IBM claims $3.5 billion productivity boost through AI agent use

According to Lee Ji-eun, IBM is utilizing AI-based digital agents in areas such as human resources, finance, sales, and IT. In IBM’s human resources function, its AskHR agent has been used to automate 94% of simple tasks such as vacation requests and pay statements. In IT, AskIT has reduced the number of calls and chats for the IT support team by 70%, she said.

Furthermore, IBM has integrated AI agents in each area into a single platform. Defining an ecosystem that links AI agents, assistants, and business applications in each area into a single integrated environment as “agentic AI,” CTO Lee Ji-eun explained that AI agents that perform tasks autonomously can focus on their own areas of expertise while being organically connected to each other like a network to efficiently execute complex work processes. This integrated approach enables IBM to manage work across various departments and functions from a single interface.

Kim Ji-kwan, executive director of client engineering, who took part in the demo, introduced Watsonx Orchestrate as a core platform for agentic AI development. According to Executive Director Kim Ji-kwan, Watsonx Orchestrate integrates multiple business applications and AI agents into a single interface to intelligently analyze user requests and connect them to the appropriate path.