Lumen and Microsoft expand collaboration to co-sell enterprise AI-ready networks

Lumen Technologies and Microsoft announced an expanded co-selling partnership to help enterprises address fragmented networks that hinder AI adoption. The collaboration aims to align network transformation with Microsoft Azure modernization, enabling customers to integrate connectivity, security and data movement into a unified enterprise architecture. Lumen’s network and control capabilities will be made available to Azure customers, providing a resilient foundation for deploying AI workloads. The initiative focuses on simplifying how organizations connect existing environments to Azure while leveraging Azure’s native networking and security features.

Microsoft emphasized its commitment to offering customers choice in connecting environments to Azure, highlighting the role of Lumen’s capabilities in supporting broader network transformation. The company stated that the collaboration helps align enterprise priorities around Azure cloud and AI with network modernization needs. Microsoft also noted the importance of Azure’s native networking, security, scale and innovation in enabling this partnership. The joint effort targets enterprises where network modernization, cloud migration and AI transformation increasingly overlap.

Lumen highlighted the challenge enterprises face in connecting data, applications and infrastructure for AI adoption. The company described the collaboration as bringing together cloud, network and AI planning earlier in the process to improve AI deployment effectiveness. Lumen’s cloud networking and application connectivity capabilities will be integrated into Azure, expanding access for customers through Microsoft’s cloud and AI ecosystem. The partnership also includes plans to identify opportunities to bring additional Lumen capabilities to Azure and Microsoft Marketplace over time.

The collaboration builds on existing joint efforts, including Lumen’s Private Connectivity Fabric for Microsoft data center connectivity and Azure’s support for Lumen’s workload modernization. The expanded initiative applies this experience to enterprise cloud networking and AI infrastructure planning, creating a foundation for deeper joint work across Azure, AI-ready connectivity and governed agentic workloads. Lumen’s Alkira, available through Microsoft Marketplace, offers cloud-native networking capabilities as an established purchasing option for customers.