What made IBM a Leader in the 2025 IDC MarketScape

Author

Vice President, Product Management

IBM watsonx Orchestrate

We are excited to share that IDC has positioned IBM as a Leader in the 2025 IDC MarketScape for Worldwide General-Purpose Conversational AI Platforms.

This recognition underscores the strength of IBM watsonx Orchestrate and its ability to help enterprises move beyond conversations to orchestrated outcomes.

Orchestration: Turning conversations into actions

IDC recognized orchestration as a core differentiator for IBM. Unlike traditional conversational AI platforms that focus primarily on interactions, watsonx Orchestrate coordinates actions across agents, assistants, and tools—so employees and customers can complete tasks from start to finish within a single conversational experience.

Key capabilities highlighted in the IDC report include:

Multi-agent orchestration: Allowing multiple AI agents and assistants to collaborate in real time to resolve complex workflows.
Prebuilt agent catalog: Ready-to-use agents for HR, procurement, sales and customer care—plus the Agent Connect Kit that enables partners to design, test, certify and publish their own agents.
Integration with enterprise systems: Support for SSO, tool calling and connectivity to platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Generative AI-powered automation: Leveraging any LLM model via the AI Gateway and leading open-source LLMs (such as LLaMA and Mistral) to build conversation flows, generate synthetic training data, summarize information and automate FAQ creation.
Flexible deployment: Options to run on IBM Cloud, AWS or on-premises, as a software product or a fully managed service.
Tools for every type of user: From pro-code environments for developers to no-code GUIs for business users, Orchestrate makes it simple to design, deploy and manage enterprise-grade AI.

By combining these features, watsonx Orchestrate goes beyond answering questions; it connects conversations to enterprise workflows, enabling measurable productivity and business impact. Building on IBM’s enduring commitment to openness, integration, and trust, these differentiators ensure clients realize the full value of AI across their business.

Open: Bring the power of agentic AI to your current workflows, automations, and apps—no rip and replace, no vendor lock-in.
Integrated: Tap into all your systems and data across your business for better insights, actions, and outcomes.
Trusted: Keep your business secure across any system with built-in safety, governance, and compliance.

A legacy of AI innovation that builds confidence

IDC also highlighted IBM’s robust history of AI research and development spanning over 50 years as a foundation of strength. This legacy matters because it translates into:

Depth of expertise: Decades of pioneering work in AI and automation that clients can trust.
Enterprise readiness: A focus on governance, explainability and accuracy—essentials for mission-critical adoption.
Continuous innovation: The ability to adapt quickly to emerging paradigms like generative AI and multi-agent systems while keeping enterprise needs at the center.

For enterprises, IBM’s legacy provides not only cutting-edge technology but also the assurance that solutions like watsonx Orchestrate are built on proven research and delivered with enterprise-grade rigor.

What clients are saying

According to IDC, IBM clients emphasized two main strengths:

Ease of scaling into new use cases: With Orchestrate, organizations can rapidly extend conversational AI across HR, procurement, sales and customer service.
Collaborative support: IBM’s client engineering and training resources were cited as clear and effective, helping enterprises adopt and expand Orchestrate with confidence.

Looking ahead: Standing out with conversational AI

The conversational AI market is dynamic and highly competitive. IBM stands out because orchestration is built into the core of watsonx Orchestrate—turning conversational AI into a driver of enterprise transformation. Coupled with our 50+ years of AI innovation, this positions IBM to help clients navigate change, scale responsibly and unlock new possibilities.

The future is orchestrated

At IBM, we believe the future of AI is orchestrated: where conversations seamlessly connect to actions, and where agents and humans collaborate to transform work. With watsonx Orchestrate, that future is here.