IBM’s TechXchange event held in Las Vegas last week emphasized the importance of developing AI skills and fostering partner collaborations in the era of generative AI and large language models. As organizations rush to adopt these cutting-edge technologies, it is crucial to have a global ecosystem of partners with industry expertise to identify AI use cases and implement the technology effectively.

Partners Embrace IBM’s WatsonX

At TechXchange, IBM’s premier technical learning event, IBM Partner Plus members, including Strategic Partners, resellers, software vendors, distributors, and service partners, showcased their adoption of WatsonX, IBM’s enterprise-ready AI and data platform. Various partners participated in the event and shared their experiences and thoughts on WatsonX.

Samsung

As part of their support for the Call for Code initiative, Samsung exhibited WatsonX-powered versions of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, featuring new apps running WatsonX.AI and WatsonX Assistant. They also demonstrated how WatsonX could enhance the capabilities of Samsung’s SDS Zero Touch Mobility solution. Sean Im, CEO of Samsung SDS America, expressed excitement about exploring the potential of WatsonX’s generative AI capabilities to deliver innovations for their clients.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS joined TechXchange to highlight the complementarity of their generative AI technologies with IBM’s offerings. They also announced the availability of WatsonX Data on the AWS marketplace. Soo Lee, Director Worldwide Strategic Alliances at AWS, explained that organizations are increasingly adopting data lakehouse solutions to support their growing data needs, especially in the context of the industry-wide shift towards AI solutions. Making WatsonX Data available on the AWS marketplace allows customers to leverage the flexibility of hybrid cloud and choose from a wide range of AWS services and IBM cloud native software.

Krista Software

Luther Birdzell, Chief AI Officer at Krista Software, highlighted the industry’s excitement about large language models and generative AI but noted that teams often struggle to get started due to concerns about costs, data privacy, and enterprise readiness. Birdzell praised WatsonX.AI as an enterprise-grade large language model offering that brings trustworthy, scalable, and transparent AI, addressing these concerns effectively.

CrushBank

CrushBank demonstrated their use of Watson Discovery and WatsonX.AI to streamline data handling in support centers. They showcased how large language models simplify complex tickets and mentioned their interest in leveraging WatsonX.AI’s summarization features to improve service delivery. By integrating WatsonX.AI capabilities with their data information sources, CrushBank can provide IT agents with accurate and concise natural language answers, eliminating the need to manually search through multiple documents.

Arrow Electronics

Arrow Electronics led sessions at TechXchange and emphasized their commitment to empowering organizations with innovative solutions for safeguarding digital assets. They expressed enthusiasm for WatsonX.AI and its industry recognition, highlighting its potential for enabling cutting-edge AI innovations. By harnessing the power of WatsonX.AI, Arrow Electronics aims to help customers transform their core business operations with intelligence, ensuring accuracy, scalability, and adaptability.

Expanding the Ecosystem for AI Adoption

IBM continues to expand its partner ecosystem to support multiple industries and address a growing number of AI use cases. Through collaborations with partners, IBM aims to facilitate the integration of generative AI into organizations’ core business operations, making AI deployment more accurate, scalable, and adaptable.

FAQ

What is generative AI?

Generative AI refers to the use of AI algorithms and models to create new, original content rather than relying solely on analyzing and interpreting existing data. It involves generating novel outputs based on input data or prompts and can be used for various applications such as image generation, text generation, and music composition.

What are large language models?

Large language models are AI models trained on vast amounts of text data to generate human-like or coherent language output. These models have the ability to understand, generate, and follow natural language patterns, making them useful for tasks such as text completion, language translation, and conversation generation.

Why is skilling in AI important?

Skilling in AI is essential as organizations increasingly adopt AI technologies to drive innovation and solve complex business problems. Having a skilled workforce that understands AI concepts, tools, and implementation can enable efficient AI adoption, foster innovation, and empower organizations to make the most of AI’s potential.

What is the role of partners in AI adoption?

Partners play a crucial role in AI adoption by providing industry expertise, identifying relevant AI use cases, and offering technical skills or solutions to implement AI effectively. They can collaborate with organizations to design and deploy AI solutions tailored to specific industry needs and ensure successful integration of AI into core business operations.

How does WatsonX.AI enhance AI development?

WatsonX.AI is IBM’s enterprise-ready AI and data platform that offers generative AI capabilities, large language models, and other AI tools. By leveraging WatsonX.AI, organizations can develop and deploy AI solutions that are trustworthy, scalable, and transparent. The platform addresses common concerns such as costs, data privacy, and enterprise readiness, making AI development more accessible and effective.

What is Call for Code?

Call for Code is an initiative launched by IBM to mobilize developers and problem solvers worldwide to create practical, effective, and scalable technology solutions for addressing global challenges. It encourages the development of innovative AI, cloud, and data-driven solutions that can make a positive impact on society.