IBM has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Confluent, marking a major move to advance the company’s hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) roadmap. The acquisition is aimed at strengthening IBM’s ability to deliver real-time data capabilities across enterprises, enabling intelligent decision-making at scale.

According to the company, the deal positions IBM to build an “intelligent, always-on core” that can move trusted, high-quality data and insights across environments, applications, and APIs in real time. With organisations increasingly operating in milliseconds, whether in financial transactions, supply chain adjustments, fraud detection, or autonomous decisioning, IBM said that real-time data has become indispensable.

Executives noted that AI amplifies the value of live data, as models are only as effective as the signals they ingest. With the rise of AI agents, digital workers, and autonomous workflows inside enterprises, demand for continuous, low-latency access to data is accelerating sharply.

The company highlighted the rapid growth in enterprise data flows, application development, and AI-driven operations as drivers of a significant new infrastructure opportunity in the AI era. Continuous data access is becoming as essential as traditional systems of record and data integration frameworks, IBM said.

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Confluent’s platform provides real-time movement of data from where it is created to where it is needed, addressing this shift directly. By integrating Confluent’s technology, IBM aims to complete the foundation of an end-to-end Smart Data Platform that unifies batch and streaming systems. This will enable clients to move, manage, and operationalise data instantly across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

IBM stated that Confluent will enhance its work across open-source technologies, data integration, and AI, building on the company’s long-standing strategy of bringing open-source innovation into enterprise-grade use. The acquisition also aligns with IBM’s disciplined M&A approach, which focuses on strengthening core platforms such as hybrid cloud, automation, security, integration, and AI.

Once the deal is finalised, Confluent employees are expected to join IBM.

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