Bharti Airtel Announces a Strategic Partnership with IBM to Augment Airtel Cloud

Rhea-AI Summary

Bharti Airtel and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced a strategic partnership on October 15, 2025 to augment Airtel Cloud with IBM hybrid cloud, AI and infrastructure technologies.

The collaboration will let Airtel Cloud customers deploy IBM Power systems as-a-Service (including Power11), support IBM Power AIX, IBM i, Linux and SAP Cloud ERP, and run AI inference with IBM watsonx and Red Hat OpenShift AI across hybrid environments. Airtel will expand India availability zones from 4 to 10 and plans two new Multizone Regions in Mumbai and Chennai.

Positive

• Availability zones expanded from 4 to 10 in India
• Planned 2 Multizone Regions in Mumbai and Chennai
• IBM Power11 servers available as-a-Service on Airtel Cloud
• SAP Cloud ERP support on IBM Power Virtual Server
• AI inference via watsonx and Red Hat OpenShift AI across hybrid cloud

Negative

• None.

Insights

Cloud & Telecom Strategy Expert

IBM partnership expands Airtel Cloud's AI, regulated‑industry and hybrid capabilities while increasing Indian availability zones.

Bharti Airtel will integrate IBM Power11 systems and IBM software (including watsonx and Red Hat OpenShift AI) into Airtel Cloud to support mission‑critical workloads and AI inferencing across on‑prem, cloud, multi‑cloud and edge environments. The deal explicitly targets regulated industries such as banking, healthcare and government and extends support for IBM Power AIX, IBM i, Linux and SAP Cloud ERP, plus SAP migrations to IBM Power Virtual Server.

The partnership's value depends on commercial adoption by enterprises that require data residency and telco‑grade reliability and on successful deployment of the announced infrastructure expansion—from four to ten availability zones in India and two new Multizone Regions in Mumbai and Chennai to be established soon. Key execution risks include integration complexity of Power11 as‑a‑Service, migration friction for legacy IBM Power workloads, and timing of the new zones relative to customer onboarding.

Watch for concrete milestones: availability of IBM Power11 as‑a‑Service on Airtel Cloud, launch timing of the additional availability zones and the two Multizone Regions, and initial enterprise customer deployments; these items should materialize in the near term following the announcement dated Oct. 15, 2025.

NEW DELHI and MUMBAI and ARMONK, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Bharti Airtel, one of India's leading telecommunications service providers has entered into a strategic partnership with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to augment its recently launched Airtel Cloud. The partnership is expected to bring together the telco-grade reliability, high security, and data residency of Airtel Cloud with IBM's leadership in cloud solutions, and advanced infrastructure and software technologies designed for AI inferencing. 

Together, Airtel and IBM will aim to enable enterprises in regulated industries to scale AI workloads more efficiently, delivering interoperability across infrastructure including on-premise, in the cloud, across multiple clouds and at the edge. 

Through this partnership, Airtel Cloud customers will be able to deploy the IBM Power systems portfolio as-a-Service, including the latest-generation IBM Power11 autonomous, AI-ready servers for mission-critical applications in regulated industries like banking, healthcare, government and others. The Power11 hybrid platform will also support critical enterprise workloads including IBM Power AIX, IBM i, Linux and SAP Cloud ERP.  Additionally, this partnership will help enable SAP customers on IBM Power with their enterprise resource planning transformation to SAP Cloud ERP on IBM Power Virtual Server.

Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Airtel, said, "Airtel Cloud is designed to be highly secure and compliant, setting new industry benchmarks as an agile and resilient cloud platform. Today, with the IBM partnership, we are adding substantial capabilities to our Cloud platform to address the unique needs of several industries that require migration from IBM Power systems and allow for AI readiness. With this partnership, we are also extending the footprint of our availability zones in India from four to ten, hosting these on our own next-gen sustainable data centers. We will, together, also establish two new Multizone Regions (MZRs) in Mumbai and Chennai soon."

