IBM Partners with OpenAI to Expand Enterprise AI Offerings

IBM announced on Thursday a new partnership with OpenAI designed to bring OpenAI's models and tools to a wider range of enterprise customers. The collaboration gives OpenAI another route to reach some of the world's largest companies through IBM's global consulting business, at a time when competition for corporate AI spending is intensifying. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal comes less than a year after IBM announced a similar alliance with Anthropic.

Joint Marketing and Training

The two companies will jointly market AI offerings and build industry-specific solutions for sectors including financial services, government, telecommunications, and retail. IBM will set up a dedicated OpenAI practice within IBM Consulting and, over the coming months, will train and certify tens of thousands of consultants — mostly by retraining existing staff — on OpenAI's technologies. Training will cover OpenAI's Codex, API, cybersecurity, and consultative solution credentials. IBM will also form a group of specialized experts trained through OpenAI's partner network.

Integrating the Latest Models

IBM plans to integrate OpenAI's newest offerings, 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 functions. The partnership fits into OpenAI's broader strategy of expanding its enterprise business through consulting and technology partners, as competition among AI developers shifts from building more capable models toward winning large corporate customers.

For its part, IBM continues to pursue a model-agnostic approach, combining its own Granite family of models with third-party offerings through its watsonx platform. The partnership arrives as IBM seeks to accelerate growth in its AI business after lowering its 2026 revenue forecast last month following weaker-than-expected quarterly results. In June, IBM and OpenAI had already teamed up on cybersecurity, and the new agreement expands that relationship by integrating OpenAI's models into IBM's cybersecurity services.