SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. internet giant Microsoft Corporation and leading data analytics company Nielsen Holdings plc on Tuesday announced a major partnership to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to retail data.

The two companies released details around a newly developed, enterprise data solution that they hope will break down "the barriers between customer and operational data to fuel insights for the business."

Nielsen said their strategic alliance has been brought to life through Nielsen Connect, which is powered by Microsoft Azure, a trusted and global-scale intelligent cloud platform.

Nielsen Connect wants to help companies integrate data assets to more easily spot emerging trends, diagnose performance gaps, and act faster on opportunities to grow by means of AI and analytics.

"The first critical step toward digital transformation, especially among retailers, is breaking down the barriers between customer and operational data to fuel insights for the business," said Judson Althoff, executive vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Commercial Business.

Microsoft and Nielsen said they are cooperating in the efforts to democratize "one of the largest consumer data sets in the world."

They hope their partnership will serve as a one-stop shop for companies to create scalable, high-performance data environments that enable greater real-time collaboration for faster results.