HYDERABAD, April 17 -- Two weeks after announcing its foundational artificial intelligence models for transcriptions, voice and images, Big Tech firm Microsoft wants to use its Azure cloud business strategy to sign long-term AI contracts with clients.

Microsoft's business model for Azure has found success in the past 12 years of chief executive officer Satya Nadella's tenure. The company, which follows a July-June financial cycle, reported $281.7 billion in revenue in FY25, out of which its cloud revenue hit $106.2 billion. Microsoft accounts for roughly one-fourth of the entire global cloud services industry's annual revenue, which reached $419 billion in 2025, as per market research firm Synergy Group.

In an interview with Mint, Jay P...