IBM on Thursday announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring the AI company’s models and tools to more enterprise customers as competition for enterprise AI spending intensifies, opening a new path for OpenAI to connect with some of the world’s largest companies through IBM’s global consulting business.
The deal comes less than a year after IBM announced a similar partnership with Anthropic, although terms were not disclosed. According to IBM, OpenAI and IBM will jointly sell AI products and develop industry-specific solutions for sectors such as financial services, government, communications, and retail.
Under the deal, IBM will create a dedicated OpenAI practice within IBM Consulting to train and certify tens of thousands of consultants (mainly reskilling existing employees) on OpenAI technology over the coming months, IBM Consulting managing partner Mike Healy told TechCrunch.
This training will focus on OpenAI’s Codex, API, cybersecurity, and consulting solution credentials. IBM will also create a group of dedicated “forward deployment experts” trained through OpenAI’s partner network, Healy said.
IBM announced that it will integrate OpenAI’s latest models, including GPT-5.6, Codex, and ChatGPT Work, into its AI platform for consultants, IBM Consulting Advantage, to help customers implement AI across their core business operations.
The partnership is the latest in OpenAI’s efforts to expand its enterprise business through consulting firms and technology partners, as competition among AI model developers increasingly shifts from building more capable models to acquiring enterprise customers and large-scale deployments. The company has previously announced partnerships with IT services companies such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, highlighting its strategy to work with leading global system integrators to bring its AI products to enterprise customers.
For IBM, the OpenAI deal expands the scope of its cutting-edge AI partnerships as the company pursues a model-agnostic strategy that combines its Granite family of AI models with products from third-party developers. The company is positioning itself as an integrator of multiple AI models through its watsonx platform and global consulting business.
The partnership comes as IBM looks to accelerate growth in its AI business after lowering its 2026 revenue forecast last month after lower-than-expected quarterly results. In the company’s last earnings call, CEO Arvind Krishna asserted that AI remains a long-term growth driver. He said the introduction of AI complements, rather than replaces, the demands of IBM’s mainframe business.
In June, IBM and OpenAI partnered on the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program, which focuses on cybersecurity. The new agreement expands that relationship by integrating OpenAI’s AI models with IBM Autonomous Security, the company’s multi-agent-powered cybersecurity service.
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