Earlier this month, I attended the SaaStr event for software-as-a-service providers. The event is geared toward smaller SaaS companies that want to share ideas to learn how to scale and grow. The biggest company, by far, in attendance was IBM Corp. I was surprised to see it there, given the show’s focus on smaller SaaS providers, so I talked to Raj Datta (pictured), vice president for software and AI partnerships, about IBM’s presence at the show.
IBM Corp.‘s annual Think event in Boston showed how the company has had a complete facelift in the era of Chief Executive Arvind Krishna. Krishna (pictured) has used the boom in artificial intelligence to reposition the company around Watson and make that the focal point of IBM’s next platform. I left Think 2024 more positive about IBM than I have been in a long time, primarily because the company isn’t just talking about transformation; it’s doing it.