IBM and Salesforce Expand Partnership to Advance Open, Trusted AI and Data Ecosystems

IBM and Salesforce announced an expanded strategic partnership that will integrate IBM watsonx AI and Data Platform capabilities with the Salesforce Einstein 1 Platform. This collaboration aims to provide customers with greater choice and flexibility in AI and data deployment, empowering teams to make data-driven decisions and take action directly within their workflow.

Key Highlights of the Partnership:

Bidirectional Data Integration and Large Language Model Flexibility: The expanded partnership features bidirectional data integration, allowing seamless data flow between IBM watsonx and Salesforce Data Cloud. Additionally, it offers flexibility in deploying large language models (LLMs), prebuilt actions, and prompts for CRM solutions, reinforcing a commitment to responsible AI development.

Access to Large Language Models: Salesforce’s Bring Your Own Large Language Model strategy enables customers to choose LLMs that best suit their needs. They can integrate their LLMs with the watsonx.ai platform and Salesforce Einstein 1 Studio, a collection of low-code AI builders. This integration provides access to IBM’s Granite series AI models and allows customers to utilize their own LLMs built on watsonx.

IBM Granite Models Integration: IBM watsonx assists enterprises in building, scaling, and governing custom AI solutions with a choice of AI models from different providers, tailored to their specific data. IBM Granite models, known for their high performance and developer-friendly features, will be integrated with the Einstein 1 Platform, enabling diverse use cases such as industry content generation, field summarization, and classification. Pre-configured prompt templates and copilot actions powered by IBM data and services will be available for Einstein 1 Studio, enhancing customer ROI.

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Industry-Specific Prompts and Actions: IBM Consulting, leveraging its industry expertise, will create powerful, industry-specific prompt templates and copilot actions for Einstein 1 Studio. These tools, optimized for both foundation and Granite models, will initially target public sector use cases and expand to automotive, energy and utilities, financial services, and more.

Zero Copy Data Integration: IBM joins the Salesforce Zero Copy Partner Network, enabling secure, bidirectional zero copy integrations with Salesforce Data Cloud. This approach allows businesses to access their IBM data within Salesforce Data Cloud without moving it, simplifying security management and minimizing risks. Customers can maximize their technology investments and access historical data to power analytics and generative AI, enhancing customer engagement and trusted AI applications.

Statements from Executives: “Clients need enterprise-grade foundation models that are trusted, performant, and cost-effective,” said Ritika Gunnar, General Manager, Product Management, Data and AI, IBM. “IBM and Salesforce are working together to help clients select the right LLM for their business needs, making it easier to navigate the complex generative AI landscape.”

“Salesforce and IBM are well positioned to help customers get the most value from their data and establish a foundation for customer engagement and trusted AI,” said Rahul Auradkar, EVP & GM, Unified Data Services & Einstein, Salesforce. “With bidirectional data integration, companies can harmonize all of their data faster, fueling actionable insights that empower teams to deliver amazing integrated experiences across all customer interactions.”

SOURCE: Salesforce