IBM is in advanced talks to acquire data streaming platform Confluent for approximately $11 billion. The deal could be announced as early as today and could mark the next phase of IBM’s acquisition spree.
If the deal goes through for $11 billion, that is a hefty sum above the $8 billion that Confluent is worth on the stock market. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the potential acquisition, with sources stating that talks are at an advanced stage. As usual, there is a caveat and the deal could still fall through or be blocked by regulators.
Confluent simplifies the management of real-time data streams used in large AI models. The AI explosion has significantly increased demand for these capabilities among companies in a wide range of sectors, from retail to manufacturing. These real-time AI insights are particularly useful for preventing or limiting downtime, especially when it comes to diagnostic data from equipment or the availability of online services.
Earlier this year, IBM acquired DataStax to strengthen the AI capabilities of watsonx. This solution, which is over two years old and has received mostly positive reviews, is becoming increasingly central to IBM’s strategy. Acquiring companies that bring data and AI closer together is an important part of that strategy.
Largest acquisition in years
An acquisition of Confluent would be the largest deal for IBM in recent years. Last year, the company paid $6.4 billion for cloud software provider HashiCorp, an acquisition that was only completed in February 2025 after clearing all regulatory procedures. That deal arose from IBM’s ambition to continue growing in hybrid cloud. The largest acquisition in IBM’s history remains that of Red Hat in 2019 for $34 billion.
Whether IBM is so dependent on the success of either watsonx or hybrid cloud, its consulting arm also posted good results in the past quarter. However, the money has not been used to retain employees: over the past three years, thousands have been laid off or their contracts have not been renewed. The most recent downsizing of the company took place in early November, but thousands of employees were also let go in March.
CEO Arvind Krishna recently announced that IBM is making extensive use of AI agents to take over the work of several hundred HR employees. This has enabled the company to hire more programmers and salespeople.