IBM has partnered with Deepgram to incorporate Deepgram’s speech-to-text and text-to-speech technologies into IBM’s watsonx Orchestrate generative AI solution.

The integration aims to offer transcription and real-time captioning options for enterprises requiring robust voice technology in digital operations.

IBM will become Deepgram’s first voice partner through this move, introducing advanced voice recognition so users can interact with digital agents using spoken language.

The collaboration responds to increased adoption of AI-driven speech systems by organisations looking to automate tasks such as transcription and respond to a range of audio environments, including varied accents and background noise.

Deepgram CEO and co-founder Scott Stephenson said: “Voice is rapidly becoming the default interface between humans and technology, and enterprise deployments require a real-time platform that is accurate, low latency, and reliable at scale.

“By embedding Deepgram inside watsonx Orchestrate Agent Builder, IBM clients can build voice agents and voice-enabled workflows on top of a real-time foundation that has been developed and refined over more than a decade.”

The new integration supports multiple languages and dialects, including several Arabic and Indian variants. It also offers customisation tools, real-time captioning, and natural-sounding speech conversion.

Applications of these capabilities include automated customer service, call analysis, and voice-enabled data entry across sectors such as healthcare and finance.

IBM AI Technology Partnerships vice president Nick Holda said: “Our watsonx Orchestrate integration powered by Deepgram APIs introduces new speech recognition and transcription capabilities to IBM clients, refining and modernising their operations.

“This collaboration aims to help enterprise organisations accelerate their AI initiatives and reinforces IBM’s open ecosystem, bringing choice and cutting-edge voice technology to partners and customers.”

Both companies anticipate that the partnership will provide access to new enterprise users and reinforce their presence in the conversational AI market. Last month, IBM and UAE technology group e&, previously Etisalat, agreed to work together on deploying an agentic AI solution designed for enterprise governance and compliance tasks.