10 Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2025 Mega trends
Strategic report
Governance
Financials
Other information
Long-term trends shaping our industry Digital services and next generation connectivity are increasingly central to everything we do. They will be the driving forces that redefine relationships between sectors, employers, employees, customers, and friends and family. There are four ‘mega trends’ that we believe will continue to shape our industry in the years ahead. Connected devices – The world is becoming more connected, Generative artificial intelligence (‘Gen AI’) – Gen AI adoption has surged, with 65% of
Digital payments – Businesses in Europe are migrating sales channels online, driving demand for mobile- enabled payment services and reliable connectivity. Consumers are shifting from cash to digital payments via mobile phones and smartwatches – In Africa, digital payments are primarily conducted via mobile phones through networks owned by operators – Rising smartphone penetration drives mobile payment adoption, enabling operators and FinTech start-ups to offer services like insurance, loans, and e-commerce, improving financial inclusion in underserved areas $1.4 trillion The annual value of mobile money transactions reached globally in 2024, up 14% versus the previous year. The opportunity for Vodafone M-Pesa is Africa’s leading mobile money service and largest FinTech platform, offering secure and affordable money transfers, airtime top-ups, bill payments, salaries, and short-term loans. Businesses increasingly rely on operator-owned payment infrastructure for consumer and business transactions, driving scale benefits and attracting customers to secure networks. Vodacom’s VodaPay super app enables users to manage money through a digital wallet and make payments for various products and services via partner businesses.
Adoption of cloud technology – Significant investment in cloud technology by large tech companies has led to advanced centralised data storage and remote processing capabilities – Corporates are adopting multi-cloud solutions for more flexibility and reduced risk. Smaller businesses are transitioning too, often needing network operator assistance – Demand for fast, secure connectivity with low latency is driving cloud adoption. AI and edge computing will enhance cloud capabilities, which is crucial for digital transformation €84 billion The expected total addressable market in business-to-business cloud and security by 2028, compared to €49 billion in 2024. The opportunity for Vodafone Our strong relationship with the existing customers presents a great opportunity to assist our smaller business customers in navigating their move to the cloud and offering multi-cloud solutions to larger corporates. By partnering with cloud providers to develop edge computing solutions, we can deliver reduced latency and robust, secure connectivity services. This will drive higher demand and corporate agility, thus playing a key role in the evolving cloud technology landscape.
driven by new devices across all sectors. This connectivity extends beyond smartphones to various Internet of Things (‘IoT’) devices – IoT devices are increasingly used in consumer and business applications. As their number grows, physical assets communicate in real-time, establishing new digital markets – This leads to the Economy of Things, where devices trade securely on a user’s behalf without human intervention, offering businesses opportunities to transform goods into tradeable digital assets for new online markets 7.3 billion Forecast for the number of connected devices by 2032, increasing from 2.9 billion in 2022. The opportunity for Vodafone Vodafone is a global leader in managed IoT connectivity services, recognised for its extensive reach and innovative solutions. Vodafone has helped thousands of companies achieve their transformation goals. This ranges from enabling smart production lines to identifying leaking waterpipes, from optimising supply chains to creating more efficient farming methods. We are now ready to hyperscale IoT. We are bringing together partners, and technology to create the IoT eco-system for the next decade. Vodafone’s partnership with Microsoft further gives us the potential to access new technologies such as Generative Artificial Intelligence (‘Gen AI’) and to deploy these at scale for IoT. Read more about our partnership with Microsoft: investors.vodafone.com/microsoft-strategic-partnership Watch our Vodafone Business investor briefing: investors.vodafone.com/vbbriefing
organisations using it in at least one business function, nearly double from the previous year – Common use cases include AI-generated recommendations, hyper-personalised marketing content, and software development. Enterprises are investing in Gen AI for customer service chatbots, automated IT testing, and content generation – These applications are expected to drive efficiency and profitability, enhancing customer interactions and operational processes. The technology is poised to create disruptive changes across industries, boosting productivity and opening new business opportunities 65% The percentage of organisations regularly using Gen AI in at least one business function, nearly double the percentage in 2024 vs. 2023. The opportunity for Vodafone Vodafone is strategically positioned to deploy Gen AI at industry-leading speed and scale. By leveraging deep partnerships with Google and Microsoft, Vodafone can enhance customer satisfaction through hyper-personalised experiences across all customer touch points, including its digital assistant TOBi. Additionally, Vodafone employees can utilise Gen AI capabilities to transform working practices, boost productivity, and improve digital efficiency.
R ead more about how we build platforms for financial inclusion on pages 39 to 41 Watch our digital services and experiences investor briefing: investors.vodafone.com/digital-services
Read more about our six-year strategic partnership with Google: investors.vodafone.com/google-strategic-partnership Learn more about our cloud technology in our technology investor briefing: investors.vodafone.com/vtbriefing
R ead more about Vodafone’s approach to responsible AI on page 49 Learn more about how Vodafone is working with AI: investors.vodafone.com/artificial-intelligence
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