IBM reported a 53% year-over-year increase in operating profit for its Infrastructure segment in the most recent quarter, driven by strong demand for hybrid cloud mainframes and AI-optimized z17 systems. Mainframe revenue grew double digits as clients accelerated AI inference workloads, while robust uptake of storage and software-defined infrastructure further bolstered margins. The Infrastructure segment’s margin expansion of 220 basis points outpaced the company-wide margin improvement, reinforcing IBM’s strategy to leverage its legacy hardware in conjunction with AI and cloud offerings.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, IBM and global technology group e& unveiled an enterprise-grade agentic AI solution built on watsonx Orchestrate and integrated with OpenPages. The proof of concept, delivered in eight weeks by IBM’s Client Engineering team and Gulf Business Machines, showcased over 500 customizable domain-specific agents for policy, risk and compliance. e&, which reported AED 59.2 billion in 2024 revenue and AED 10.8 billion in net profit, will embed the solution across mission-critical governance systems, aiming to reduce response times by up to 40% and enable 24/7 self-service access.

IBM introduced Enterprise Advantage, a first-of-its-kind asset-based consulting service combining AI-powered delivery assets from IBM Consulting Advantage with expert methodology to help clients build and govern internal AI platforms. The service leverages reusable AI components and supports multi-cloud deployments across Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and IBM’s own watsonx. Early adopters, including a leading publisher and a global manufacturer, report productivity gains of up to 50% in pilot workflows and plan to scale agentic applications across finance, supply chain and customer service.

New research from the IBM Institute for Business Value, based on a survey of over 2,000 C-suite executives, finds that 79% expect AI to make a significant contribution to revenue by 2030—up from 40% today—while AI investment is projected to increase by 150% over the next five years. Executives anticipate a shift of AI spend from 47% on efficiency today to 62% on innovation, with productivity gains of 42% fueling reinvestment. However, only 24% have a clear revenue roadmap, underscoring an opportunity for IBM’s consulting and governance solutions to guide clients through AI integration and model selection.