IBM and Microsoft on Tuesday announced Imagine Enterprise, a joint platform for building, running and governing AI agents in regulated industries, pairing more than 6,000 prebuilt IBM agents with Microsoft cloud, security and Copilot technology. The announcement, published Nov. 10, pitches the platform as a shortcut for banks, insurers and retailers that want to move from AI experiments to production systems without assembling the pieces themselves.
The launch lands on a busy day for workplace AI. Anthropic unveiled its own office tools the same day, including Claude Sheets, Whiteboards and Meetings, while Google Cloud opened a healthcare version of its Gemini agent. IBM and Microsoft are aiming at a different buyer: large enterprises in regulated sectors that need governance and compliance built in from the start.
What Is Imagine Enterprise?
Imagine Enterprise is an agentic platform designed to help enterprises build, run and govern AI agents that carry out industry-specific business processes. Instead of starting from scratch or replacing the platforms they already depend on, organizations begin with prebuilt agents and adapt them to their own data, processes and systems.
IBM Consulting supplies the agent library and the industry expertise, built on its AI-powered delivery platform, IBM Consulting Advantage. Microsoft supplies the AI, data, cloud and security foundation, while forward-deployed engineers from both companies can help customers move from experimentation to production on qualifying engagements.
“Clients are no longer looking for AI that simply helps people do the same work a little faster. They want to build an agentic business,” said Mohamad Ali, Senior Vice President and Head of IBM Consulting. “Microsoft and IBM are helping organizations bring human expertise and digital labor together in a way that can scale across the enterprise, to turn AI from a productivity aid into a real competitive advantage.”
What the Platform Includes
The platform combines technology from both companies into one governed stack:
- More than 6,000 prebuilt AI agents and assets from IBM Consulting, built on IBM Consulting Advantage, so organizations start with capabilities already built for their industry.
- Microsoft Foundry, GitHub Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Studio to coordinate agents and enterprise systems.
- Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft 365, Entra, Purview, Defender and Azure for the data, identity, AI governance, security and cloud foundation.
- IBM Consulting Advantage tools, including Process Studio, Context Studio and Advantage Core, to design, deploy and govern tailored agents.
- Forward-deployed engineering support from both Microsoft and IBM Consulting for qualifying engagements.
Microsoft says the platform is designed to connect with an organization’s existing data, processes, systems and technology environment, with enterprise security, identity, AI governance and control built in. The governance layer is the core selling point for regulated buyers: the platform promises controls, observability and AI compliance support for industry-specific deployment.
Regulated Industries First
Imagine Enterprise launches with industry-specific frameworks for financial services, insurance and retail. The companies say those frameworks are designed as a repeatable blueprint for additional industries, including manufacturing, energy, public sector and mobility.
“Enterprise AI will be won by organizations that can turn their data, industry expertise and AI into action,” said Rodrigo Kede Lima, President, Microsoft Frontier Company. “Together, Microsoft and IBM Consulting are bringing the best of our technology and expertise, to help customers move from AI ambition to business impact faster and with confidence.”
An Early Customer: SEI
SEI, a global provider of financial technology, operations and asset management services, is exploring emerging and agentic technologies with IBM Consulting, with support from Microsoft. The company is using the work to improve how it operates and to enhance the experiences it delivers to employees and clients. As of Sept. 30, 2026, SEI manages, advises or administers approximately $2 trillion in assets.
“AI is evolving quickly, and our focus at SEI is on applying it with intention in ways that strengthen trust, enhance human decision-making and create meaningful value across our business,” said Sneha Shah, Chief AI Strategist and Head of SEI Next. “Our work with IBM Consulting and Microsoft is helping us explore how emerging capabilities could support critical processes and be responsibly scaled over time, with the goal to create better experiences for our employees and clients.”
Availability
Imagine Enterprise is available to clients by engaging IBM Consulting to deploy and operate the platform on their behalf, or by co-innovating with IBM Consulting on enterprise-scale implementations. Self-management options are also available. The companies did not disclose pricing or a general availability date.
For IBM, the deal turns its consulting arm into the delivery channel for Microsoft’s agent stack in the industries where IBM is strongest. For Microsoft, it puts Foundry and Copilot Studio inside engagements led by a consulting firm that already runs large transformation programs at banks and insurers. Whether the partnership converts into production deployments at scale will depend on the same test every enterprise agent platform now faces: moving from pilot agents to governed systems that handle real business processes without breaking compliance.
