IBM Teams Up With OpenAI to Push AI Deeper Into Corporate Consulting

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IBM announced a partnership with OpenAI on Thursday aimed at bringing OpenAI's AI models and tools to more of IBM's corporate clients, according to a company statement. The deal gives OpenAI another route into large companies through IBM's global consulting arm at a time when competition for corporate AI spending is intensifying, TechCrunch reported.

The financial terms were not disclosed. The agreement comes less than a year after IBM struck a similar partnership with Anthropic, TechCrunch reported.

Under the deal, IBM and OpenAI will jointly market AI products and build solutions tailored to specific industries, including financial services, government, telecommunications, and retail, IBM said in the announcement. IBM will also create a dedicated OpenAI practice inside IBM Consulting and plans to train and certify tens of thousands of consultants, mostly by retraining existing staff, on OpenAI's technology over the coming months, Mike Healy, managing partner at IBM Consulting, told TechCrunch. That training will focus on OpenAI's Codex coding tool, its API, cybersecurity applications, and consulting credentials, Healy said. IBM will also form specialized teams called Forward Deployed Experts, trained through OpenAI's partner network, according to TechCrunch.

IBM said it will fold OpenAI's newest models, including GPT-5.6, along with Codex and ChatGPT Work, into IBM Consulting Advantage, its AI platform for consultants, so clients can apply the tools across finance, procurement, customer service, and human resources.

A Crowded Field For AI Deals

The agreement extends OpenAI's strategy of expanding into corporate markets through consulting and technology firms rather than selling directly, TechCrunch reported. OpenAI has struck similar partnerships with Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services as competition among AI developers shifts from building the most capable models to winning large corporate contracts, according to TechCrunch.

For IBM, the deal adds another major AI partner to a strategy that already blends its own Granite AI models with outside technology through its watsonx platform, TechCrunch reported. IBM has increasingly positioned itself as a company that stitches together AI tools from multiple providers rather than building a single in-house system.

The partnership also comes as IBM tries to speed up growth in its AI business after cutting its 2026 revenue forecast last month following a weaker-than-expected quarter, TechCrunch reported. Chief Executive Arvind Krishna said on the company's last earnings call that AI remains a long-term growth driver and that AI adoption is adding to, not replacing, demand for IBM's mainframe computers, according to TechCrunch.

Building On An Earlier Security Deal

The new agreement builds on a narrower partnership the two companies formed in June for the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program, TechCrunch reported. IBM said it will now combine OpenAI's models with IBM Autonomous Security, its AI-driven cybersecurity service, to help clients manage both cyberattacks and risks tied to AI systems themselves.

"The challenge is not access to AI technologies, it's integrating AI securely and at scale into complex enterprise environments and workflows," Andy Baldwin, global senior vice president of IBM Consulting, said in the announcement. Denise Dresser, chief revenue officer at OpenAI, said in the same statement that "the organizations pulling ahead with AI are the ones turning it into a trusted part of how their business operates." As part of the deal, IBM said it will join OpenAI's Elite partner tier.