Airtel, IBM team up to offer enterprise-grade AI and hybrid cloud solutions

The partnership will allow Airtel Cloud customers to access IBM's AI and hybrid cloud offerings, targeting enterprises and regulated industries

Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom operator, has partnered with IBM to offer the American technology firm’s services through its recently launched Airtel Cloud platform.

 

Under the partnership, customers of Airtel Cloud will be able to deploy IBM’s solutions and services directly.

 

Hans Dekkers, General Manager, IBM Asia Pacific, said that such collaborations are being driven by the growing demand for enterprise-grade artificial intelligence (AI).

 

“I see more of these similar partnerships emerging. We've done a few in Indonesia. I see Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. All across Asia-Pacific, these types of partnerships are emerging, all for similar reasons. They need enterprise-grade AI. Our clients want to be in control of their data,” Dekkers said.

 

 

Airtel and IBM aim to help entities in regulated industries scale AI workloads efficiently while ensuring interoperability across on-premise, cloud, and multi-cloud infrastructures.

 

“As we reflect on the solutions and offerings that we are driving — particularly with AI, hybrid cloud, and ultimately quantum — I believe we are well-positioned to help both enterprises and public sector entities move towards the promise of Viksit Bharat,” said Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India & South Asia.

 

Patel added that as data residency and sovereignty regulations continue to evolve in India, cloud offerings like this partnership will gain more relevance for enterprises and government organisations.

 

“As these regulations get defined in India, particularly related to data residency and sovereignty, we believe they will continue to evolve, and this offering becomes more relevant, even for government and other regulated entities,” he said.

 

Data residency refers to a cloud infrastructure environment that is built, maintained, and operated within a country’s jurisdiction, ensuring compliance with local data protection laws.