The Promise and Power of watsonx

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has introduced disruptive trends including the rise of data and connectivity, analytics, human adoption of technology and improvements in robotics. Of course, the real driver of this transformation is artificial intelligence. I am energized by this once-in-a-hundred-year pivot which will redefine how business and society operates.  

But why is this happening now when scientists and researchers have been developing AI for more than 70 years? AI has remained challenging to scale and operationalize, as each new use case requires a new model to be designed and built using specific data. So, although adoption is increasing — today, 35% of companies surveyed by IBM are using AI in their business, while an additional 42% are exploring the technology — only 54% of AI projects make it from pilot to production. (1)

To help unlock the promise of AI for business, we need products that can utilize organizations’ own data to customize AI models and deliver a frictionless experience. 

Today at #Think2023, IBM announced the next era in AI for enterprise with the coming release of watsonx, an AI and data platform that uses insights to make businesses more responsive, productive, and resilient. By deploying both traditional machine learning and new generative AI capabilities powered by foundation models, watsonx can allow users to train, tune and deploy AI models, at scale, with responsibility and transparency. 

IBM software products that will be embedded with watsonx capabilities across digital labor, IT automation, security, sustainability, and application modernization can unlock new levels of productivity, performance, speed, and greater business value for clients.

We will bring together IBM core capabilities and our product portfolio to discover new value from foundation models and generative capabilities from IBM Research. Watsonx is designed to empower enterprises to scale and accelerate the impact of AI across the business, leveraging data where it resides. We have taken our core technologies and intellectual property to reimagine a unified and simplified experience of three products that will work together: 

• watsonx.ai a next generation enterprise studio for AI builders to train, test, tune, and deploy both traditional machine learning and new generative AI capabilities powered by foundation models. AI applications can be built in a fraction of the time with a fraction of the data. General availability of watsonx.ai is expected in July.
• watsonx.data a  data store built on an open lakehouse architecture that allows businesses to access all their data through a single point of entry across all clouds and on-prem environments and get started in minutes with built-in governance and automation. It leverages open data formats and low-cost object storage for flexibility and simplicity. General availability of watsonx.data is expected in July.
• watsonx.governance end-to-end toolkit encompassing both data and AI governance to help enable responsible, transparent, and explainable AI workflows. General availability of watsonx.governance is expected in October.

This is an exciting day at IBM as we declare how our AI and data platform can transform business forever. With the watsonx platform, clients will scale their AI to address not just the classical techniques, like machine learning and deep learning techniques, but unlock new value with foundation models and build new generative capabilities.

With decades of experience in AI product development, consulting and research, IBM helps clients apply AI to make their businesses more productive and innovative. We have one of the most comprehensive portfolios in the business and we are dedicated to advancing what’s next in enterprise AI.

Unleash the intelligence in your business with watsonx.

IBM’s plans, directions, and intentions may change or be withdrawn at any time at IBM’s discretion without notice. Information about potential future products and improvements is provided to give a general idea of IBM’s goals and objectives and should not be used in making a purchase decision. IBM is not obligated to provide any material, code, or functionality based on this information. This statement replaces all prior statements on this topic.

1.    IBM Global AI adoption Index 2022 - https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/GVAGA3JP