International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM) showcased sweeping advances in artificial intelligence and quantum computing at its annual Think 2026 conference in Boston this week, highlighting mounting productivity gains for enterprise customers and signaling that quantum advantage is within reach this year.
IBM management pointed to a 45% average productivity gain among its own developers and projecting that enterprises broadly will see 42% more productivity from AI by 2030.
The company said it has recorded $4.5 billion in internal productivity gains to date, excluding contributions from its newly unveiled IBM Bob, an agentic development platform designed for enterprise use.
IBM said its more than 80,000 developers using the tool have seen onboarding time fall by 70%, development velocity increase roughly threefold, and test coverage rise by approximately 40%.
IBM also introduced several new product updates at the event, including Sovereign Core, IBM Concert, and Watsonx Orchestrate, as generative AI applications remain a central focus of customer conversations.
On the quantum front, IBM said it expects to reach quantum advantage this year, framing the technology as a potential $1 trillion value creation engine over the next decade, with the market for quantum technology providers representing roughly 20% of that figure.
The company said it has recorded more than $1 billion in signings since launching its quantum partnership program, and counts more than 300 partners in its quantum network across more than 80 quantum computers built.
IBM pointed to a recent scientific milestone as evidence of the technology's rapid progression. Cleveland Clinic, working with IBM quantum systems, simulated a molecule of more than 12,000 atoms in April 2026, a big leap from a 10-atom simulation conducted in October 2024.
Wedbush Securities, which is attending the conference, said it left the event more constructive on IBM's growth outlook. The firm said it views IBM's positioning at the intersection of AI and quantum as underappreciated by the market.
IBM's strategy centers on what it describes as a triangle of an integrated technology stack, an enterprise consulting business with C-suite access, and its own internal deployments as a proof-of-concept client.