From harnessing the transformative potential of generative AI and the immense promise of quantum computing to tackling cyberthreats, addressing the global skills gap, and building on partnerships to drive innovation and sustainability, IBM is at the forefront of technological developments. Business Partners reached out to Nikos Maniatis, General Manager, IBM Greece and Cyprus, to find out more about the company’s strategic vision for the future and how IBM is helping businesses, governments, and people reap the benefits of the emerging tech landscape.
IBM has undergone significant transformations over the years. What is the company’s strategic vision moving forward?
IBM, amid an ever changing business and technology landscape, has gone through several transformations with the sole aim to continue providing state of the art technologies and deep expertise to clients. Moving forward, our strategy focuses again on recognizing today’s gamechangers and drivers of modern business: the hybrid cloud and seamless AI integration. IBM integrates technology and business expertise for its clients and partners, and we have strengthened our go-to-market approach, bringing together the necessary software, consulting, and infrastructure our clients require, leveraging IBM’s capabilities and our expanding ecosystem of partners.
It’s not just about the technology; it’s about people
IBM’s Hybrid Cloud strategy, driven by the pivotal 2018 acquisition of Red Hat, leverages OpenShift for seamless integration across public cloud, on-premise, hybrid cloud, and edge architecture, facilitating efficient workload exchange. To help businesses in their journey to cloud and AI, we are actively collaborating with systems integrators, ISVs, service partners, and of course IBM Consulting to provide best-of-breed services to our clients.
AI is a profound opportunity. It is projected to enhance human productivity and unlock an astounding $16 trillion in value by 2030. Our commitment to trusted and accountable AI is evident in our watsonx platform, which ensures governance at every level throughout the entire AI lifecycle.
Our commitment to open source collaboration is solid. We are actively involved, playing a hands-on role in shaping industry standards. And to facilitate digital transformation, we are tailoring solutions to specific industries, placing security and trust at the forefront in an era marked by growing concerns over cybersecurity and data privacy.
Finally, Quantum computing stands out as a key focus, showcasing our leadership in pioneering research and development.
Generative AI’s immense potential is making it increasingly popular in the business world. How is IBM ensuring the responsible use of it?
For over a century, IBM has been a pioneer in introducing advanced technologies, with a strong emphasis on prioritizing safety and security. Generative AI is a cutting edge technology and a cornerstone of IBM’s strategy, playing a crucial role in shaping our technological landscape. AI is poised to enhance productivity, in both business and government settings. Businesses globally are navigating the challenges of fully harnessing AI’s potential, as the technology rapidly evolves and poses inherent risks, particularly in complex business environments. The introduction of such revolutionary technologies demands increased awareness, stakeholder familiarity, and the implementation of tools, both technical and legislative, to ensure responsible use.
Generative AI is a cutting edge technology and a cornerstone of IBM’s strategy, playing a crucial role in shaping our technological landscape
At IBM, our commitment to responsible AI is clear through robust safeguards and an accountability framework, eliminating black box models, and ensuring transparency and ethical use. To realize our AI capabilities, we have more than 20,000 data and AI consultants worldwide, including a center of excellence for generative AI. Our teams help clients navigate the AI landscape by guiding them through the process of formulating a strategy, understanding the practical applications of AI, and deploying AI responsibly. We offer open and targeted AI solutions, addressing critical challenges and providing value to businesses. IBM’s watsonx platform, designed for compliance, provides differentiated capabilities with an emphasis on governance, transparency, and accountability.
What is watsonx’s role in enhancing AI development and governance across domains?
Our commitment to trusted and accountable AI is apparent in our approach to building and deploying AI models. IBM’s watsonx is an integrated AI development and governance platform that prioritizes the governance of the AI lifecycle. It empowers enterprises to be value creators by allowing them to input their own data into IBM’s core models and create customized models for their specific needs. In navigating challenges related to generative AI, the platform’s three pillars—watsonx.governance, watsonx.ai, watsonx.data—offer unique capabilities such as transparency in data lineage, customization, and efficient AI model deployment. Our watsonx.governance toolkit allows organizations to manage risk, embrace transparency, and anticipate compliance with future AI-focused regulation. In addition, watsonx.data services prepare organizations’ data for AI, while the watsonx.ai platform enables customers to train, validate, tune, and deploy AI.
How does IBM help businesses leverage generative AI, especially in sectors where security and personalized customer service are paramount?
