IBM and Anthropic Partner to Advance Enterprise Software Development with Proven Security and Governance

Rhea-AI Summary

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Anthropic announced a strategic partnership on October 7, 2025 to integrate Anthropic's Claude family of LLMs into select IBM software products, beginning with a new AI‑first integrated development environment (IDE) in private preview.

IBM says >6,000 internal early adopters are testing the IDE and report average 45% productivity gains. The collaboration emphasizes built‑in security, governance, cost controls, a published Agent Development Lifecycle (ADLC) guide verified by Anthropic, and IBM contributions to the Model Context Protocol community.

IBM and Anthropic said they are exploring additional product integrations; statements of future intent are subject to change.

Positive

• Early testing reports 45% productivity gains from the new IDE
• 6,000+ internal early adopters engaged in private preview
• Claude integration into IBM IDE emphasizes security and governance
• IBM contributing enterprise assets to the Model Context Protocol community
• Published Agent Development Lifecycle (ADLC) guide verified by Anthropic

Negative

• IDE is in private preview; results are internal and not yet generally available
• Future integrations and product plans are non‑binding and subject to change

Insights

Enterprise software strategist

Partnership embeds Claude into IBM tooling with claimed 45% developer productivity gains and private preview scale.

IBM will integrate Anthropic's Claude into a new AI-first IDE and select software products, with the IDE in private preview and >6,000 internal users reporting average productivity improvements of 45%. The collaboration pairs IBM's enterprise delivery, hybrid cloud and compliance capabilities with Claude's LLM technology to automate SDLC tasks such as modernization, code generation, review, orchestration and security-focused workflows.

The partnership's impact depends on measurable enterprise adoption, reproducibility of the quoted 45% gains outside internal testing, and successful inclusion of governance controls like FedRAMP hardening and quantum-safe migration in deployed products. Key, disclosed deliverables to watch are expansion from private preview to broader client availability, contributions to the Model Context Protocol community, and any verified deployments that validate the claimed cost and productivity benefits in real customer environments.

Partnership integrates Claude into select internal and external development tools and enterprise products , aiming to deliver new productivity gains for IBM clients

ARMONK, N.Y., Oct. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Anthropic today announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the development of enterprise-ready AI by infusing Anthropic's Claude, one of the world's most powerful family of large language models (LLMs), into IBM's software portfolio to deliver measurable productivity gains, while building security, governance, and cost controls directly into the lifecycle of software development.

Through the partnership, Claude will be integrated into select IBM software products, starting with IBM's new AI-first integrated development environment (IDE), designed with advanced task generation capabilities for enterprise software development lifecycles (SDLC), including software modernization.

The IDE is available in private preview to select IBM clients and in early testing, more than 6,000 early adopters within IBM are using the new IDE, reporting productivity gains averaging 45 percent, translating to meaningful cost savings while maintaining code quality and security standards.

As organizations move from AI experimentation to production deployment, they need solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing enterprise infrastructure and meet strict IT requirements. IBM brings proven capabilities in enterprise software delivery, hybrid cloud architecture, and regulated industry expertise to ensure AI tools work within the complex realities of global business operations. 

"IBM has been the backbone of enterprise technology for decades because we understand what it takes to deploy at scale in mission-critical environments," said Dinesh Nirmal, SVP, Software at IBM. "This partnership enhances our software portfolio with advanced AI capabilities while maintaining the governance, security, and reliability that our clients have come to expect. We're giving development teams AI that fits how enterprises work not experimental tools that create new risks."

"Enterprises are looking for AI they can actually trust with their code, their data, and their day-to-day operations," said Mike Krieger, Chief Product Officer at Anthropic. "Claude has become the go-to AI for developers at the world's largest companies because of our focus on safety and reliability. This partnership with IBM lets us bring that same level of dedication to even more enterprise teams while building the open standards that will make AI agents genuinely useful in business environments."

Automating the Software Development Lifecycle
Using industry leading LLMs such as Claude, the new IBM IDE is built to enable developers to be more productive. It works in multiple languages and modes, but examples of potential leading use cases to help developers execute tasks across aspects of the software development lifecycle include:

• Application modernization at scale: Automated system upgrades and framework migrations and multi-step refactoring with context-awareness across large-scale codebases.
• Intelligent code generation and review: AI assistance that understands enterprise architecture patterns, security requirements, and compliance obligations.
• End-to-end orchestration: From initial development through testing, deployment, and maintenance, orchestrates modernization, testing and remediation tasks seamlessly while maintaining context across sessions.
• Security-first development: Embedding security directly into workflows, enabling "shift-left" vulnerability scans, expedited FedRAMP hardening and facilitating quantum-safe cryptographic migration.

A Guide for Enterprise AI Agents with MCP Servers
As part of the partnership, IBM has created, and Anthropic has verified Architecting Secure Enterprise AI Agents with MCP. A first-of-its-kind guide focusing on the Agent Development Lifecycle (ADLC), a structured approach to designing, deploying and managing enterprise AI agents. As organizations standardize on agentic AI to drive autonomous decision-making and intelligent automation, traditional IT processes will likely no longer be sufficient. This new ADLC methodology provides businesses with a purpose-built, enterprise-ready approach for the development, operations and security requirements for Enterprise AI agents.

Beyond enhancing IBM's software portfolio, IBM is contributing its enterprise technology leadership to advance open standards for AI deployment. IBM will contribute enterprise-grade assets to the Model Context Protocol (MCP) community, including best practices guides, reference architectures, and open-source tooling developed from IBM's experience deploying AI across thousands of client environments.

IBM is exploring plans to include Claude into additional IBM products as part of a product integration approach. Together, IBM and Anthropic are shaping the future of enterprise AI, one that empowers developers, drives transformation, and delivers long-term value for clients and society. 

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

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 a competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments 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 for more information.

Media contact:

Elizabeth Brophy
IBM
Elizabeth.Brophy@ibm.com 

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SOURCE IBM

FAQ

What did IBM announce with Anthropic on October 7, 2025 (IBM)?

IBM announced a strategic partnership to integrate Anthropic's Claude into select IBM software, starting with an AI‑first IDE in private preview.

How many users tested the IBM AI IDE and what productivity change was reported (IBM)?

IBM says more than 6,000 internal early adopters tested the IDE and reported average 45% productivity gains.

Will IBM’s Claude integrations include enterprise security and governance (IBM)?

Yes. IBM and Anthropic say integrations will build security, governance, and cost controls into the software development lifecycle.

What is the Agent Development Lifecycle (ADLC) announced by IBM and Anthropic (IBM)?

ADLC is a guide for designing, deploying, and managing enterprise AI agents; IBM created it and Anthropic verified it.

Is the new IBM AI IDE generally available and when will Claude appear across other IBM products (IBM)?

The IDE is in private preview; IBM is exploring additional Claude integrations but provided no general availability date.