IBM Partners With OpenAI to Expand Enterprise AI Consulting

IBM is partnering with OpenAI to bring the AI company’s models and products deeper into large businesses, giving OpenAI another route to enterprise customers through one of the world’s largest technology consulting organisations.

The companies announced the partnership Thursday, saying they will jointly develop and market AI solutions for industries including financial services, government, telecommunications and retail. The collaboration will also target business functions such as finance, procurement, customer operations and human resources.

IBM creates a dedicated OpenAI consulting practice

IBM will establish a dedicated OpenAI Practice within IBM Consulting, with thousands of consultants and engineers expected to obtain advanced certifications through the OpenAI Partner Network. Specialised forward-deployed teams will also work directly with customers on AI implementations, including projects involving complex workflows and highly regulated environments.

The arrangement gives OpenAI access to IBM’s established relationships with large companies and government organisations as competition among AI providers increasingly extends beyond model performance to large-scale business deployments.

IBM plans to integrate OpenAI technologies, including GPT-5.6, Codex, and ChatGPT Work into IBM Consulting Advantage, its AI-powered platform used by consultants. The companies say the combination will help customers redesign workflows, modernise older applications, and introduce AI into day-to-day business operations.

Codex and ChatGPT will also be used alongside IBM’s industry and technology expertise to support software development and application modernisation. IBM said the aim is to simplify engineering processes and help clients move AI projects from experimentation into production.

IBM expands its portfolio of AI partnerships

The OpenAI agreement fits IBM’s broader approach of offering customers access to multiple AI technologies rather than relying exclusively on its own models. IBM continues to develop its Granite family while also working with outside AI companies.

In October 2025, IBM announced a separate partnership with Anthropic to bring Claude into parts of its software portfolio, with an emphasis on enterprise software development, security and governance.

The OpenAI partnership also builds on existing cybersecurity work between the two companies. IBM joined OpenAI’s Daybreak Cyber Partner Program, which brings frontier AI models to security services to identify, validate, and remediate vulnerabilities.

Under the expanded relationship, IBM plans to combine OOpenAI’sfrontier AI capabilities with IBM Autonomous Security, a multi-agent service designed to support cybersecurity decision-making and response. The companies said the work will address areas including application vulnerabilities, AI governance and operational risks.

Enterprise AI remains important to IBM’s growth strategy

The agreement comes as IBM continues to invest in AI-related software, infrastructure and consulting. In its latest quarterly update, the company lowered its full-year constant-currency revenue growth outlook to 4%-5%. At the same time, CEO Arvind Krishna said IBM remained confident in the long-term shift toward AI-driven business operations.

IBM has also been adding more specialised technical and client-facing employees, including forward-deployed engineers, as customers move from AI experiments toward broader deployments.

For OpenAI, IBM adds another major consulting channel that can integrate its products into established corporate systems. For IBM, the partnership adds another frontier model provider to a growing portfolio designed to give enterprise customers more choice while keeping implementation, security and governance at the centre of AI adoption.