In its latest quarterly report, IBM’s mainframe division recorded a 61% year-over-year revenue increase in the fourth quarter, marking the strongest performance in more than two decades. This surge was driven by demand for the new z17 mainframe systems, which are specifically engineered for enterprise AI workloads. Each z17 can process up to 450 billion AI inferencing operations per day while maintaining average response times of one millisecond. IBM’s CEO forecasts that within the next three to five years, half of all enterprise AI deployment will transition from public clouds back to private data centers—an industry shift that positions IBM’s mainframe portfolio to capture a substantial portion of future AI inference workloads.

Effective March 1, 2026, IBM has appointed Ramon L. Laguarta, 62, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, to its board of directors. Mr. Laguarta has helmed PepsiCo since 2018 and spearheaded its digital transformation, integrating advanced analytics and supply-chain automation to drive revenue growth. IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna highlighted Mr. Laguarta’s expertise in leveraging technology to transform large enterprises and enhance shareholder value. Mr. Laguarta holds an MBA from ESADE Business School and a Master of Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management and serves on the Business Roundtable board.