We are witnessing a defining shift in enterprise technology—the rise of Agentic AI. At IBM THINK 2025 in Boston, the message from industry leaders was clear: the future belongs to intelligent systems that not only analye data but also act on it.
As Ritika Gunnar, IBM’s VP of Product Management, powerfully put it:
"These aren’t just dashboards. They’re doers"
AI agents—autonomous, adaptive, and capable of reasoning—are no longer futuristic. They are here, and over 85% of enterprises already have some form of AI agent in place. What’s more impressive is that over 50% will deploy AI agents into essential production systems in the next year.
But for AI agents to be useful, they need data—high-quality, governed, and accessible data.
That’s where Dinesh Nirmal, SVP of IBM Products, drove home a critical point:
"Agents are only as powerful as the tools behind them. And the most powerful tool any agent can have is data."
At Octane, we’ve long championed the integration of Watsonx Orchestrate and IBM Planning Analytics TM1 into finance functions, because they bring this exact fusion of Agentic AI and trusted data together. Our clients—from airlines to media giants—are seeing real results:
These kinds of gains are made possible when enterprise data is AI-ready—that means it's structured, classified, governed, and retrievable. According to Dinesh, IBM’s internal benchmarks show a 40% improvement in accuracy when enterprises use Watsonx.data’s hybrid data foundation compared to traditional methods like RAG (retrieval augmented generation).
Today, 80–90% of enterprise data is unstructured, and traditional tools were never designed to parse and govern this at scale. But with Watsonx.data and Watson Orchestrate, IBM showcased how enterprises can ingest data from sources like SharePoint or Google Docs, mask PII, classify documents in real-time (e.g., GDPR-sensitive, confidential), and make it immediately usable by agents. All in under five minutes.
Ritika also introduced a powerful vision for Watsonx Orchestrate:
"It’s not just another tool—it’s the central nervous system for your AI-powered enterprise."
With features like the AI Agent Catalog, no-code agent builder, agent collaboration, and a developer toolkit, IBM is empowering users of all skill levels to deploy intelligent automation across HR, procurement, finance, and beyond.
For example, in HR, IBM’s AI agents now handle 94% of employee requests. In procurement, sourcing and contract cycles are being cut by 70%. And in sales, reps are reclaiming 25% of their workday thanks to these intelligent assistants.
The takeaway from the THINK conference is clear:
When orchestrated properly and powered by governed, high-quality data, AI agents are becoming the backbone of modern enterprises. As Dinesh said:
"Data is the most powerful tool for agents and enterprises. I have zero doubt in it."
At Octane, we are ready to help enterprises put this into action. Whether you’re just beginning your AI journey or looking to scale automation across core processes, the combination of Watsonx Orchestrate, Watsonx.data, IBM Planning Analytics TM1 and our domain expertise can help you unlock exponential value. We won the Partner Plus award at IBM THINK 2025
Let’s make AI your enterprise’s next strategic advantage.
Interested in how Agentic AI and trusted data can transform your finance, HR, or procurement functions? Contact us at media@octanesolutions.com.au to explore how we can bring this vision to life in your organisation.