On Tuesday, IBM aimed to boost its sales in the competitive artificial intelligence market by highlighting tools designed to assist clients in overseeing multiple AI systems for crucial business operations.
During an interview, CEO Arvind Krishna mentioned spotting an opportunity to offer software capable of integrating clients' artificial intelligence agents from various providers—such as Salesforce, Workday, and Adobe—and enabling businesses to create their own agents for unexplored applications, all with IBM’s assistance.
"We help our clients integrate. We want to meet them where they are," he said, ahead of IBM's annual Think conference sessions on Tuesday.
IBM’s tools enable clients to develop their own virtual assistants, a task IBM claims can be completed in less than five minutes, leveraging the company’s Granite line of artificial intelligence models along with options from Meta Platforms and Mistral, according to Krishna.
Krishna mentioned that customer enthusiasm for employing various AI models for specific tasks could boost demand for IBM. The company recently announced having amassed a "$6 billion book of business" related to ChatGPT-like generative AI just last month. Compared to major players like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, IBM serves as a smaller cloud provider but customizes its technology for clients seeking access to multiple clouds or control over their own infrastructures to handle their data needs.
"He stated that all these features will merely quicken the pace of growth in those figures," referring to IBM's latest tools.
In April, IBM declared an investment of $150 billion in the U.S. over the coming half-decade. This commitment comes after six decades of producing mainframe computers domestically. Additionally, Krishna mentioned that they plan to manufacture quantum computers within the country.
"Between mainframe, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, we think there's going to be a very healthy market that behooves us to invest and lean in," he said.
Krishna mentioned that the emphasis on technological advancements coupled with the decrease in regulatory measures under President Donald Trump's administration would position the economy well for expansion.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)