Generative AI isn’t just about technology; it’s about business transformation

We are now at a crucial stage in our evolution with enterprise generative AI. While consumer generative AI has captured the imagination of millions, executives are developing the practices that can deliver an effective and responsible strategy for enterprise generative AI.

According to our CEO survey, 60% of organizations are not yet developing a consistent, enterprise-wide approach to generative AI. IBM® is in a unique position to help. The company has a rich history of innovation, combined with a deep understanding of what organizations need. It has a legendary track record of building great technology and helping clients deliver business transformation reliably. It makes it the perfect place for me to contribute to shaping the future of our industry.

In 25 years of working in the world of data, AI and analytics, I've seen how technology can reshape businesses, industries and even the way we live our lives. I've had the opportunity to work with some of the most innovative teams in the industry: four startups, a few "scale-ups" and hyperscalers (Microsoft, Oracle and Google) and customers and partners of all sizes. I'm thrilled to have joined IBM to help drive the company's data, AI and analytics strategy and its execution.

I recently joined Sanjeev Mohan and Ritika Gunnar in a podcast episode to share why I chose IBM and how I believe the company is uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of transformation through generative AI.

IBM's vision for generative AI is different. It's about more than just creating cutting-edge tools; it's about ensuring that the technology can be trusted, scaled and used to solve real-world business challenges.

IBM has a long-standing reputation for delivering business-critical solutions in highly regulated industries like financial services and healthcare. This deep experience in building trusted, secure systems is exactly what enterprises need as they adopt gen AI. We're not here to build AI for AI's sake-we're here to help organizations transform with AI and do so in a way that's reliable, ethical and scalable.

So, what does our strategy look like? At IBM, we're approaching generative AI with three core principles in mind: trust, innovation and enterprise scalability.

1. Trust as the foundation

Trust is central to IBM's AI philosophy. We are developing systems that not only deliver results but also provide explanations for how those results are achieved. For instance, consider IBM's collaboration with Credit Agricole, a major player in banking and insurance with 53 million customers and 147,000 employees. The company has allocated an IT system budget of 20 billion euros for the 2022-2025 period. As part of this effort, Credit Agricole is starting 2 data, AI and analytics solutions powered by IBM software to support their extensive IT strategy. These solutions are designed to enhance productivity for employees and customers. Equally important is the focus on auditability for regulators. Every AI-assisted decision is auditable, promoting compliance and fostering confidence in the business processes.

I've also seen how IBM is helping transform companies like American Airlines, who, thanks to IBM's approach (software + consulting + IBM Garage™), was able to accelerate its development and release cycles to roll out a global application in the middle of a major hurricane, all while maintaining human oversight for critical decision points.

The terms these customers use when they describe these applications are not "cool experiments." They are "robust" and "reliable."

2. Innovation with a history of success

IBM is one of the most innovative organizations in the world. From inventing SQL to pushing the boundaries with AI systems like Watson and large language models, IBM has been driving the future of technology for over a century. Our history of innovation continues today with advancements in AI, hybrid cloud and open source platforms. It's not about being the newest player; it's about being the most reliable, trustworthy and ethical, and IBM is leading the charge.

3. Enterprise-ready scalability

Generative AI is not a research experiment for IBM. It's our way to help drive real-world business transformation. We are building AI systems that are scalable, secure and ready to meet the demands of the most complex enterprise environments. Whether you're in financial services, healthcare or manufacturing, IBM has the experience and the infrastructure to help you deploy AI at scale. Our hybrid cloud and AI capabilities allow businesses to innovate without sacrificing security or compliance, no matter the industry.

On the cusp of transformation

I believe we're on the cusp of something truly transformational. IBM is leading the charge in how AI drives real business value. Our mission is to empower businesses to scale AI in a way that's both effective and responsible.

AI is going to change the way we operate, the way we make decisions and the way we grow. Over the coming months, we'll be launching new generative AI features designed to revolutionize how businesses use data, unlocking more intelligent insights, improving decision-making and driving operational efficiency at unprecedented scale.

I'm incredibly excited to be a part of this journey and to help shape the future of AI at IBM. We're just getting started, and the best is yet to come. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with generative AI.

If you want to learn more, join us at IBM TechXchange, where we'll showcase how we're turning our vision into reality. Let's build the future of AI together.