In an effort to gain ground in the public cloud market, IBM is focusing on enhancing agility on the cloud, including enabling its AI-powered Watson Assistant to engage businesses virtually. 

And, as the coronavirus pandemic requires a new work-from-home culture, IBM is now using its computing and AI expertise in creative ways.

“We’ve done a lot from … taking supercomputing power and really applying it to the fight to find cures and find vaccines,” said Michelle Peluso (pictured), senior vice president of digital sales and chief marketing officer at IBM. “We have donated things like Watson Assistant so that governments can get access to free chatbots to help their customers with knowledge and information about COVID-19.”

Peluso spoke with Stu Miniman, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, during the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. They discussed IBM’s crisis-resolution strategies, such as supply chain continuity; virtual work from home; increased agility on the cloud, and virtual teaming. (* Disclosure below.)

Coping with the pandemic digitally

As highlighted during this week’s IBM Think event, accelerating transformation and recovery during the current pandemic is critical for all types of businesses worldwide. IBM’s Watson Assistant is enabling teams to adopt agile workflows. By empowering IBM Watson AIOps, IBM automates IT infrastructures so disruptions and anomalies can be stopped in real time.

“From a client perspective, I think we’re going to see where digital has always sort of been mission-critical,” said Peluso. “I think there’s going to be incredible and continued rapid acceleration to a digital environment.”

By digitizing call centers, chatbots will present customers with virtual answers. AI will improve HR by optimizing manufacturing operational procedures. Cloud technology, cybersecurity, and blockchain will also redefine the enterprise landscape, according to Peluso. 

“We’re going to have to figure out this new way of being, this new way of normal, which might be a bit more hybrid than we’re used to,” Peluso stated.

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

Photo: SiliconANGLE