Generative AI is rapidly evolving beyond the experimental stage. Companies are beginning to adopt AI technologies for purposes such as improving customer service and discovering new market opportunities.

IBM Consulting announced on the 14th that it has established a Center of Excellence for generative AI.

This service will operate alongside IBM Consulting's existing global AI/automation services, which boasts over 21,000 data/AI consultants who have completed over 40,000 enterprise client projects to date. Already, over 1,000 generative AI consultants are helping global clients improve productivity in core business processes like human resources (HR) and marketing, as well as IT operations, improve customer experiences, and create new business models.

IDC predicted that the AI service market size would grow from approximately USD 36 billion in 2023 to approximately USD 65 billion in 2026. At the same time, discussions continue on how to reduce bias, manage data security, and reflect accuracy and risk.

Building on years of expertise in AI, IBM believes that implementing scalable, enterprise-grade AI requires a highly configurable, multi-model strategy and a human-centric, principles-based approach.

According to a recent survey of corporate executives conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), generative AI is being used in the following areas: finance (34%), human resources (41%), supply chain (45%), marketing and sales (40%), customer service (57%), and IT services and technology (63%).

Generative AI can help automate routine tasks, freeing employees to focus on activities that generate greater value. It can also empower employees with innovative capabilities, such as creative content and code development, content summarization, and search. In this survey, executives predicted that nearly half (48%) of their organization's employees will utilize generative AI in their daily work next year.

The Center of Excellence supports customers' productivity and innovation by leveraging the full breadth of the generative AI technology stack, including foundational models and over 50 existing, domain-specific machine learning accelerators.

IBM Consulting's proprietary AI Advisor Toolkit will also be utilized to improve internal operations and customer service. IBM Research's generative AI innovations, both developed and planned, will be leveraged to develop new solutions and assets alongside customers and partners.

In 2023 alone, IBM Consulting worked with over 100 clients, completing dozens of projects that integrated generative AI into existing machine learning AI strategies.

Representative examples include providing AI-generated voice sports commentary to millions of fans at The Masters, Mitsui Chemicals exploring new uses for its products by combining generative AI with IBM Watson, and Bouygues Telecom collaborating on a project to apply generative AI to its customer relationship management processes.

Some customers have reported achieving up to 70% faster time to value by implementing IBM's Foundation Model in the early stages compared to existing AI models.

The newly established Center of Excellence builds on IBM Consulting's decades of industry- and domain-specific expertise, accumulated through supporting key business process transformations at leading global companies. The IBM consulting team possesses the knowledge to deliver ethical AI and includes experts well-versed in delivering business value through AI.