IBM and UAE-based technology group e&, formerly known as Etisalat, have announced a strategic collaboration to implement an enterprise-grade agentic AI solution aimed at supporting governance and compliance functions.

The companies unveiled the initiative at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, highlighting e&’s shift from traditional chatbot technology toward AI systems that are embedded in critical enterprise processes.

The newly introduced agentic AI platform is built on IBM watsonx Orchestrate, which incorporates more than 500 tools along with domain-specific agents developed by IBM and its partners.

This system enables employees and auditors to access and interpret legal, regulatory, and compliance data more efficiently.

Integration with IBM OpenPages and the wider watsonx portfolio ensures responses are traceable and consistent with corporate governance requirements.

IBM’s Client Engineering team led the design and integration of the solution, while Gulf Business Machines (GBM) provided project coordination expertise, leveraging knowledge of e&’s existing OpenPages and watsonx Assistant environment.

The collaboration resulted in a joint proof of concept delivered within eight weeks, demonstrating the scalability of agentic AI under operational conditions.

e& group CEO Hatem Dowidar said: “By collaborating with IBM, we are embedding intelligence directly into our risk and compliance processes, enabling faster decisions, consistent policy interpretation, and a foundation for broader agentic AI adoption across the enterprise.”

The agentic AI solution extends beyond conventional question-and-answer frameworks by allowing automated agents to reason, manage tasks, and connect with enterprise systems under defined governance controls.

By embedding this technology into e&’s core risk and compliance workflows, the company aims to streamline compliance activities, reduce response times, and introduce continuous self-service access for employees.

The deployment aligns with watsonx.governance protocols already in place at e&, supporting structured oversight, explainability, and regulatory compliance by default.

Embedding agentic AI into the OpenPages governance platform marks an early regional example of large-scale adoption of this technology for enterprise needs.

IBM Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific SVP and chair Ana Paula Assis said: “Through our collaboration with e&, this proof of concept intends to demonstrate how agentic AI can be designed and validated for enterprise-scale use, deeply integrated into core systems, governed by design, and trusted to support human-led decisions and outcomes.”

IBM has also introduced Enterprise Advantage, a consulting service designed to help organisations develop, govern, and operate custom internal AI platforms at scale.

This offering enables businesses to integrate AI into existing infrastructures without changes to cloud providers or core systems.

Supported platforms include Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, IBM watsonx, as well as both open- and closed-source models.

The service leverages technology developed through IBM Consulting Advantage, providing clients with access to industry-specific AI agents that were previously utilised internally by IBM consultants in more than 150 projects.

IBM recently introduced IBM Sovereign Core, a software solution aimed at enterprises, government organisations, and service providers seeking to manage AI workloads in secure and controlled technology settings.