Today, IBM and Salesforce announced a collaboration to help businesses worldwide across industries accelerate their adoption of AI for CRM. Together, the two companies support clients to revolutionize customer, partner and employee experiences, while helping safeguard their data.

IBM Consulting and Salesforce are working with our shared clients to help accelerate business transformations with generative AI. Clients can now access the following:

Driving adoption of AI technology: IBM Consulting will use its industry expertise and innovative delivery models, including its IBM Garage methodology, an operating model for business transformation, to guide clients through the adoption and deployment of Salesforce AI technologies. This approach is designed to help drive efficient integration across Salesforce's AI technologies, including Einstein , Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud and Slack.

Integrating data and insights: In addition to helping clients effectively deploy Salesforce's generative AI tools, IBM Consulting can complement those solutions with IBM watsonx, an enterprise-ready AI and data platform that embraces open standards. Watsonx can reveal the data locked in backend systems to help create dynamic user and employee experiences.

Accelerating value through delivery: Through IBM Consulting Managed Services for Salesforce, shared clients will have access to a suite of AI experience and implementation accelerators. This delivery and management model is designed to help customers deploy, scale and enhance Salesforce. For example, IBM Data Classifier, an AI-powered application trained on industry-specific data models, helps to reduce the data mapping process.

"We see how the need to increase employee productivity while simultaneously elevating the customer experience with speed, personalization, and convenience has surged exponentially," said Matt Candy, Global Managing Partner, Generative AI, IBM Consulting. "Through our collaboration with Salesforce, we can help empower enterprise clients to scale and accelerate the adoption of generative AI that will support them to meet their business needs."

Working across a diverse AI partner ecosystem
IBM Consulting also works closely with a diverse AI partner ecosystem through an open and collaborative approach to plan, build, implement and operate generative AI solutions that embrace multiple models on multiple clouds from industry leaders. This open ecosystem approach helps clients define the right models and the right architecture to help deliver their desired outcomes.

Transforming IBM AI with Salesforce AI
IBM leveraged generative AI through Salesforce, Slack and IBM watsonx for its own transformation journey to create a 360-degree customer experience. IBM's client service and sales organizations can have a holistic view into the client journey. Teams all over the world collaborate and work together in one platform to provide fast, data-driven engagement that meets the customers where they are. IBM used Salesforce's open API architecture to infuse IBM Watson Assistant into Salesforce Customer 360.

"Companies are embarking on a transformative journey fueled by generative AI. Salesforce partners like IBM Consulting play an important role in helping businesses use Salesforce's AI, data and CRM technologies to connect with their customers on a new level," said Steve Corfield, EVP and General Manager, Global Alliances and Channels, Salesforce. "Bringing Salesforce and IBM innovations together will help transform the way companies deliver personalized, engaging experiences."

IBM Consulting's Deep AI Expertise and Capabilities
Earlier this year, IBM Consulting announced its Center of Excellence for Generative AI , which has more than 1,000 consultants with specialized generative AI expertise ready to help accelerate its clients' business transformations with enterprise-grade AI, including technology from Salesforce, IBM and other partners through a collaborative and open ecosystem approach.

The Center of Excellence stands alongside IBM Consulting's existing global AI and Automation practice, which has 21,000 data and AI consultants. It leverages methodology like the IBM Garage for Generative AI, where IBM consultants apply a comprehensive, collaborative method to help clients fast-track innovation in the emerging category of foundation models for generative AI. That includes rapid use case ideation and prioritization, an open, multi-model approach to selecting architectures and training, as well as scaling models to unique business needs.