Picture: Microsoft Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith with the Prime Minister Republic of Poland, Donald Tusk announces PLN 2.8 billion investment in Poland for cloud and AI infrastructure.
- Investment will expand Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure in Poland, enhancing the country’s global competitiveness.
- Microsoft and the Polish National Defense will announce a collaboration to establish a framework to strengthen national cybersecurity.
Microsoft today announces it intends to spend PLN 2.8 billion by June, 2026 to expand its hyperscale cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in Poland, as well as collaborate with Polish National Defense to establish a framework to strengthen national cybersecurity.
The investment will support the growth of the existing datacenter campuses, bringing an expanding set of Azure services to meet the demand of customers in the region.
This investment is designed to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence and cloud technologies, and increase the country’s economic competitiveness by stimulating the development and adoption of digital technology, equipping Polish citizens with skills to put AI to use, and creating new jobs in the country’s growing digital sector.
“This is an investment in our future, our security, our youth, our startups, and our scholars,” said Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland. “This is an investment that will provide Poles, especially the younger generation, with access to the most modern tools and opportunities offered by the best in the world. (…) This mutual trust and the fact that we can operate in the most challenging areas, such as cybersecurity. (…) Microsoft will also be conducting AI training in Poland. Tools, money, and investments are important, as is cooperation with our people and companies, but we will achieve the desired effects also by taking advantage of training opportunities. I am pleased to hear that the work on the Polish language model – Bielik – is progressing so well. It is not only a matter of aspirations but also something that indicates Poland’s importance in these processes and the high technical and intellectual skills of our staff – scientists and IT specialists,” said Donald Tusk.
Strengthening national cybersecurity
According to the latest edition of the Microsoft Digital Defense report, Poland ranks 3rd in Europe and 9th in the world in terms of exposure to attacks from cybercriminal organizations sponsored by foreign nations. The challenges faced by countries in this part of Europe, including the security of the upcoming presidential elections in Poland, are multiplying and triggering an increasingly strong impulse for specific actions aimed at protecting citizens from cyber threats.
Microsoft will partner with Polish National Defense to establish a framework to strengthen national cybersecurity, including working together on the development of AI competencies and the application of Emerging Disruptive technologies – cloud computing models, AI and quantum.
“We appreciate the critical role that Poland plays in the European Union, and we are committed to helping to protect its cybersecurity and cyber resilience,” said Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft. “Microsoft’s data center investment is a vote of confidence in Poland’s leadership and economy. Our goal is to bring the most advanced AI infrastructure to every sector of the Polish economy, strengthening the nation’s economic competitiveness.”
Microsoft’s commitment to Poland’s economy and global competitiveness
Microsoft opened its Polish datacenter region in April 2023, the first in Central and Eastern Europe, in response to strong demand for its highly trusted and scalable enterprise-grade cloud solutions from Polish organizations of all sizes. Customers across various industries in Poland, including healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and retail, are already reaping the benefits of cloud technology.
In addition to employing full-time employees and contractors to run and service Microsoft’s Polish data center region, data center investments represent an ongoing capital-intensive and long-term commitment to the local community and region it serves. This includes sourcing from local and Central European suppliers for engineering and construction services, equipment for networking and cooling, sourcing of energy, and a wide range of equipment and supplies.
Beyond direct employment and the broader supply chain, the net effects of AI are becoming increasingly evident. According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index report 61 percent of workers in Poland use generative artificial intelligence daily. Nearly 70 percent of Polish leaders believe that their company needs to implement artificial intelligence to remain competitive.
To help ensure that Poland’s workforce has the right skills to stay competitive, Microsoft has committed by the end of 2025 to help skill 1 million Polish information workers, teachers, higher-education tutors, software developers, and organizational leaders with the skills and capabilities to help accelerate Poland’s digital transformation across various sectors. Microsoft’s AI skilling initiative focuses on teaching digital proficiency in AI, cybersecurity, digital capacity building of institutions and organizations, and facilitating workforce integration. This is in addition to the 430,000 people in Poland that Microsoft has already trained in digital skills between 2020 and 2023.
To enable equitable access to technology, educational tools and digital skills that foster economic opportunities, Microsoft has a longstanding commitment of providing donated and discounted software to Polish educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, public libraries, and museums. Over the past year, that commitment exceeded $80 million in Poland. This includes AI solutions like Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat in Microsoft 365 Education, AI-powered Learning Accelerators, Microsoft Teams for Education, and accessibility tools designed to empower all learners, as well as Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and more for nonprofit organizations across the country.
Advancing AI responsibly and sustainably
Sustainability is fundamentally important to Microsoft and is reflected in its ambitious corporate targets to become carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste company that protects ecosystems by 2030. Microsoft designs, builds, and operates cloud computing infrastructure spanning the whole stack, from datacenters to servers to custom silicon. We run cloud computing infrastructure, with more than 60 datacenter regions globally. 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. The company has taken a first-mover approach to planning, making long-term investments to bring more carbon-free electricity onto the grids where it operates. Microsoft’s Power Purchase Agreements, or PPAs, are at the center of its approach. Today, the company has contracted over 34 GW of renewable energy across 24 countries, marking progress toward accelerating renewable energy markets and supporting the global energy transition. In Poland, Microsoft has started to execute PPAs for renewable energy and is pursuing additional contractual opportunities in the near future. The company continues to advocate for the expansion of clean energy solutions around the world.
These commitments are testament to Microsoft’s long-standing 32-year partnership with Poland, its organizations and citizens to not only invest in cloud and AI infrastructure, but also in the broader eco-system to support the development of Polish Digital Valley, and enhance Poland’s competitiveness and resilience.
