BT deepens strategic partnership with Microsoft to defend UK organisations against growing AI cyber threat

• BT is deepening its strategic partnership with Microsoft to help protect UK businesses and public sector organisations, by combining Microsoft’s leading security technology with BT’s scale, security operations and network insight.
  
  
• With frontier AI creating new and emerging risks, UK organisations rapidly need to adopt more pre-emptive and predictive cyber defence solutions.
  
  
• BT is responding by launching a new Security Operations Centre-as-a-Service (SOCaaS) for Microsoft Sentinel, leveraging BT’s advanced security operations expertise to provide cyber defence in a single managed service.
  
  
• The launch is the latest in a series of cyber solutions for UK businesses from BT, providing customers with intelligence-led, AI-powered and pre-emptive cyber defence.

BT announced it is deepening its partnership with Microsoft to help UK organisations strengthen their cyber defences against increasingly complex AI-powered threats. The expanded collaboration brings together Microsoft security technology with BT’s scale, security operations and network insight to deliver more pre-emptive, predictive cyber defence for public and private sector organisations in a simple to manage package.

AI is rapidly increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of cyber-attacks. The Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2026 outlines how AI is changing the physics of cybersecurity and compressing attack timelines, with the average time from discovery to weaponisation of security vulnerabilities having now fallen to well below 24 hours¹.

To help UK organisations respond, BT is launching Security Operations Centre-as-a-Service (SOCaaS) for Microsoft Sentinel, a UK-managed service that combines Sentinel with BT’s advanced security operations expertise, threat intelligence and experience. The launch reflects the deepening strategic relationship between BT and Microsoft across AI, security and cloud services, and builds on BT’s experience as an established managed security provider for Microsoft Sentinel.

The service is supported by BT’s expertise as one of the UK’s most trusted cyber defenders, with the company blocking around four million attempted cyber-attacks every day and protecting more businesses than any other network. Unlike other providers, BT combines Sentinel, managed operations, threat intelligence and UK cyber expertise in one service — helping customers cut complexity, control costs and improve detection, response and resilience.

Jon James, CEO, BT Business, said: “AI is transforming the cyber threat landscape at unprecedented speed, and our customers need protection that stays one step ahead. By extending our partnership with Microsoft, we’re combining cutting-edge security technology with BT’s cyber expertise and threat intelligence to deliver stronger, more proactive protection. It’s the latest example of how we’re helping organisations build resilience and defend against the next generation of AI-powered threats.”

Darren Hardman, CEO, Microsoft UK & Ireland, said: “AI is increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of cyber threats. By combining Microsoft Sentinel with BT’s managed security expertise and UK cyber operations, we can help organisations simplify security, strengthen resilience and respond with greater confidence.”

BT SOCaaS for Microsoft Sentinel is the latest in a series of intelligence-led, AI-powered cyber solutions BT provides for UK organisations, building on the recent launch of new cyber tools and support designed to bring enterprise-grade security within reach of small businesses. By combining managed security operations, continuous threat exposure management and AI-enabled capabilities, BT helps customers tackle the emerging risks of frontier AI by reducing risk, improve visibility and strengthen resilience as cyber threats continue to rapidly evolve.

¹ Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2026 | Microsoft