A recent study by the IBM Institute of Business Value revealed that CEOs gain confidence in the powerful competitive advantage that is offered by advanced generative AI, with 75% of CEOs recognizing the edge that advanced generative AI brings, and 43% actively incorporating it for strategic decision support. Referring to its impact in sectors such as finance and telecoms, generative AI transforms operations, automating processes, enhancing data protection, fortifying security, and providing personalized customer service through innovations such as chatbots. But it’s not just about the technology; it’s about people. The impact of AI is profound, creating new roles in AI research, data science, and ethics. Organizations strategically use generative AI in customer service, optimizing call centers and enhancing experiences, and HR departments leverage it for efficiency in managing workloads and streamlining tasks such as job ad creation and resume summarization. Leveraging AI in these business domains will boost productivity and lead to higher job demand. Increased productivity will create a natural economic advantage, making businesses more competitive and leading to an increase in overall work.
In Greece, IBM has implemented pilot programs, collaborating with large organizations to explore the applications of generative AI and leverage IBM’s watsonx platform to easily deploy and embed AI across their business, manage all data sources, and accelerate responsible AI workflows.
Quantum computing is another exciting frontier in technology. How can Greece use this tech to foster innovation and drive economic growth?
Greece has strategically aligned itself with the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (QCI) initiative and the EuroQCI program, underlining its commitment to the development and adoption of quantum technologies. Through strategic collaborations and research investments, Greece can tap into the transformative power of quantum technologies, fostering integration across sectors and stimulating economic growth. Empowered by a vibrant startup ecosystem and favorable governmental policies, the country can leverage quantum technologies, nurture innovation, and fuel sustainable growth. We should keep an eye on quantum technology, as it is poised to become what AI is in the present day. IBM’s comprehensive quantum dedication covers the hardware, software, and expertise necessary to harness the enormous computing power offered by quantum computers.
Turning to cybersecurity and the increasing sophistication of cyberthreats, how is IBM working to enhance cybersecurity measures?
As a trusted partner for the world’s largest enterprises and governments, IBM Security employs a comprehensive, AI-driven solution to anticipate, prevent, and respond swiftly to evolving cyberthreats while fostering innovation. Our holistic security portfolio, backed by a global network of over 5,000 security experts and renowned IBM Security X-Force research, addresses cybersecurity challenges by combining human intelligence, machine-based visibility, and automation. With a commitment to advancing cybersecurity technology, illustrated by our extensive research and development and a portfolio of over 10,000 security patents, IBM stands at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation. Collaborating within our vast ecosystem and sharing a vision for the future of hybrid cloud and AI security, we remain a proven and trusted partner, addressing complex challenges and advocating responsible technology use in the fight against cyberthreats.
In today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape, what is IBM’s contribution to addressing the global skills gap?
Closing the skills gap is one of our era’s biggest challenges. IBM has initiated the SkillsBuild program, offering free training in innovative technologies to enhance skills and competencies. The program operates in 159 countries, with over 1,000 courses available in 20 languages. Aiming to train 30 million individuals globally by 2030, SkillsBuild is a testament to IBM’s commitment to making a real impact on global education and workforce development and seeks to cultivate an inclusive and technologically adept workforce ready to take on the challenges of the digital age.
Looking at IBM’s long track record of successful partnerships, how do such partnerships boost innovation?
Partnerships at IBM go beyond creating a dynamic innovation ecosystem. IBM partners bring generative AI to clients’ varying technology environments, whether they use public cloud or private cloud, and whether they turn to the technology for cybersecurity, automation, sustainability, rewriting legacy programming languages into modern ones, etc. We align with global partners such as EY and Deloitte, as well as major technology players including Salesforce, SAP and others, to create unique opportunities for integration into our product family, fostering scalability and repositioning based on the evolving needs of our partners’ customers. By collaborating with partners in our open model ecosystem, we not only enhance our collective capabilities but also facilitate the seamless incorporation of IBM technology within their products. This collaborative approach enables us to address a wide spectrum of industry challenges, drive technological advancements, and collectively contribute to the ever-evolving landscape of innovation.
At IBM, we view sustainable business practices as essential for addressing global challenges. For example, our recent collaboration with EY is a testament to our commitment to driving transformative sustainability initiatives. IBM’s technology capabilities play a pivotal role in operationalizing sustainability efforts at scale. By combining partners’ expertise in sustainability strategies with IBM’s innovative software portfolio, such as the Maximo Application Suite, we aim to provide holistic solutions that integrate sustainability seamlessly into business strategies and accelerate the adoption of value-led sustainability, creating positive impacts for businesses, stakeholders, and the planet.
