When Satoshi Nakamoto released his seminal whitepaper on a peer-to-peer electronic cash system called bitcoin in 2008, he also outlined the underlying technology to operate the fledgling digital currency. That platform — the blockchain — has since evolved into a major global force for powering transactions on a distributed ledger database.

IBM Corp.’s focus on the blockchain became clearer this week with the release of a new beta product that will allow startups and developers to build their own projects based on the distributed ledger. “We’re driving trust into transactions,” said Jason Kelley (pictured, left), general manager of blockchain services at IBM. “Last year was the year of proof of concept. This is the year of production.”

Kelley spoke with Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Peter Burris (@plburris), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at the IBM Think event in Las Vegas. He was joined by Gene Chao (pictured, right), IBM’s global vice president and general manager of automation, and they discussed customer use cases for blockchain implementation and the role of automation to drive continued adoption. (* Disclosure below.)

From seven days to 12 seconds

Scale and speed play a significant role in the blockchain and its potential applications. Wal-mart Stores Inc. has teamed up with IBM to apply blockchain technology to the food supply system and the project has already shown results.

“It used to take seven days to figure out that process, and putting it on the blockchain took 12 seconds,” Kelley said. “We’ve opened up a whole new ecosystem of possibilities in order to do business in a different way.”

The implementation of blockchain technology at scale will take automation, which is a key initiative for Chao. “As we look at blockchain as a pivot point for trusted transactions, I need to build trusted automation around it,” Chao explained. “The old way of thinking is you have people following or creating a process supported by a technology. We’re now working in a world where the process is run by the technology and supported by the people.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the IBM Think event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for IBM Think. Neither IBM, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE