Tech Disruptors Inside IBM’s 7-Year Software Transformation
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Mar 3, 2026 Rob Thomas, IBM software SVP and Chief Commercial Officer, leads IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI strategy with Red Hat integrations. He discusses workload portability with OpenShift, the enduring role of mainframes for real-time transactions, a layered enterprise stack built via acquisitions, and a multimodel approach that balances orchestration, sovereignty, and proprietary data.
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What Happens When You Tap Your Card
- The payment lifecycle routes a merchant request to the card network and then the mainframe performs real-time fraud checks and issuer decisions in milliseconds.
- Rob Thomas compares mainframe real-time transaction processing to enterprise AI running fraud detection at scale.
Focus AI On Motors Not Light Bulbs
- Rob contrasts 'light bulb' AI (email summaries) with transformative 'motors' that reorganise business processes, urging focus on applied AI that automates core operations.
- IBM measures AI impact as $5bn productivity and reinvests savings into R&D growth.
IBM Reinvested AI Productivity Gains Into R&D
- IBM reports nearly $5bn productivity gains from AI by automating back-office tasks and then reinvests the savings into R&D, growing R&D spend ~30%.
- IBM deployed IBM Bob to 30,000 developers and required KPI proof before broad adoption.