Rob Thomas, SVP and Chief Commercial Officer, IBM, said, "Enterprises today need to balance modernization with the growing regulated technology and AI requirements. Through our partnership with Bharti Airtel, clients across India can leverage IBM's innovative cloud offerings designed for workloads that address their strategic business priorities. Together, we will help clients drive true transformation in the era of AI."

With IBM's software stack for AI inferencing, built on IBM watsonx and Red Hat OpenShift AI, clients in India will have the ability to run AI inference across hybrid cloud environments. These capabilities are coupled with IBM's enterprise-grade cloud platform with innovative IaaS and PaaS offerings, as well as IBM's automation portfolio designed for accelerating the impact of generative AI in core enterprise workflows to drive productivity. Customers will be able to access Red Hat's hybrid cloud solutions including Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat AI. Beyond these capabilities, IBM's hybrid cloud architecture is designed to help clients enable future innovation in AI and quantum computing. 

Airtel Multizone Regions will help Indian enterprises strengthen their resilience, address data residency requirements and keep mission-critical workloads and applications up and running at all times. Together, the Airtel and IBM partnership will enable Indian enterprises to accelerate digital innovation at scale.

Statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice and represent goals and objectives only.

About Bharti Airtel

Headquartered in India, Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 600 million customers in 15 countries across India and Africa. The company also has its presence in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka through its associate entities. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its networks cover over two billion people. Airtel is India's largest integrated communications solutions provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. Airtel's retail portfolio includes high-speed 4G/5G mobile, Wi-Fi (FTTH+ FWA) that promises speeds up to 1 Gbps with convergence across linear and on-demand entertainment, video streaming services, digital payments and financial services. For enterprise customers, Airtel offers a gamut of solutions that includes secure connectivity, cloud and data centre services, cyber security, IoT, and cloud-based communication. Airtel's digital arm – Xtelify, empowers telcos globally to leverage the power of AI, data and technology to accelerate their digital transformation and drive growth. Xtelify also offers Airtel Cloud in India enabling enterprises with a sovereign, telco-grade cloud platform that guarantees secure migration, effortless scaling, lower costs and no vendor lock-ins. Within its diversified portfolio, Airtel also offers passive infrastructure services through its subsidiary Indus Tower Ltd. For more details visit www.airtel.com.

About IBM

IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service. Visit www.ibm.com and www.ibm.com/cloud for more information.

Media Contact:
Kate Gazzillo
Kate.gazzillo@ibm.com 

Prasanna Ramanathan
Prasanna.s.r@ibm.com 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bharti-airtel-announces-a-strategic-partnership-with-ibm-to-augment-airtel-cloud-302584764.html

SOURCE IBM

FAQ

What did Bharti Airtel and IBM announce on October 15, 2025 (NYSE: IBM)?

They announced a strategic partnership to integrate IBM hybrid cloud, AI, and Power11 infrastructure with Airtel Cloud to serve regulated enterprise workloads.

How will the Airtel Cloud availability zones change after the IBM partnership?

Airtel said it will expand availability zones in India from 4 to 10 and establish two Multizone Regions in Mumbai and Chennai.

Will Airtel Cloud support IBM Power11 servers and which workloads will run on them?

Yes; Airtel Cloud customers can deploy the IBM Power11 portfolio as-a-Service to run mission-critical workloads including IBM Power AIX, IBM i, Linux and SAP Cloud ERP.

How does the partnership enable AI workloads for Indian enterprises (IBM)?

It couples IBM watsonx and Red Hat OpenShift AI with Airtel Cloud to run AI inference across on-premise, cloud, multi-cloud and edge hybrid environments.

Can SAP customers migrate to SAP Cloud ERP on IBM Power via this partnership?

Yes; the partnership supports SAP customers on IBM Power in their enterprise resource planning transformation to SAP Cloud ERP on IBM Power Virtual Server.

Which industries does the Airtel–IBM partnership target for mission-critical workloads?

The partnership targets regulated industries such as banking, healthcare, government and other enterprises with mission-critical compliance needs.