IBM Partners With OpenAI, Launches Dedicated OpenAI Practice and Joins Elite Tier

IBM announced on August 13, 2026 that it is partnering with OpenAI to accelerate enterprise AI deployment and strengthen security¹. IBM will launch a dedicated OpenAI Practice, with thousands of consultants and engineers obtaining expert-level certifications under the OpenAI Partner Network¹. IBM will also join OpenAI’s Elite partner tier¹. Deal terms were not publicly disclosed².

The partnership targets three areas: transforming legacy operations into AI-ready workflows, application modernization and product development, and cybersecurity and AI risk management — the last combined with IBM Autonomous Security¹. GPT-5.6, Codex, and ChatGPT Work will be brought into IBM Consulting Advantage, IBM’s AI platform for consultants¹. Target sectors include financial services, government, telecommunications, and retail, along with enterprise domains such as finance, procurement, customer operations, and HR¹.

Andy Baldwin of IBM Consulting said the challenge is not access to AI technologies but integrating AI securely and at scale into complex enterprise environments¹.