Latest news with #IBMConsulting
Time of India
30 minutes ago
- Business
- Time of India
IBM wins deal to modernise Vodafone Idea's IT systems with AI capabilities
NEW DELHI: India's third-largest telecom operator, Vodafone Idea (Vi), on Tuesday partnered with IT firm IBM to infuse artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in managed services to improve reliability and accelerate the delivery of digital initiatives. A key aspect of the companies' partnership is the establishment of a new 'AI Innovation Hub', which will continuously modernise Vi's IT and business processes. It will also enable the telco and the US-based IT company's consulting arm to jointly create AI solutions, automation tools, and digital accelerators powered by IBM's AI solutions. The AI Innovation Hub will work closely with the unified DevOps team to find effective avenues of infusing AI into the development and operations function of Vi, according to a joint statement. Vi and IBM, however, did not disclose the financial terms of their partnership. 'Our collaboration with IBM marks a pivotal milestone in Vi's digital journey. It reflects our commitment to AI-led innovation and our ambition to drive accelerated growth through intelligent decision-making and automation,' said Jagbir Singh, chief technology officer (CTO), Vi. He added that the innovation hub will play a critical role in modernising Vi's operations and expediting its go-to-market execution of critical business initiatives, setting 'new benchmarks for the telecom industry'. Working alongside IBM Consulting 's AI and DevOps experts, Vi aims to deliver smarter digital experiences, enhance IT agility, and unlock new revenue opportunities. Vi's AI-enabled unified DevOps implementation will tap into IBM's global partner ecosystem, accelerators, and industry know-how to support continuous innovation while helping strengthen long-term digital resilience. 'India's telecom sector stands at the crossroads of surging data consumption, rapid digital transformation, and large-scale 5G deployments. In this dynamic landscape, our collaboration with Vi allows IBM to serve as a strategic enabler to help modernise the organisation's IT ecosystem, enhance operational efficiencies, and fast-track their digital transformation,' said Juhi McClelland, managing partner, IBM Consulting, IBM Asia Pacific. 'With the AI Innovation Hub and unified DevOps execution, we're bringing together the best of IBM's global expertise to help Vi deliver superior customer experiences, drive innovation, and strengthen digital resilience for the future,' said Rishi Aurora, managing partner, IBM Consulting India & South Asia.
Business Wire
30-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
IFF Appoints Paul J. Fribourg and Jesus B. Mantas to Board of Directors
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- IFF (NYSE: IFF)—a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, health and biosciences—today announced the appointment of Paul J. Fribourg and Jesus B. Mantas to its board of directors, effective immediately. These appointments bring extensive international leadership experience, and industry and strategic insight to IFF as the company continues to advance its innovation agenda and strengthen its market position. 'I am delighted that Paul and Jesus are joining the IFF board,' said Kevin O'Byrne, chair of the IFF board. 'They bring a strong combination of digital innovation, global market insight and operational excellence. Their experience, leadership and vision will help guide IFF through its next phase of growth as we continue to deliver breakthrough solutions for customers and create long-term value for our stakeholders.' Fribourg brings more than four decades of global leadership experience in agribusiness, food and investment sectors, and currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Continental Grain Company, a position he has held since 1976. Fribourg has overseen the company's transformation into a diversified global investment firm with a focus on food, agriculture and adjacent industries. Under his leadership, Continental Grain Company has expanded its portfolio and strategic partnerships across continents, reinforcing its legacy of innovation and resilience. He serves as lead independent director of Loews Corp. and sits on the boards of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Syngenta Group Co. Ltd. and Wayne-Sanderson Farms LLC. Fribourg is also a member of the Rabobank International North American Agribusiness Advisory Board, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Temasek Americas Advisory Panel and the International Business Leaders Advisory Council for the mayor of Shanghai. Jesus B. Mantas Jesus Mantas is a leader in artificial intelligence, business transformation and innovation. He recently retired from IBM, where he served as global managing partner leading the $10 billion Business Transformation Services unit in IBM Consulting. Before that, he led IBM Consulting global strategy, offerings and acquisitions. He also oversaw several global divisions, including IBM Global Business Outsourcing, IBM Consulting in Latin America, and IBM Consulting in the North America enterprise market. Prior to joining IBM, he was a partner in the technology practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting. Mantas currently serves on the board of directors at Biogen Inc., where he chairs the Compensation and Management Development Committee. He is vice chair of the board at HITEC, a nonprofit that promotes and celebrates technology leadership in the Hispanic community. He also serves as a council member of the Council on Global Competition and Innovation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on accelerating innovation investments in national security. He was a member of the World Economic Forum's AI Global Council, served as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Irvine Graduate School of Management, and was an officer in the Spanish Air Force. Welcome to IFF At IFF (NYSE: IFF), we make joy through science, creativity and heart. As the global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, health and biosciences, we deliver groundbreaking, sustainable innovations that elevate everyday products—advancing wellness, delighting the senses and enhancing the human experience. Learn more at LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. © 2025 by International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. IFF is a Registered Trademark. All Rights Reserved.
