Airtel and IBM partner to enhance Airtel Cloud with AI and hybrid infrastructure

Bharti Airtel has announced a strategic collaboration with IBM to boost its recently launched Airtel Cloud platform. The partnership brings together Airtel’s telco-grade reliability and data security with IBM’s deep expertise in AI and cloud infrastructure.

The companies plan to help enterprises, especially in regulated sectors such as banking, healthcare, and government, deploy and scale AI workloads more effectively across on-premise, cloud, and edge environments.

Expanding Airtel Cloud’s footprint across India

As part of the agreement, Airtel Cloud customers will gain access to IBM’s Power Systems as-a-Service, including the new Power11 servers engineered for AI applications. These systems will support essential workloads such as IBM Power AIX, IBM i, Linux, and SAP Cloud ERP.

Airtel’s Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Gopal Vittal, said the partnership marks a new chapter in Airtel Cloud’s evolution. “Airtel Cloud is designed to be secure and compliant, setting new benchmarks for agility and resilience. With IBM, we’re adding significant capabilities to meet industry-specific needs, especially around AI readiness,” he said.

Airtel also revealed plans to expand its availability zones from four to ten across India and establish two new Multizone Regions (MZRs) in Mumbai and Chennai. These regions will bolster data residency compliance and ensure greater uptime for mission-critical workloads.

IBM’s AI and automation stack joins Airtel Cloud

Under the deal, IBM will integrate its advanced software stack for AI inferencing, powered by IBM WatsonX and Red Hat OpenShift AI. This integration will allow clients to run AI inference across hybrid cloud environments while benefiting from IBM’s automation portfolio to boost productivity.

“Through our partnership with Bharti Airtel, clients across India can leverage IBM’s innovative hybrid cloud offerings to drive modernisation and strategic business outcomes,” said Rob Thomas, IBM’s Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer.

The collaboration will also include access to Red Hat’s suite of hybrid cloud solutions—OpenShift Virtualisation, OpenShift, and Red Hat AI, further enhancing flexibility for enterprise workloads and paving the way for future advances in AI and quantum computing.

Strengthening India’s digital and AI ecosystem

For Airtel, this partnership with IBM aligns with India’s growing demand for secure, compliant, and AI-enabled cloud infrastructure. By combining Airtel’s connectivity and data centre strength with IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI leadership, the companies aim to accelerate digital transformation for enterprises nationwide.

The expanded Airtel Cloud infrastructure, powered by IBM’s technology, is expected to empower organisations to innovate faster while meeting India’s strict data sovereignty requirements.