IBM buys Confluent for 11 billion and focuses on AI
It is one of the most important operations for the IT giant, which is projecting itself into the world of data streaming
IBM too wants to play its cards close to its chest in the thriving Artificial Intelligence market. And it is doing so by making one of the most important acquisitions in its more than 100-year history. The Armonk-based company has in fact announced the purchase of Confluent, a company specialising in real-time data streaming, for $11 billion including debts. An operation that confirms how the group led by Arvind Krishna has adopted a strategy of repositioning itself on software and artificial intelligence.
In more detail, the deal envisages a price of USD 31 per share, for an equity value of about USD 9.3 billion. Closing is expected by mid-2026. After the news, Confluent - which until yesterday had a market cap close to $6 billion - rose about 27 per cent in the New York premarket, while IBM lost almost two percentage points.
But what does Confluent do, and why is this purchase strategic? It is a Californian company based in Mountain View (just a stone's throw from Google) that develops a platform that allows companies to collect and analyse streams of data in real time, an increasingly central element for artificial intelligence systems that require continuous updates to function. For example, companies such as Michelin use Confluent to monitor raw material stocks dynamically. Or Instacart, which has adopted the technology for fraud detection systems and to improve the visibility of products available on its platform.
For IBM, which has invested heavily in AI software and services in recent years, the deal represents a further step towards building a comprehensive offering for businesses. Also in view of the fact that software is now worth almost half of the group's total revenue and continues to grow. The acquisition of Confluent would be the most significant since 2019, when IBM bought Red Hat for $34 billion. But in that case AI was not involved.
The move comes at a time when artificial intelligence is fuelling a wave of multibillion-dollar acquisitions across the technology supply chain: from data centres, to data management, to cloud services. Unlike recent large deals focused on physical infrastructure, Confluent is in the data segment, the element that allows AI models to operate in real time.
