IBM Unveils Enterprise Advantage to Tackle AI's Scaling Crisis

ARMONK, N.Y. – January 19, 2026 – International Business Machines Corp. today launched IBM Enterprise Advantage, a new consulting service aimed at solving one of the most persistent challenges in corporate technology: moving artificial intelligence from small-scale experiments to enterprise-wide impact. The offering combines consulting expertise with a suite of reusable AI assets and a proven framework, designed to help businesses build and govern their own internal AI platforms without being locked into a single technology vendor.

Bridging the Gap from Pilot to Production

For years, businesses have been investing heavily in AI, but many have struggled to see a significant return on that investment beyond isolated pilot projects. The leap from a successful proof-of-concept to a fully integrated, scaled AI system that transforms core business processes has proven to be a complex and costly chasm to cross. IBM's new service is engineered to be the bridge.

Enterprise Advantage provides a structured approach for companies to redesign workflows, connect AI to disparate existing systems, and scale a new class of "agentic" AI applications. A key feature of the service is its neutrality. IBM emphasizes that clients can build upon their existing infrastructure, whether they use Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, or IBM's own watsonx platform. This flexibility extends to the AI models themselves, supporting both open-source and proprietary closed-source options, a critical consideration for enterprises looking to avoid vendor lock-in and leverage their current technology investments.

The service aims to de-risk the complex journey of AI adoption by providing a secured, governed environment from the outset. This addresses major enterprise concerns around data privacy, security, and regulatory compliance, which often become roadblocks when attempting to scale AI solutions.

The Rise of the 'Agentic' Enterprise

At the heart of IBM's new offering is the focus on "agentic AI," a term rapidly gaining traction in boardrooms and IT departments. Unlike generative AI models that primarily create content, agentic AI systems are designed to act. They function as autonomous agents that can understand complex goals, break them down into sub-tasks, and orchestrate actions across different applications and systems with minimal human intervention.

Industry analysts view this as a significant evolution. According to research from firms like Gartner and Forrester, agentic AI represents a "paradigm shift" in how businesses will operate, compete, and create value. Forrester predicts that companies that successfully integrate these autonomous systems into an "Agentic Business Fabric"—an ecosystem where AI agents, data, and human employees collaborate—will gain substantial advantages in growth and efficiency. Gartner's recent Hype Cycle for AI places AI Agents in a prominent position, forecasting that by 2028, a significant portion of interactions with generative AI services will involve autonomous agents completing tasks.

IBM Enterprise Advantage is positioned to help companies navigate this new landscape. By providing the tools and expertise to build tailored internal AI platforms, the service enables businesses to develop their own digital workforce of AI agents capable of handling complex workflows, from supply chain optimization to sophisticated customer service and internal decision-making processes.

An Inside Job: IBM's Internal Playbook Goes Public

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Enterprise Advantage is its origin story. The service is not a theoretical framework but a client-facing version of IBM Consulting Advantage, the company's own internal AI-powered delivery platform. IBM has been using this platform to transform its own consulting operations, equipping its global workforce with AI agents and assistants to streamline project delivery and enhance productivity.

The company reports that this internal platform has already supported over 150 client engagements and has been shown to boost its consultants' productivity by up to 50 percent. By productizing its own successful internal playbook, IBM is making a powerful statement about the service's credibility and effectiveness. This "eating your own dog food" strategy provides a level of validation that is often missing from purely theoretical consulting offerings.

"Many organizations are investing in AI, but achieving real value at scale remains a major challenge," said Mohamad Ali, Senior Vice President and Head of IBM Consulting, in the company's official announcement. "We have solved many of these challenges inside IBM by using AI to transform our own operations and deliver measurable results, giving us a proven playbook to help clients succeed. Enterprise Advantage brings this framework to clients by combining human expertise with digital workers and ready-to-use AI assets so they can scale AI with confidence and achieve meaningful impact."

Early Adopters and a Crowded Field

Early adopters are already putting the service to the test. Pearson, the global lifelong learning company, is using Enterprise Advantage to build a custom AI-powered platform. The goal is to deploy agentic assistants that can help manage everyday work and decisions, blending human expertise with automated workflows. In another example, an unnamed manufacturing company has utilized the service to implement its generative AI strategy, moving from identifying high-value use cases to deploying AI assistants across the enterprise within a secure and governed environment.

IBM enters a competitive but burgeoning market for AI transformation services. Major consulting firms like Accenture and Deloitte have robust AI practices, offering end-to-end strategy and implementation. Accenture, for instance, has heavily invested in generative AI, partnering with major tech players to drive enterprise adoption. Meanwhile, technology giants like Google Cloud with its Gemini Enterprise platform and Microsoft with its Azure AI suite are providing powerful tools for building agentic systems.

However, IBM is carving out a distinct niche. By packaging its own proven internal system as an asset-based, vendor-agnostic consulting service, the company is offering not just advice, but a battle-tested roadmap. This approach, which combines the roles of technology provider and strategic partner, is designed to empower businesses to build their own proprietary AI capabilities, rather than simply consuming off-the-shelf solutions, positioning them to compete in an increasingly automated world.