Al-Ahram Weekly
02-07-2025
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
INTERVIEW - Egypt on its way to digitally empowered future: IBM's Lula Mohanty - Economy
Lula Mohanty, managing partner for IBM Consulting MEA, told Ahram Online in an interview during the fourth edition of the Africa Health ExCon that Egypt hosted in June that Egypt's commitment to public sector modernization, AI adoption, and ecosystem collaboration is setting it apart. Egypt's digital transformation is no longer a vision; it is rapidly becoming a reality. From AI-powered government platforms to national-scale health initiatives, the country is emerging as a model for tech-enabled development in the region. During the Africa Health ExCon, Mohanty also revealed how IBM is partnering with key national institutions to drive citizen-centric innovation, elevate service delivery, and build a skilled workforce ready for an AI-first future. Ahram Online: With technology driving transformation across industries, what are some of the most common challenges enterprises face when embarking on large-scale digital initiatives, and how does IBM Consulting help them overcome these? Lula Mohanty: Enterprises remain deeply committed to advancing AI across their organizations, even as they navigate the complexities of rapid technology adoption. According to the IBM Institute for Business Value 2025 CEO Study, rising investment has not yet translated into widespread success; only 25 percent of AI initiatives have met expected returns, and just 16 percent have scaled enterprise-wide. Fifty percent of CEOs report that the rapid pace of AI deployment has resulted in disconnected and fragmented technologies. The pressure to keep up is also driving premature decisions; 64 percent admit to investing in AI technologies before fully understanding their value. Talent remains a significant constraint, with 54 percent of CEOs hiring for AI-related roles that did not exist a year ago, and 31 percent of the workforce expected to need reskilling within the next three years. Meanwhile, 72 percent of leaders recognize their proprietary data as the key to unlocking generative AI's full potential, highlighting the urgency for robust, integrated data strategies to realize long-term value. IBM Consulting is tackling enterprise AI challenges by expanding its consultants' expertise and leveraging IBM Consulting Advantage, its AI-powered delivery platform. This platform integrates with open-source, multi-cloud systems to enable large-scale AI execution. In just one year, it has reached over 85,000 users, produced more than 2,000 digital assistants, and created over 60 industry-specific applications, many of which were built in partnership with companies such as Adobe, AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce, and SAP. This people-plus-software approach embeds AI into workflows for tasks like code modernization, compliance, and complex delivery. AO: Egypt is rapidly positioning itself as a regional digital hub with growing interest in cloud, AI, and government modernization. How is IBM Consulting aligning with this momentum, and what are your immediate priorities for the Egyptian market? LM: Egypt is undergoing a remarkable digital transformation, with strong momentum across public sector modernization, cloud adoption, and artificial intelligence. At IBM Consulting, we are closely aligning with this national ambition by supporting clients on high-impact transformation journeys, particularly where technology can enhance access, efficiency, and citizen outcomes. In the public sector, we have partnered with the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with our strategic partner SAP to implement an integrated platform based on the SAP Tax and Revenue Management for Public Sector solution. The platform is designed to automate business operations, streamline workflows, and enhance the citizen experience, with a successful pilot implemented across 10 tax offices in Greater Cairo. In the energy sector, we have signed a cooperation agreement with ENPPI to support digital transformation in Egypt's oil and gas industries. This collaboration aims to enhance operational efficiency and innovation in one of the country's most strategic sectors, with the potential to impact the broader Middle East. These initiatives reflect our broader commitment to bring trusted, scalable technology and consulting expertise to Egypt's most vital institutions, while investing in local talent, delivery capabilities, and ecosystem partnerships that can sustain long-term progress. Egypt is a key market for us, and we are proud to be helping shape its digital future. AO: As participants in Africa ExCon, to what extent have the tech solutions boosted the healthcare industry across Africa? LM: IBM Consulting has witnessed firsthand how technology, particularly AI, is accelerating the transformation of healthcare systems across the continent. In today's volatile and interconnected world, Africa's healthcare systems must be both agile and resilient. At IBM, we view AI not merely as a tool for efficiency but as a catalyst for sovereignty and long-term transformation of the healthcare system. Across the pharmaceutical value chain, AI is revolutionizing how medicine is made, managed, and delivered. Generative AI and agentic workflows are reducing regulatory documentation timelines from months to weeks. Moreover, AI-powered simulations of clinical trials enable faster and more cost-effective access to life-saving treatments. In procurement, predictive AI tools now integrate real-time data, ranging from disease trends to human migration patterns, enabling more intelligent forecasting and more proactive decision-making. This shift from reactive to predictive healthcare helps prevent shortages and overstocking of essential medical supplies. Furthermore, IBM's work in privacy-preserving AI is unlocking new possibilities in low-data environments. Through federated learning and synthetic data models, we generate reliable insights without transferring sensitive health data across borders, thereby respecting national data sovereignty while enhancing decision-making capabilities. In terms of supply chain transparency, platforms like Pulse by NABP™, developed in collaboration with IBM Consulting, ensure end-to-end traceability of medicines, reduce counterfeit risks, and create a trusted ecosystem that connects all healthcare stakeholders. Health intelligence begins with the collection of large-scale, trusted data. In Egypt, landmark initiatives such as the 100 Million Healthy Lives campaign are laying the groundwork for transformative national health insights. With access to vast patient datasets, AI can help uncover population-level trends, forecast health risks, and support proactive disease management, particularly for chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. This kind of health data infrastructure is crucial for building preventive, insight-driven systems across the continent. AO: Egypt has a strong talent pool in tech and engineering. How is IBM leveraging local capabilities to deliver both regional and global consulting engagements? LM: The pressure on talent is intensifying as AI accelerates demand for entirely new roles and skillsets, many of which did not exist even a year ago. In the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, CEOs are responding with urgency: 75 percent cite access to the right expertise, in the right roles, with the right incentives as a key competitive differentiator, well above the global average. Despite this drive, nearly 49 percent still report challenges in attracting or retaining the talent they need. At IBM, we are strategically leveraging Egypt's strong tech and engineering capabilities to help bridge this gap and power both regional and global consulting engagements. Central to this approach is the expansion of IBM Egypt's Centres of Excellence, which are fully integrated into our global delivery network. These centres provide high-value consulting services and technology support across key growth areas, delivering impact for clients worldwide. To sustain this capability and close the AI skills gap, we are also investing in local skills development. We have committed to training two million learners in AI by the end of 2026, with a strong focus on underrepresented communities. In Egypt, this is being realized through our SkillsBuild platform, a free, digital learning initiative offering industry-aligned training and IBM-branded certifications in AI, cybersecurity, cloud, and other in-demand fields. Accessible across all Egyptian governorates, SkillsBuild empowers students, educators, and job seekers to acquire future-ready skills and enhance their employability, both within IBM and across the broader tech ecosystem. AO: You emphasize ecosystem collaboration. How critical are partnerships in achieving successful client outcomes today, especially in markets like MEA and North Africa? LM: At IBM Consulting, we believe the most impactful partnerships are transformational. We collaborate with a diverse ecosystem of technology leaders, including SAP, AWS, and Microsoft, to give our clients the flexibility to choose what works best for them. Instead of anchoring solutions to a single provider, we take an open, collaborative approach that delivers tailored strategies aligned with business goals, technology landscapes, and future growth. It is how we help organizations innovate with confidence and scale with purpose. Our strategic partnerships are also a key lever in delivering at scale. In 2024, three of our global partners each generated over $1 billion in joint revenue with IBM, underscoring the depth and maturity of these collaborations. Since acquiring Red Hat, we have closed over $16 billion in hybrid cloud signings, many of which were enabled by integrated delivery with IBM Consulting. This level of collaboration allows us to move faster and more efficiently for clients in markets like MEA, where innovation and time-to-value are critical. AO: You returned several business units to profitability during your Asia-Pacific tenure. What are the key metrics or principles you rely on to drive sustainable revenue and margin growth? LM: During my time leading IBM Consulting across Asia Pacific, and previously in India and South Asia, my focus was on returning the business to both revenue and profit growth. I have always believed that sustainable performance stems from a disciplined approach to execution, supported by strong client partnerships and empowered teams that expand growth and client relationships. AO: Can you share some recent case studies where IBM Consulting has successfully implemented AI to drive transformation? LM: A standout example of IBM Consulting's AI-driven transformation is our collaboration with Riyadh Air, set to become the world's first digital-native airline. As the airline prepares for its inaugural flights in 2025, IBM is building an enterprise-wide AI foundation using Watson X — our portfolio of advanced AI products — alongside the IBM Consulting Advantage delivery platform. This AI-first approach powers everything from intelligent customer interactions and personalized self-service tools to optimized flight operations and autonomous system workflows. IBM Consulting is helping Riyadh Air become the world's first digital-native airline by integrating Agentic AI to deploy bots and digital workers that enhance internal operations and employee experience. Using the IBM Garage methodology, the two are co-developing AI use cases that support Riyadh Air's innovative vision. The solution prioritizes data security, regulatory compliance, and responsible AI, aligning with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and positioning both the airline and the Kingdom at the forefront of intelligent aviation. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Mint
24-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
How IBM Is Redefining Enterprise Transformation with Responsible AI
Introduction: As artificial intelligence moves from experimentation to enterprise-wide adoption, the real question is no longer if companies should use AI—but how. From intelligent automation to customer experience and business model redesign, AI is reshaping how organizations operate, innovate, and grow. But with this power comes responsibility—around ethics, transparency, and human-centric design. In this exclusive conversation, Rishi Aurora, Managing Partner, IBM Consulting India & South Asia, shares how IBM is helping clients harness AI not just for efficiency, but for sustainable, Trustworthy transformation. Rishi Aurora: We are witnessing a fundamental shift. A few years ago, discussions around automation or AI were rare. Today, almost every client conversation includes expectations around AI—how it will drive productivity and efficiency. We believe we are entering a new era, led by AI, and IBM Consulting is positioned at the forefront of this transformation. What used to be technology transforming businesses has now evolved into AI transforming technology itself. With our platform, IBM Consulting Advantage, consultants are empowered with pre-built AI accelerators, enabling up to 50% gains in productivity in pilot implementations. In India especially, AI is driving transformation across financial services, retail, and healthcare with remarkable speed. Rishi Aurora: Most CXOs have moved past experimentation and are focused on real, scalable programs. Our research shows that 76% of Indian enterprises report a return on investment from AI, and 93% believe it will play a role in multiple use cases across their organization. For example, in BFSI, we've helped reduce KYC processing time by 40% using intelligent automation. In retail, AI-led demand forecasting has streamlined inventory cycles. In customer support, virtual agents are streamlining manual agent onboarding times by nearly 40%. A notable example comes from the cement industry. During a merger and consolidation phase, a client was struggling with product deviations across plants. Using watsonx models, we reduced root cause analysis time from hours to just five minutes, dramatically improving production outcomes and operational clarity. Rishi Aurora: The biggest challenge is trust. While adoption is rising, only 20% of enterprises feel confident moving AI into full production. Key barriers include a lack of skilled talent, fragmented data governance, and unclear accountability frameworks. Our solution is rooted in the principles of Responsible AI, governed by the Five Pillars of Trust: Explainability – Clear visibility into how the AI model arrives at decisions. Fairness – Elimination of bias across gender, caste, geography, or social parameters. Robustness – Ability to scale, remain secure, and operate reliably under stress. Transparency – Full disclosure and auditability of the AI systems in use. Privacy – Data protection aligned with regulations and ethical boundaries. Using watsonx we provide comprehensive monitoring across the model lifecycle—capturing metadata, detecting drift, and integrating seamlessly with other platforms like Amazon SageMaker. Rishi Aurora: AI is freeing up consultants from repetitive, manual work, allowing them to focus on high-impact, strategic activities. This marks the evolution of what we call the "Science of Consulting." By combining the digital workforce with human expertise and integrating processes with ecosystem partnerships, we are delivering outcomes that go beyond efficiency, improving customer experience, reducing turnaround time, and ultimately driving ROI. This shift is about enhancing the role of consultants in enabling transformation at scale. Rishi Aurora: AI is no longer a value-add—it's a non-negotiable foundation of every proposal, every project, and every outcome. Organizations that invest now in AI governance, workforce readiness, and scalable infrastructure will lead the next phase of enterprise growth. We are entering a future where consulting is redefined by hybrid intelligence—a collaborative engine powered equally by human insight and machine intelligence. That's the future we're building at IBM Consulting. As industries accelerate toward digitization, AI is fast becoming the defining lens through which consulting services are delivered and measured. For IBM Consulting, the journey is not just about faster solutions—it's about building trust, transparency, and long-term value in every engagement. With a strategic focus on Responsible AI and a growing library of real-world success stories, IBM is setting the standard for a new era of consulting, where insight is data-driven, delivery is intelligent, and transformation is continuous.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
IBM vs. Accenture: Which Stock Stands Out in the Consulting Game?
