Toyota partners with Microsoft on new data science company, Toyota Connected - TechRepublic

On Monday, Toyota launched Toyota Connected, Inc., a new company that will serve to expand the automaker's abilities in data center management, data science, and data management. Toyota Connected is a collaboration between Toyota and Microsoft, as the company will use Microsoft Azure to build and deliver its data-based tools and services. According to a press release announcing the company, the services provided by Toyota Connected will be "predictive, contextual, and intuitive." Zack Hicks, CEO of Toyota Connected and CIO at Toyota Motor North America, said that could mean anything: "From telematics services that learn from your habits and preferences, to use-based insurance pricing models that respond to actual driving patterns, to connected vehicle networks that can share road condition and traffic information, our goal is to deliver services that make lives easier." Toyota began restructuring back in March 2016, abandoning its function-based structure in favor of a structure that is product-based.