IBM is expanding its enterprise AI business with OpenAI. TechCrunch reported on Aug. 13 that the two companies announced a partnership to provide OpenAI models and tools to enterprise customers.

The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The companies will jointly market AI products, focusing on financial services, government, telecommunications and retail, and will also develop industry-specific solutions.

IBM will set up a dedicated OpenAI organization within IBM Consulting. Mike Healy (마이크 힐리), a managing partner at IBM Consulting, said the company plans to train and certify tens of thousands of consultants to align with OpenAI technology over the next few months. The training will focus on reskilling existing staff rather than new hiring.

The training will cover Codex, APIs, cybersecurity and consulting solution qualification frameworks. IBM also plans to separately establish an organization of "Forward Deployed Experts."

The companies will also proceed with technology integration. IBM plans to integrate OpenAI’s latest models, including GPT-5.6, Codex and ChatGPT Work, into IBM Consulting Advantage, its AI platform for consultants, to support customers in deploying AI across core business operations.

IBM will broaden the scope of its partnerships with external AI models through this agreement. IBM is pursuing a model-neutral strategy that uses its Granite family of models alongside models from external developers, and is strengthening a structure that integrates multiple AI models through the watsonx platform and its global consulting business.

IBM and OpenAI also launched the cybersecurity-focused "OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program" in June. Under the new agreement, OpenAI models will also be integrated into IBM Autonomous Security, IBM’s multi-agent-based security service.