Microsoft and Nielsen partner to apply AI to retail data

Microsoft Logo at Ignite (Image credit: Windows Central)

Microsoft and Nielsen today announced a major partnership through which the companies have applied the power of AI to give the retail industry access to powerful analytics based on customer and industry data. The result is Nielsen Connect, an intelligent cloud platform built on the back of Microsoft Azure.

The goal of nielsen connect is to help companies "spot emerging trends, diagnose performance gaps, and act faster on opportunities to grow" using AI and analytics, the two companies say.

"The first critical step toward digital transformation, especially among retailers, is breaking down the barriers between customer and operational data to fuel insights for the business," said Judson Althoff, executive vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Commercial Business. "Because retail happens wherever customers are and whenever they choose, Nielsen Connect provides high reliability at a global scale 24/7. Microsoft is a natural partner for Nielsen, trusted by global enterprises to protect their data and power their critical business solutions."

Nielsen Connect is available now, combining data provided from clients and Nielsen's own pont-of-sale data, consumer panel, e-commerce, fresh food and cross-platform media data.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl.