IBM Completes $11B Confluent Deal, Accelerating Real-Time AI Data

IBM finalized its $11 billion acquisition of data-streaming platform Confluent.

The transaction, first announced in December 2025, adds Confluent’s Apache Kafka-based streaming to IBM’s software portfolio.

The deal supports IBM’s strategy to create a smart data platform for enterprise artificial intelligence.

Integrating Confluent enables AI models to access continuous data across hybrid cloud and on-premises environments.

IBM aims to eliminate data silos to meet the speed demands of modern AI applications.