IBM is expanding its AI efforts via an expanded collaboration with Oracle.
The company will integrate its watsonx AI tools into Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), with the aim of making it easier for businesses to run and manage AI agents in platforms.
AI agents – software tools that perform tasks based on user input – are becoming more common in the workplace, with many firms looking to incorporate the technology into their operations to simplify tasks and reduce manual work. By making Watsonx available on OCI, IBM is aiming to meet this growing demand.
One of the first offerings is watsonx Orchestrate. It allows users to manage workflows involving multiple agents in different systems including non-Oracle apps, and is expected to be available on OCI from July.
IBM’s Orchestrate agents will integrate with several of Oracle’s AI services, including the Oracle AI Agent Studio for Fusion Applications and OCI Generative AI Agents. Orchestrate agents are designed to extend third-party and custom applications, with initial use-cases likely focusing on human resources, where agents can help deal with repetitive tasks like onboarding.
Orchestrate agents will run on Red Hat OpenShift on OCI, and are suitable for deployment in public, sovereign, government, and Oracle Alloy regions for workloads that have more stringent privacy and regulatory needs. Agents can run on-premise or in multiple clouds.
IBM’s Granite models – a family of open-source, smaller AI models – will be available in OCI’s AI Quick Actions later this year. The models are designed for specific tasks and generally use less compute than large, multi-purpose models. Oracle will host cached versions to prioritise faster responses and reduced startup times.
IBM’s Envizi ESG Suite will be available on Oracle infrastructure (for collection of and reporting on data related to environmental, social, and governance), with the first rollout is planned for Saudi Arabia in the next year.
IBM is expanding its consulting services to help customers set up and scale AI agents on Oracle, whether native Oracle AI agents or watsonx Orchestrate. Consultation will also be available for service migration from on-premise to Red Hat OpenShift running on OCI.
IBM’s consulting arm has long experience of Oracle’s technology, the two companies having worked together for nearly 40 years.
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