In his keynote presentation at IBM’s Think Digital event, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna urged companies to build resiliency into their businesses and their networks in response to the unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a “turning point” for many companies, as the disruption and uncertainty caused by the crisis has accelerated the digital transformation that for many was already underway,” he added in his keynote presentation at Think Digital conference.
“History will look back on this as the moment when the digital transformation of business and society suddenly accelerated,” Krishna said. “This is an opportunity to develop new solutions, new ways of working and new partnerships that will benefit your company and your customers, not just today, but for years to come.”
During the opening keynote, Krishna called hybrid cloud and AI “the two dominant forces driving digital transformation.” And he announced new offerings to help clients on that path:
- A broad range of AI-powered capabilities and services that are designed to help CIOs automate their IT infrastructures to be more resilient to future disruptions and to help reduce costs. A new offering, Watson AIOps, uses AI to self-detect, diagnose and respond to IT anomalies in real time. Watson AIOps is built on Red Hat OpenShift to run across hybrid cloud environments and works with collaboration technologies at the center of today’s distributed work environment, such as Slack and Box.
- New IBM solutions, services and partnerships help businesses make the most of the opportunities presented by 5G and edge computing. With new offerings built on Red Hat OpenShift, enterprises can autonomously manage workloads across a massive volume of edge devices. Telecommunications providers can quickly orchestrate virtual and container network functions to help them provide new services today and as 5G adoption expands.
- The first Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers who intend to onboard their offerings to IBM’s financial services-ready public cloud. Assima, C3.ai, Finacle, Intellect Design and Thought Machine have committed to delivering their offerings through that platform, giving participating banks an efficient way to ensure they are working with trusted vendors.
“Technology platforms are the basis for competitive advantage in the 21st century,” Krishna added. “They will determine how quickly you can pivot to new market opportunities, how well you serve your clients, how much you can scale, and how fast you can respond to a crisis like the one we’re facing today.”
“I’m predicting today that every company will become an AI company—not because they can, but because they must,” Krishna said in his inaugural keynote address as IBM’s CEO.
For enterprises, Krishna explained, digital transformation means putting artificial intelligence at the center of workflows, and using the insights generated from that process to constantly improve products and services. This transformation is powered by a hybrid cloud architecture using open source software that makes companies more secure and enables them to quickly adapt to shifting customer demands and changing market conditions.
Krishna also said IBM would reveal a technical preview of IBM Cloud Satellite, which extends IBM Cloud services anywhere a client needs them, as well as a new set of services to help businesses and telcos make the most of the opportunities presented by 5G and Edge.
