Australian wealth management fund Colonial First State (CFS) has signed a five-year agreement with Microsoft for cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) services.

The agreement will see CFS continue to use Azure as its preferred cloud provider and deploy generative AI use cases in collaboration with Microsoft and consultancy firm Avanade.

CFS already uses Azure for its data estate and security infrastructure. The new five-year deal focuses on AI uses in the wealth management sector, including using Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Azure OpenAI Service.

“AI and cloud technologies are pivotal in our mission to help Australians achieve financial freedom,” said Jeroen Buwalda, group executive of transformation, technology, and operations at CFS.

The company will be using OpenAI to analyze member feedback and to assist the CFS FirstTech technical advisory team in accessing information from the library of superannuation legislation, among other things.

In an interview with Microsoft, Buwalda noted the importance of keeping a human element alongside the AI: "The main challenge is that AI doesn’t always provide perfect answers, so we do need to maintain controls, keep the human at the center and adjust regulatory settings to allow its beneficial use.

"Despite this, I believe AI can outperform the financial advice many receive from friends or relatives, though it’s not yet at the level of a financial adviser who conducts thorough, structured analysis."

Steven Worrall, managing director at Microsoft Australia and New Zealand, said: “We’re very excited to strengthen our partnership with Colonial First State. Together, we will continue to drive innovation in wealth management and the broader financial services sector.”

CFS has been using Copilot for its workforce since January 2024, and has thus far made it available to 75 percent of employees.

The company is also reportedly looking to invest in "data-related infrastructure" in order to shelter from volatile markets and inflation. The company is planning to invest between tens of millions of dollars to hundreds of millions in areas including communications infrastructure, and carbon-intensive abatement strategies.