The current GenAI-trend is towards small industry-specific foundation models (“FMs”) because they are at lower cost to train and operate and at the SAME time have a higher performance. It sounds incredible, but it’s true: smaller, cheaper and better! Here IBM has a unique selling point because IBM relies heavily on open source software and open source models, which can then be customized to your needs. For this reason, IBM is an attractive strategic partner. This results in long-term productivity gains and the possibility of new innovative services.
A second parallel trend, embedded AI, is even closer to your business. AI capabilities are being built into existing software products and software services to make them more customer-centric, productive and innovative. This is currently on the minds of every product manager. The topic of embedded AI is particularly relevant for software solutions that also process confidential and personal data, as these AI systems often have to be operated ‘on-premise’ by law – i.e. in their data centre. In addition, they do not want to become dependent on external cloud systems. The IBM ‘Hybrid Cloud’ strategy allows exactly this, so that AI systems can be developed and operated in their environment. This ensures their own sovereignty, which is exactly what is needed today.