Back in the day, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) garnered national attention for its pioneering punch‐card tabulators used in U.S. Census counts. Now, in a taste of its long-standing inclination to reinvent itself, the once stagnant tech titan is again turning heads with a rejuvenated strategy comprising hybrid cloud, AI, and a targeted long-term foray into quantum computing, piloting one of the major technological shifts of the mid-2020s.
IBM, often dubbed as "Big Blue," is witnessing a revenue upsurge, with the company's stocks hitting an all-time peak in February 2025. CEO Arvind Krishna has been successful in selling the narrative of IBM as the platform provider capable of redefining the future of enterprise tech.
So, how has the 114-year-old corporation managed to revitalize after years of languishment? The secret rests in IBM's unflinching commitment to continuously innovate and adapt, evident from their transition from punch-cards to quantum bits.
IBM's journey dates back to Herman Hollerith's electromechanical tabulators in the late 19th century and the fundamental shift in 1911 that birthed the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, which was later renamed IBM in 1924. However, by the early 90s, IBM found itself grappling with competitive pressures, thriving Silicon Valley contenders, crumbling hardware profit margins, and a sluggish personal computer industry, which plunged the company into hefty losses. The turnaround came when incoming CEO Lou Gerstner veered the organization towards integrated services, cutting costs, and reviving the company's profitability by the late 90s.
Despite the revival, IBM's growth once more stalled and it pivoted its focus towards cloud computing and software-as-a-service (Saas) to counter the slump. The strategic spinoff of the managed-infrastructure unit, Kyndryl in 2021, gave the company a much-needed facelift, paving the way for its most recent concentration on generative AI and quantum computing.
Krishna, a dedicated IBM veteran and the brain behind the $34 billion Red Hat agreement in 2019, took the reins in April 2020, vowing to revolutionize enterprise IT. The company since then has steadily capitalized on its innate corporate talent of incessantly adapting to new computing paradigms. IBM's embrace of hybrid-cloud a few years ago restored its relevance, while enterprise AI reignited growth forecasts, and a significant wager on quantum technology could potentially enshrine its leadership well into the 2030s and beyond.