IBM announced on Thursday that it has entered a partnership with OpenAI to bring OpenAI’s models and tools to a broader set of enterprise customers. The companies did not disclose the financial terms. The deal creates another channel for OpenAI to reach large corporate clients through IBM’s global consulting business as competition for enterprise AI spending intensifies.
What the agreement entails
According to IBM, the two companies will jointly market AI offerings and develop industry-specific solutions for sectors including financial services, government, telecommunications and retail. Under the agreement, IBM will establish a dedicated OpenAI practice within IBM Consulting and will train and certify tens of thousands of consultants — primarily by retraining existing employees — on OpenAI technologies over the coming months, Mike Healy, managing partner at IBM Consulting, told TechCrunch.
Training will focus on OpenAI’s Codex, API usage, cybersecurity and consultative solution credentials. IBM also plans to create a group of specialized "Forward Deployed Experts" who will be trained through OpenAI’s Partner Network.
Models and platform integration
IBM said it will integrate OpenAI’s latest models, including GPT-5.6, Codex and ChatGPT Work, into IBM Consulting Advantage, its AI platform for consultants, to help clients deploy AI across core business operations.
Strategic context
The partnership is part of OpenAI’s broader push to expand its enterprise business through consulting firms and technology partners. OpenAI has previously announced partnerships with IT services firms including Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, reflecting a strategy of working with large global systems integrators to bring its AI products to enterprise customers. As competition among model developers shifts from purely improving model capabilities toward winning corporate customers and large-scale deployments, such alliances have become central to commercial expansion.
For IBM, the agreement broadens its set of frontier AI partnerships while the company pursues a model-agnostic approach that combines its own Granite family of models with offerings from third-party developers. IBM has been positioning itself as an integrator of multiple AI models through its watsonx platform and its global consulting business.
Financial and operational backdrop
The timing of the deal comes as IBM seeks to accelerate growth in its AI business after lowering its 2026 revenue forecast last month following weaker-than-expected quarterly results. During its most recent earnings call, Chief Executive Arvind Krishna said AI remains a long-term growth driver and argued that AI adoption is complementing, rather than replacing, demand for IBM’s mainframe business.
Related cybersecurity cooperation
In June, IBM and OpenAI partnered on the cybersecurity-focused OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program. The new agreement expands that relationship by integrating OpenAI’s AI models with IBM Autonomous Security, IBM’s multi-agent-powered cybersecurity service.
Overall, the IBM–OpenAI partnership strengthens both companies’ efforts to accelerate enterprise AI adoption through consulting networks, platform integration and targeted industry solutions.
