Help Skill 1 million people in AI until 2027

Through the Skills for Switzerland initiative, in partnership with Adecco, we have supported 630,000 people in developing essential new digital skills. Looking ahead, we are committed to equipping 1 million people with AI skills by 2027, equipping workers, educators, and students with the tools needed to thrive in an AI-driven economy. This initiative includes specialized programs for apprentices, industry associations, and nonprofit organizations.

Microsoft Technology Center

In 2022, we opened our Microsoft Innovation Hub at our headquarters at the Zurich Airport. It delivers immersive industry experiences and deep technical engagement focused on driving business outcomes for customers, connecting tech, talent, and industry. The Microsoft Innovation Hub was visited by nearly 9400 guests since 2022.

Swiss AI and Cloud Infrastructure Investment

We have committed USD 400 million to expand AI and cloud infrastructure throughout Switzerland, strengthening economic competitiveness, fostering local innovation, and creating new jobs. Our four Swiss datacenters currently support more than 50,000 customers.

Switzerland Innovation Parks

We have partnered with the Switzerland Innovation Parks to accelerate startup innovation by bridging cutting-edge AI research with practical market applications.

Marriage Equality

At Microsoft, we have a well-established history of supporting marriage equality around the world. In Switzerland, we supported our LGBTQI+ employees on this issue by taking a public stance in the 2021 referendum and joining forces with some of our key customers and partners to advocate for marriage equality.

Mind the Gap

We unveiled the “Mind the Gap” white paper in collaboration with IMD and Ringier at WEF Davos, outlining practical steps to detect and reduce bias in generative AI.

Collaboration with UN Organizations

We are deepening our collaboration with UN organizations in Geneva—including ITU, UNCTAD, WMO, and OHCHR—to advance responsible AI use, data governance, and skilling both in Switzerland and the Global South.

EU Data Boundary

Through the completion of the EU Data Boundary, we have enabled full data residency and processing within the EU and EFTA, while ensuring legal defense against unlawful access with our Defending Your Data commitment.

Tech for Sustainability

Microsoft Switzerland, together with partners EY and Global Compacts, initiated the Tech for Sustainability initiative. The initiative brings together people and organizations to co-create a positive sustainability impact enabled by driving and shaping critical key themes for technology and sustainability.

Neustark

We entered a six-year, multi-year carbon removal agreement with Swiss startup Neustark, demonstrating the important role climate-tech startups play in advancing Microsoft’s sustainability goals.

UBS Digital Sustainability

In 2022, the Swiss based bank UBS will—in line with its sustainability goals—move certain technology platform workloads from its on-premises and private cloud servers to Microsoft Azure. In some use cases, this has resulted in the energy consumption of these workloads to be reduced by up to 30%.

Together, UBS and Microsoft also co-developed a Carbon Aware API, an open-source solution that provides recommendations on how to schedule workloads that require heavy compute power during times when clean, renewable or low-carbon sources of electricity are most available. They then provided their solution to the Green Software Foundation so it could be shared with large and small companies around the world.

Cloud for Sustainability

With our new Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability solution—available in Switzerland—we can help our customers record and manage emissions in order to achieve their sustainability goals more quickly. We partner with companies like ABB and their ABB Ability™ platform to get the data customers need to monitor and optimize their energy use and CO2 footprint, managing power systems, and making ongoing decisions to improve business efficiency.

Innovate Switzerland

In 2022, together with partners, Microsoft Switzerland initiated the Innovate Switzerland community. The Innovate Switzerland Community wants to promote exchange among pioneers, advance the digital transformation with targeted proposals, and support Switzerland from the bottom up in building a responsible data economy. With the Innovate Switzerland Community, Microsoft also wants to promote discussion about the use of technologies such as cloud infrastructures.

Responsible AI

We are accelerating responsible AI adoption by providing new dedicated tools, frameworks, and guidance to help Swiss organizations develop trustworthy AI more efficiently.

Secure Infrastructure

We are investing in secure AI infrastructure across our four Swiss datacenters to ensure full compliance with data residency, privacy, and regulatory standards.

European Commitments

We have introduced binding contractual commitments to guarantee operational continuity of cloud services in Europe, even during periods of geopolitical uncertainty.