IBM to buy Confluent in US$11bn Enterprise Gen AI Push

IBM has agreed to acquire Confluent in an US$11bn deal that will bring the data streaming specialist into IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI portfolio. 

The move is designed to create a unified platform capable of managing, connecting and governing real-time data across enterprise environments, supporting both generative and agentic AI.

A data platform built for AI scale

The acquisition reflects a shared belief that enterprise AI depends on consistent, clean and connected data. 

Confluent provides a widely adopted real-time data streaming platform built on Apache Kafka, enabling organisations to handle data in motion across cloud, hybrid and on-prem environments.

Announcing the agreement, IBM Chairman, President and CEO Arvind Krishna says the combined capabilities would allow businesses to build AI applications with confidence.

“IBM and Confluent together will enable enterprises to deploy generative and agentic AI better and faster by providing trusted communication and data flow between environments, applications and APIs,” he says. 

“Data is spread across public and private clouds, data centres and countless technology providers. 

“With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide the smart data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for AI.”

Confluent has positioned itself as a foundation for real-time data exchange between systems, something it argues is essential for accurate and safe AI. The company says its platform excels at keeping data reliable, consistent and accessible across distributed systems, reducing the risk of silos that can limit AI performance.

Jay Kreps, CEO and Co-Founder of Confluent, says the deal represents an opportunity to scale this mission.

“Since its founding, Confluent has helped organisations unlock the full potential of their data, driving innovation in an increasingly complex IT landscape,” says Jay. 

“We are extremely proud of the work we’ve done in providing clients with a real-time data streaming platform for the next era of technology, including generative and agentic AI. 

“We are excited by the potential to join IBM and to accelerate our strategy with IBM’s go-to-market expertise, global scale and extensive portfolio. I look forward to the future we will build together as Confluent becomes part of IBM.”

Strategic fit for IBM’s hybrid cloud vision

The deal sits squarely within IBM’s long-running strategy to support hybrid cloud architectures and open-source ecosystems. 

The company says adding Confluent will strengthen its Data and Automation portfolio and complement previous acquisitions such as Red Hat and HashiCorp.

IBM points to growing pressures on enterprise IT as global data volumes rise and AI adoption increases. 

International Data Corporation (IDC) expects more than one billion new logical applications to appear by 2028, placing greater demands on real-time data movement. IBM believes that integrating Confluent’s streaming capabilities with its AI infrastructure software and automation tools will help customers manage this expansion more effectively.

The company also highlights expected synergies across consulting, automation and cloud services, supported by its global scale and partner network.

Confluent’s market reach and deployment models

Confluent brings more than 6,500 clients and partnerships with AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Snowflake and others.

Its platform spans several deployment models, including Confluent Cloud for fully managed Kafka, Confluent Platform for self-managed environments, the hybrid WarpStream model and Confluent Private Cloud for organisations needing strict data sovereignty.

These deployment options have been central to Confluent’s growth, with the company doubling its total addressable market from US$50bn in 2021 to US$100bn in 2025. 

Its focus on real-time streaming aligns with growing demand for AI-ready data infrastructure in hybrid environments.

Transaction timeline

IBM will acquire all outstanding Confluent shares for $31 per share in cash, funded through existing liquidity. 

The transaction has been approved by both boards and is supported by major Confluent shareholders holding around 62% of voting power.

Completion is expected by mid-2026, subject to regulatory review and shareholder approval.