IBM CEO & Chairman @ArvindKrishna kicks off Think 2026. Arvind’s main points so far: - Urgency and leadership: AI is here and moving fast; leaders must be ambitious and act now rather than wait for a playbook. - Move from pilots to AI‑first: Companies must embed AI into core business processes and operating models, not confine it to pilots/POCs. - Measurable business impact: AI can drive large productivity gains (estimates ~40% by 2030); IBM reports $4.5B annualized productivity gains from AI/automation. - Reinvestment and growth: Many organizations plan to reinvest productivity gains into innovation, new products and business models, which separates winners from losers. - Investment landscape: Infrastructure and model spending has jumped substantially; companies should mix large models, on‑prem and edge deployments to fit purpose. - Risks and sovereignty: Concern about vendor lock‑in and geopolitical risks; enterprises and nations need control over AI infrastructure (so it can’t be turned off or tampered with). - Three strategic vectors: AI‑first enterprise, hybrid cloud architecture, and quantum; IBM frames this as “day zero” of the AI revolution. One of the better openers of not the best I’ve seen from $IBM.