IBM Calls Confluent Essential to Next-Gen AI Deployment
IBM Chairman, President and CEO Arvind Krishna said the union will act as a digital nervous system for AI-powered enterprises.
“IBM and Confluent together will enable enterprises to deploy generative and agentic AI better and faster by providing trusted communication and data flow between environments, applications and APIs,” Krishna said. “With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide the smart data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for AI.”
The companies said the deal will allow seamless integration of applications, analytics, data systems and AI agents across hybrid cloud environments — a step they likened to replacing a fragmented data puzzle with a unified, intelligent architecture.
Confluent Sees Acceleration Ahead Under IBM’s Global Scale
Confluent co-founder and CEO Jay Kreps said joining IBM marks a new chapter for the company.
“Since its founding, Confluent has helped organizations unlock the full potential of their data,” Kreps said. “We are excited by the potential to join IBM and accelerate our strategy with IBM’s go-to-market expertise, global scale and extensive portfolio.”
The acquisition, IBM said, strengthens its automation and data-intelligence suite, injecting advanced streaming capabilities into a portfolio increasingly centered around AI-driven solutions.
