IBM and OpenAI strike enterprise pact for secure AI

IBM and OpenAI have announced a far-reaching partnership to bring AI securely and at scale into companies' core operations. At its heart: OpenAI's frontier models — including GPT-5.6, Codex and ChatGPT Work — are being embedded into IBM's Consulting Advantage platform.

IBM is standing up a dedicated OpenAI practice with thousands of trained consultants and deploying specialized forward-deployed units that integrate AI directly into finance, procurement, customer operations and HR processes. IBM also joins the Elite tier of OpenAI's partner program.

Three areas anchor the deal: converting legacy operations into AI-ready workflows, application modernization with accelerated software development, and cybersecurity plus AI risk management — where IBM links its Autonomous Security offering with OpenAI's Daybreak Cyber Partner Program.

The target customers are explicitly highly regulated industries: financial services, government, telecommunications and retail. IBM's Andy Baldwin sums up the thrust: the challenge is not access to AI technologies but integrating AI securely and at scale into complex enterprise environments. For the European market, the deal is likely to reset the bar for compliance-heavy enterprise AI projects.