In his new role, CEO Arvind Krishna wants IBM to lead in hybrid cloud, AI

As Arvind Krishna takes charge as the CEO of IBM, he has set the agenda for the company's next course of action in his first email to the employees.

The agenda includes focus on hybrid cloud and AI, and Krishna also talked about key leadership changes that have been made to reflect the same.

Krishna succeeds Ginni Rometty, who was heading the Big Blue, as IBM is referred to, since 2012. Prior to his elevation as the CEO, he was the senior vice president for Cloud and Cognitive services. He has been with the company for more than 30 years.

In an email to IBMers, Krishna said that to ensure that the company continues to innovate and lead in the transformational journeys of their clients, hybrid cloud and AI are crucial.

Hybrid cloud

“Hybrid cloud and AI are two dominant forces driving change for our clients and must have the maniacal focus of the entire company,” he said in the email. “I believe now is the time to build a fourth platform in hybrid cloud,” he added.

IBM is a dominant player in mainframes, services and middle-ware. Over the last few years, it has been struggling to compete as an innovator in the tech world dominated by Microsoft, Amazon and Google. Most of the segments saw either flat growth or steep decline for the December 2018 quarter.

IBM shifted its focus and investments into cloud as more enterprises across the world began to take its digital transformation journey. It made its biggest-ever acquisition of Red Hat, an open-source products provider, in July 2019.

The acquisition, according to reports, has been a saving grace for the firm that has been struggling. The Q4 results would stand testimony to that. The company witnessed 21 percent growth in its December 2019 quarter, driven primarily by its cloud business. Cloud accounts for about $22 billion. The company's overall revenue stands at $77.1 billion.

Three key focus areas and leadership change

Krishna lists three key areas of focus. One, building hybrid cloud as a channel by leveraging IBM and Red Hat partnership. The other two, Krishna said, would be at the forefront of customer experience and deepening knowledge hybrid cloud and AI.

The leadership changes are in a bid to cater to this focus. Howard Boville, former Bank of America's Chief Technology Officer, will oversee IBM cloud. He will take charge as the Senior Vice President of Cloud from May 1. Jim Whitehurst, former CEO, Red Hat, in his role as the president will head IBM Strategy and Cloud and Cognitive Services unit.

Other leadership changes include the appointment of Paul Cormier, who has been in Red Hat since 2001, as CEO of Red Hat and Bridget van Kralingen as Senior Vice President of Global Markets.