IBM has announced the launch of a new Automation Innovation Centre, which will be housed within the IBM India Software Lab in Kochi at Infopark.
The new centre, which will be fully operational in Q3 2022, will allow IBM and IBM Ecosystem partners to build automation solutions through their lifecycle — product design, engineering, and support — that will help clients in the areas of business automation, AIOps and integration.
At the new centre, IBM will work in tandem with clients and partners to co-create in order to foster innovation by bringing an outside-in view for designing new products at speed while enhancing customer experience. IBM is also in the process of bringing this innovation centre together by acquiring local talent to strengthen its growth journey in the region.
‘Global AI Adoption Index’
Today, businesses are looking for best-in-class solutions for their digital transformation journeys, including AI-powered automation to improve their IT and business processes.
According to the recently conducted Global AI Adoption Index 2022 by Morning Consult on behalf of IBM, more than half of IT professionals in India report their company is currently using or considering automation software or tools to drive greater efficiencies in IT operations (52 per cent) and business processes/tasks (53 per cent) and to give valuable time back to employees (55 per cent).
In line with business demands and in efforts to capitalise on this opportunity, IBM is furthering its collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro. As part of this engagement, the engineering teams of TCS and Wipro will co-locate with IBM India Software Lab in Kochi to co-create and co-innovate solutions in AI-powered automation.
“India is an innovation and talent hub for IBM, and our collaborations with IIIT Kottayam, TCS, and Wipro will help us accelerate the adoption of automation for businesses across industries,” said Dinesh Nirmal, General Manager, IBM Automation.
“IBM is already helping thousands of clients and partners use automation solutions to make IT and business processes more efficient and employees more effective, and the work from our Kochi lab will help us continue to build powerful AI-powered automation solutions for businesses in India and globally. The collaborations will also provide youths beyond metros access to jobs, exposure to the latest in automation technology, and skilling opportunities to be job-ready,” he said.
Limited AI skills
According to 38 per cent of IT professionals in India at organisations exploring or deploying AI, the greatest barrier to successful AI adoption is limited AI skills, expertise or knowledge.
To help address this gap in skills, IBM is collaborating with the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Kottayam to work together on skill and curriculum enhancement, as well as equip students with the right skills that will enable them to be competitive in the technology job market.
IBM will provide the faculty and students of IIIT Kottayam with educational resources, tutorials, select IBM software, industry-relevant curated courseware content, access to the cloud for hands-on experience, and other resources.
Published on
June 08, 2022
