Mitsumi Distribution has announced a KES 258 million (US$2 million) investment to build an artificial intelligence (AI) cloud platform intended to give Kenyan university graduates, software developers and early-stage tech entrepreneurs access to affordable computing infrastructure.

The company said the initiative was announced last week in Nairobi during the AI Everything Kenya X GITEX Kenya Summit. According to Mitsumi, the platform is designed to reduce the cost barriers that can limit local developers’ ability to build, test and scale AI-enabled products on cloud infrastructure.

Mitesh Shah, Co-founder and Managing Director at Mitsumi Distribution, said the company is funding the project largely as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. “The AI cloud we are putting up is around $2 million. This is mostly CSR from Mitsumi’s side so that most of our educated youths can utilize it for different things,” Shah said.

Mitsumi said the platform will enable local developers to build and test software, experiment with AI solutions and connect to international technology markets without incurring the costs typically associated with global cloud services. The company added that access to advanced tools and computing power remains a key constraint for many young innovators.

Jagat Shah, Chairman and CEO of Mitsumi Distribution, linked the investment to affordability challenges faced by young professionals. “So many youths are well educated to do something good, but because of cost and affordability, they are not getting good exposure,” he said.

The announcement comes amid increased public and private sector focus on digital infrastructure and AI skills as Kenya positions its digital economy for growth. For the local market, access to compute is a practical constraint for AI development, given that training and running modern AI models can be expensive and often requires specialised hardware capacity.

Mitsumi also disclosed that it has hired more than 50 young people within its AI division, where it said they are working on research, product development and digital solutions. The company argued that Kenya’s talent base could support a stronger role in regional AI and software development if infrastructure constraints are addressed. “Kenyan youth possess exceptional technical talent and a strong understanding of software development. What has been missing is greater access to platforms and infrastructure that can help them innovate, scale and compete globally,” Jagat Shah said.

The firm welcomed the government’s ongoing efforts to develop an AI policy framework, stating that clear regulation and ethical standards could support responsible innovation. While the company did not provide timelines for the cloud platform’s rollout or details on how developers will access the infrastructure, it indicated the initiative is intended to broaden participation in AI development.

Looking ahead, Mitsumi said locally developed AI solutions could be applied to improve healthcare, education and access to essential services, particularly in underserved and remote communities. The next milestones likely to be watched by the sector include the platform’s launch date, eligibility and pricing structure for users, and how the initiative aligns with Kenya’s emerging AI policy direction.

Unilever and Google Cloud on February 18, 2026 announced a five-year partnership aimed at accelerating Unilever’s use of artificial intelligence by moving key data and enterprise applications onto Google Cloud, in a deal the companies said will reshape how the consumer goods group conducts marketing, brand discovery and internal workflows.

The companies said the partnership will see Unilever migrate its integrated data and cloud platform to Google Cloud to create an “enterprise-wide, AI-first digital backbone” and support “agentic workflows”—systems designed to execute complex tasks across business processes. The announcement was issued in a media release distributed in Kenya.

Unilever said the collaboration will use Google Cloud technologies including Vertex AI, its enterprise AI platform, to build new capabilities in brand discovery, measurement and AI-augmented marketing for brands such as Dove, Vaseline and Hellmann’s. According to the media release, the initiative responds to consumer journeys shifting “toward more conversational and agentic experiences,” including conversational shopping.

The partnership matters for Kenya’s business landscape because it signals continued acceleration of cloud migration and enterprise AI adoption among multinational fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies operating in the region. While the media release did not provide country-level investment figures or deployment timelines for East Africa, the decision to route core data platforms to a hyperscale cloud provider is likely to influence how suppliers, agencies and retail partners integrate data, measure campaigns and manage demand forecasting across African markets where Unilever sells its products.

“Technology has moved to the core of value creation at Unilever,” said Willem Uijen, Chief Supply Chain and Operations Officer at Unilever. “As brands are increasingly discovered and chosen in environments shaped by AI, we must lead this shift. This collaboration with Google Cloud sets a new level in how technology can power commerce and growth in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, ensuring Unilever is agile, fit for the future, and equipped to unlock value at every level of the company.”

Tara Brady, President, EMEA at Google Cloud, said the partnership will include deployment of Google’s AI models, including Gemini, alongside modernization work. “In partnering with Unilever as it boldly reimagines its business processes, we are not just modernizing legacy systems; we are deploying our advanced models, such as Gemini, to create a system of intelligence that reasons, learns, and acts,” Brady said. “This will set a new standard for agility and consumer engagement in the CPG sector.”

According to the media release, the collaboration will be structured around three pillars: agentic commerce and marketing intelligence; an integrated data and cloud foundation; and advanced AI. Under the integrated foundation pillar, Unilever will “transition key enterprise applications and data platforms to Google Cloud,” creating what the companies described as a connected environment for scalable AI deployment across the value chain.

For the Kenyan and wider East African market, the move highlights a growing expectation that marketing performance, consumer insights and demand planning will increasingly be driven by centralized, cloud-based data architectures and AI tooling. As global consumer goods groups standardize data platforms, regional teams and local partners may face pressure to improve data quality, interoperability and compliance, while also developing skills in AI-enabled marketing measurement and automation.

Unilever reported sales of €50.5 billion in 2025, equivalent to about KES 7.1 trillion (€50.5 billion) at an assumed exchange rate of KES 140 per euro. The company said it operates in more than 190 countries with 96,000 employees, and that its products are used by 3.7 billion people daily, according to the media release.

Next steps and milestones, including the pace of application migrations and rollout of agentic workflows, were not detailed in the statement. However, the companies indicated the partnership is designed to fast-track adoption of AI across Unilever’s operations and marketing as consumer discovery and shopping continue shifting toward AI-mediated channels.