in Latin America, for which Conservation International serves as Impact Adviser to help TIG achieve positive environmental, climate, and social impacts. The strategy focuses on the conservation, restoration, and planting of deforested and degraded properties in selected regions in Latin America, including the Cerrado biome in Brazil, one of the most biodiverse seasonally dry ecosystems in the world.

Microsoft’s infrastructure and suite of cloud services are built from the ground up to secure datacentres against unauthorized access, environmental hazards, and other physical threats. The company uses resilient architecture, business continuity plans, and disaster recovery steps to keep services available and to meet high security and privacy standards. Microsoft follows industry-leading practices for responsible AI, with its implementation of Responsible AI standards and AI Assurance Program to promote best practices for AI usage.

Advancing responsible progress and community engagement

This infrastructure will operate under Microsoft’s AI Access Principles which were created to foster innovation and healthy competition within the rapidly growing AI economy. They reflect Microsoft’s expanding role and responsibility as a leader in AI and commit the company to making investments, forging business partnerships, and creating programs that ensure broad access to its AI technology that empower organizations and individuals to develop and use AI in ways that will serve the public good.

In addition, Microsoft reinforces its global Datacenter Community Pledge that recognizes its commitment to be a responsible neighbour in Brazil and elsewhere by contributing positively to local economies and ecosystems while advancing global digital transformation. Microsoft will partner closely with local governments, residents, and key stakeholders to ensure its infrastructure is a resource that contributes to a sustainable future and advances community prosperity and well-being.

*Source: https://innovationgraph.github.com/economies/br

**Source: 2023 GitHub Report State of the Octoverse

About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

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