International Business Machines Corporation IBM and Accenture ACN are major players in the digital transformation and consulting space worldwide. IBM's Consulting business focuses on designing, creating and operating various technology and business processes based on open or hybrid cloud architecture powered by generative AI. The enterprise clients collaborate with IBM to build and implement tailored solutions securely and transform their processes with AI and is also a prominent player in the field. Its strategy and consulting services ensure operational improvements, enhance competitiveness, optimize cost and streamline every part of the enterprise's deep industry acumen and a focus on investing in advanced technologies, both IBM and Accenture are strategically positioned to match the dynamic nature of enterprises' digital transformation initiatives. Let us dive a little deeper into the companies' competitive dynamics to understand which of the two is relatively better placed in the industry. IBM Consulting business is benefiting from growth in technology consulting, supply chain and business application transformations. The company's robust AI technologies from the software segment, coupled with its broad partner ecosystem, which includes AWS, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP SE SAP, allow it to seamlessly develop intelligent operation services for its customers. The company's IBM Consulting Advantage is an AI delivery platform that equips IBM consultants with industry and business domain-specific AI assistants integrated with IBM Granite and various other leading AI models. The solution is a game changer compared to legacy traditional consulting approaches, allowing IBM to deliver solutions at scale and accelerate time to its partner ecosystem, IBM is expanding its market reach in various sectors. It has collaborated with SAP to tap generative AI technology within the retail industry. The collaboration is likely to facilitate higher productivity and help accelerate business transformation in consumer-packaged goods and retail firms. The technology focuses on feeding external data such as weather, traffic and local events into the SAP Direct Distribution solution and applies AI to identify optimal store delivery routes to reduce costs. IBM's effort to diversify its portfolio to create new revenue-generating opportunities augurs well for long-term current macroeconomic uncertainty and growing geopolitical volatility continue to impact client spending decisions. This is hindering IBM Consulting's net sales growth. In the first quarter of 2025, the company's consulting signings decreased 10.5% year over year. Intensifying competition from other major players, such as Accenture, Infosys, and Tata Consultancy Services, particularly remains a company is steadily improving its product offerings through innovation and strategic acquisitions to address these issues. IBM recently acquired Hakkoda Inc., a prominent data consultancy provider. Integration of Hakkoda's capabilities in migrating, modernizing and monetizing data estates along with comprehensive generative AI capabilities with IBM Consulting will allow it to match the growing demand for AI-transformation initiatives across industries. IBM is also acquiring Oracle consulting companies to enhance its consulting expertise in Oracle Cloud applications. Growing spending on application modernization and maintenance, cloud enablement and cybersecurity-as-a-service boasts a solid growth opportunity for Accenture. Organizations across industries are prioritizing improving productivity and saving operational costs by transforming their operations through data and analytics, automation and artificial intelligence. These emerging market trends are driving demand for Accenture's managed services company places a strong emphasis on developing a robust digital core by utilizing cloud, data and AI, and technology evolution. It continuously innovates its services and capabilities through early adoption of advanced technologies, including generative AI, blockchain, robotics, 5G and edge computing. Moreover, strategic collaboration with major technology giants like Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Databricks, Google, HPE, SAP, and Oracle drives innovation and boosts competitive edge. The company recently joined forces with Dell and NVIDIA to provide enterprise customers with an open, interoperable, scalable solution that accelerates AI transformation initiatives. The company has been witnessing steady customer growth in the finance domain. The largest financial group in Finland, the OP Financial Group, has recently opted to leverage Accenture's solution to modernize its insurance business processes. Apart from in-house innovation, the company is acquiring a large number of companies to venture into high-growth although this strategy improves revenue generation opportunities and enhances market reach, it also raises integration risks. This could impact organic growth going forward. In the IT services and consulting market, the company faces competition from IBM, Infosys and Capgemini. This put pressure on pricing. Macroeconomic headwinds remain a concern. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IBM's 2025 sales and EPS implies year-over-year growth of 5.5% and 6%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been trending northward over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Accenture's 2025 sales and EPS implies year-over-year growth of 5.41% and 6.11%, respectively. The EPS estimate for 2025 has remained unchanged for the past 60 days, and the estimate for 2026 has been trending southward over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Over the past year, IBM has gained 50.5%, while Accenture has gained 3.1% over the same period. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Going by the price/earnings ratio, IBM's shares currently trade at 23.02 forward earnings, slightly lower than 23.95 for Accenture. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Both IBM and Accenture carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks has shown steady revenue growth for years, while IBM has been facing a bumpy road. However, IBM's broad technology portfolio, integration of cutting-edge hybrid cloud and AI technologies, gives it a competitive edge. Better price performance and upward estimate revision highlight investors' growing confidence. Hence, IBM seems to be a better investment option at the moment. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Accenture PLC (ACN) : Free Stock Analysis Report International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) : Free Stock Analysis Report SAP SE (SAP) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
