IBM partners with OpenAI to bolster enterprise AI push

IBM connected Thursday announced its concern with OpenAI to bring the AI company’s models and tools to much endeavor customers, opening different avenue for OpenAI to link with immoderate of the world’s largest companies done IBM’s planetary consulting concern arsenic contention for firm AI spending intensifies.

The deal, presumption of which were not disclosed, comes little than a twelvemonth aft IBM announced a akin confederation with Anthropic. OpenAI and IBM volition jointly marketplace AI offerings and make industry-specific solutions for sectors including fiscal services, government, telecommunications, and retail, IBM said.

Under the agreement, IBM volition found a dedicated OpenAI signifier wrong IBM Consulting and bid and certify tens of thousands of consultants — chiefly retraining existing employees — connected OpenAI’s technologies implicit the adjacent respective months, Mike Healy, managing spouse astatine IBM Consulting, told TechCrunch.

The grooming volition absorption connected OpenAI’s Codex, API, cybersecurity, and consultative solution credentials. IBM volition besides make a radical of specialized “Forward Deployed Experts” trained done OpenAI’s Partner Network, Healy said.

IBM said that it would integrate OpenAI’s latest models, including GPT-5.6, Codex, and ChatGPT Work, into IBM Consulting Advantage, its AI level for consultants, to assistance clients deploy AI crossed halfway concern operations.

The concern is the latest successful OpenAI’s propulsion to grow its endeavor concern done consulting firms and exertion partners, arsenic contention among AI exemplary developers progressively shifts from gathering much susceptible models to winning firm customers and large-scale deployments. The institution has antecedently announced partnerships with IT services firms, including Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, underscoring a strategy of moving with ample planetary systems integrators to bring its AI products to endeavor customers.

For IBM, OpenAI’s statement expands its scope of frontier AI partnerships arsenic the institution pursues a model-agnostic strategy that combines its ain Granite household of AI models with offerings from third-party developers. The institution has progressively positioned itself arsenic an integrator of aggregate AI models done its watsonx level and planetary consulting business.

The concern besides comes arsenic IBM looks to accelerate maturation successful its AI concern aft lowering its 2026 gross forecast past period pursuing weaker-than-expected quarterly results. During its past net call, Chief Executive Arvind Krishna maintained that AI remains a semipermanent maturation driver. He stated that AI adoption was complementing, alternatively than replacing, request for IBM’s mainframe business.

In June, IBM and OpenAI partnered for the cybersecurity-focused OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program. The caller woody expands that narration by integrating OpenAI’s AI models with IBM Autonomous Security, the company’s multi-agent-powered cybersecurity service.