IBM and AWS Strengthen Ties for Generative AI Solutions

IBM is strengthening its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to advance generative artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for mutual clients. As part of this expanded partnership, IBM Consulting aims to enhance its generative AI expertise on AWS by training 10,000 consultants by the end of 2024. The goal is to provide joint solutions and services infused with generative AI capabilities, addressing critical use cases for clients.

The recent GITEX Global 2023 in Dubai highlighted the Middle East’s commitment to technology and innovation. Generative AI, recognized for its transformative potential, is expected to drive significant changes and improve productivity in the region. According to the latest IBM report, titled “CEO Decision-Making in the Age of AI,” 43% of CEOs in the Middle East are currently leveraging generative AI for strategic decision-making.

IBM Consulting and AWS already serve clients across various industries with AI solutions and services. The companies plan to enhance these offerings by incorporating generative AI capabilities to help clients seamlessly integrate AI into their business and IT operations on the AWS platform. Specific solutions include:

1. Contact Center Modernization with Amazon Connect: IBM Consulting collaborated with AWS to implement summarization and categorization functions for voice and digital interactions using generative AI. This allows for smooth transitions between chatbots and live agents, providing agents with summarized details to expedite issue resolution and enhance quality management.

2. Platform Services on AWS: New generative AI capabilities will empower clients to improve business serviceability and availability for applications hosted on AWS. Intelligent issue resolution and observability techniques aim to enhance uptime and mean time repair, enabling quick and effective responses to potential issues.

3. Supply Chain Ensemble on AWS: This upcoming offering plans to introduce a virtual assistant to accelerate and augment the work of supply chain professionals, focusing on delivering customer expectations, optimizing inventories, reducing costs, streamlining logistics, and assessing supply chain risks.

In addition, IBM Consulting plans to integrate AWS generative AI services into its proprietary IBM Consulting Cloud Accelerator, facilitating the cloud transformation process, including reverse engineering, code generation, and code conversion.

IBM Consulting aims to train 10,000 consultants on AWS generative AI services by the end of 2024. This initiative includes an exclusive partner-only program providing training on top use cases and best practices, enabling consultants to engage with technical professionals and better serve clients innovating on AWS.

Bill Farrell, Managing Partner at IBM Consulting in MEA, emphasized IBM’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge generative AI solutions in collaboration with AWS. Through joint solutions, dedicated AWS training, and the integration of IBM watsonx, businesses in the region can harness the full potential of responsible AI, fostering innovation and driving business transformation with a human-centric approach.

IBM is responding to client demand for generative AI capabilities on AWS by making watsonx.data, a fit-for-purpose data store, available on AWS as a fully managed software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. The company also plans to make watsonx.ai and watsonx.governance available on AWS by 2024, facilitating clients’ access to IBM data, AI, and security software on the AWS platform.

Yasser Hassan, Head of AWS in Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey, emphasized the significance of the strengthened partnership with IBM in bringing advanced AI capabilities to businesses across the Middle East. The joint commitment to delivering value and innovation is evident in upgraded solutions such as Contact Center Modernization and Platform Services on AWS.

IBM and AWS have over 40 years of combined experience in AI solutions. They continue to collaborate to meet clients’ needs for leveraging AI for cost, efficiency, and growth. IBM, an AWS Premier Tier Services Partner, holds over 22,000 AWS certifications globally, with 17 AWS Service Delivery and 16 AWS Competency designations. The current announcement builds on their longstanding relationship, emphasizing the importance of a human-centric, principled approach to enterprise AI. IBM Consulting plays a crucial role in establishing guardrails that align with organizational values and standards, mitigating bias, and managing data security, lineage, and provenance.

IBM Consulting, with its expertise in hybrid cloud and AI technologies, assists clients in modernizing and securing complex systems. The company’s open ecosystem of partners and co-creation method, IBM Garage, contribute to scaling ideas into outcomes. Statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change and withdrawal, representing goals and objectives.