AI Adoption Momentum Driven by Partner Ecosystem
A notable focus of Think 2025 is the importance of the IBM partner ecosystem toward successfully driving the implementation of AI solutions. During a virtual press conference, IBM’s Senior Vice President of Software and Chief Commercial Officer Rob Thomas stressed the value of solution providers, stating, “They are a critical part of how clients acquire and consume technology,” and citing them as “one of the biggest investments we’ve made” in the last four years. Thomas offered the insight that services make up “north of 80 percent of the $5 trillion a year in projected IT spending,” reinforcing the enormous value that partners capture.
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Executive Confidence in AI and Advancements in Demand
Amid the economic climate and the ongoing discussions concerning global trade tariffs, IBM’s Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna remains optimistic regarding the robust and persistent demand for artificial intelligence. During his presentation at the conference, Krishna firmly believed that the demand for AI has not decreased. He pointed out how businesses are shifting their approaches to AI initiatives, remarking that “Everyone is doubling down on AI investments, but they’re now seeking that return on AI.” Krishna pointed out the main change over the past year:
“The only change over the last 12 months is that people are stopping experimentation and focusing very much on where the value is to the business right now.” This suggests a movement away from preliminary exploration toward AI programs that have a clear trajectory toward tangible business results and investment returns.
Krishna stressed the point that new AI technologies provide advanced opportunities for consultancies and service firms. He stated that these companies can take advantage of AI to develop systems for the platforms based on knowledge work in the past, such as EY’s tax Q&A product with Watsonx.ai. In doing so, the firms’ productivity gets enhanced.
As he commented, “Now their consultants can be more productive.” He explained further that this increase in productivity enables scaling: “It actually allows them to scale also in going more down market because if the cost of providing this consulting is now cheaper, you can scale to many smaller clients.” There is no doubt of the economic advantage, as Krishna stated, “Once the platform is built out, it offers them cost savings.”
Managing AI Responsibly and Governance First
Responsible AI implementation and strategic governance framework discussions also held an equally important place in the agenda for Think 2025. HCLTech vice president and responsible AI & governance head office HCLTech Indian partner shared her input on this topic with CRN. She particularly drew attention to the investment made by IBM not for the applications of AI alone but for the enabling technology that provides usability and trustworthiness for business purposes.
Domin highlighted the importance of the Watsonx.governance platform and the Guardium real-time activity monitoring product in this context.
Now the head of IBM’s global responsible AI initiatives, Domin, noted that this issue has resonated strongly with clients. “We are seeing a lot of interest with our clients around responsible AI, and, of course, IBM brings just a tremendous amount of expertise in that space,” she noted. She remarked positively about how IBM has been managing AI-related issues proactively: “One of the things that I love about IBM is that there really is a strong awareness of where the technology is heading in general, and then what are the types of guardrails that we need to have in place. And I’d love to see that in all partners and vendors that we work with.”
Market Opportunity and the Quest for ROI
The presentations and conversations that took place during Think 2025 clearly demonstrate the vast market potential available with generative AI, which could reach an annual economic value of $4.4 trillion for all sectors combined. Generative AI will, liberally speaking, create more than one billion applications by 2028. Data shared by IBM during the conference suggests that CEOs expect the rate of investment in AI to more than double over the next two years.
The data does, however, underscore an important concern: as of now, only one quarter of AI initiatives realize their anticipated ROI, sustaining the focus across the industry on value justification and tangible results pertaining to ROI from AI implementations, a refrain that was prevalent at this week’s IBM conference.
