IBM to acquire Confluent for $11 billion - recognition that enterprise AI needs a real-time data backbone

Christmas season is upon us and IBM has decided to treat itself to a substantial purchase. Big Blue has agreed to acquire Confluent for $11 billion, bringing the data streaming pioneer's real-time data context capabilities into the technology giant's hybrid cloud and AI portfolio.

The deal is validation of Confluent's strategy to date, positioning itself as essential infrastructure for production AI - and acknowledgment that IBM's enterprise customers need more than batch-oriented data architectures if they want AI systems that actually work.

The acquisition, announced today, will see IBM pay $31 per share in cash for Confluent, representing a significant premium for a company that has spent the past year or two building toward this moment. It was revealed recently that Confluent was courting buyers and the vendor’s largest shareholders, holding approximately 62% of voting power, have already agreed to support the transaction. The deal is ...