Global technology group e& and IBM are moving beyond AI experiments and into operational reality. At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, the two companies announced a strategic collaboration to build an enterprise-grade agentic AI foundation at e&, starting with one of the most regulation-heavy areas of the business: policy, risk, and compliance.

The initiative marks a clear shift away from traditional NLP-driven chatbots toward governed, action-oriented AI agents that are embedded directly into core enterprise systems. In practical terms, this means AI that doesn’t just answer questions—but can reason, orchestrate tasks, and support decision-making while remaining auditable, explainable, and compliant by design.

From Chatbots to Action-Oriented AI

For many enterprises, AI adoption has stalled at conversational interfaces—useful for surface-level queries, but limited when it comes to executing real work under regulatory constraints. e&’s collaboration with IBM aims to address that gap head-on.

At the center of the initiative is an agentic AI solution built on IBM watsonx Orchestrate, which offers access to more than 500 tools and customizable, domain-specific agents developed by IBM and its partners. Integrated with IBM OpenPages and the broader watsonx portfolio, the solution allows employees and auditors to quickly access, interpret, and act on legal, regulatory, and compliance information—while maintaining traceability and governance.

Instead of searching through policy documents or escalating questions manually, users can rely on AI agents that understand context, reason through requirements, and deliver responses aligned with enterprise governance standards.

A Proof of Concept in Eight Weeks

The collaboration isn’t theoretical. A joint proof of concept (PoC) delivered by IBM, Gulf Business Machines (GBM), and e& was completed in just eight weeks, demonstrating that agentic AI can operate at enterprise scale under real-world conditions.

IBM’s Client Engineering team led the design and system integration, while GBM supported delivery with project coordination and deep expertise in e&’s existing OpenPages and watsonx Assistant environment. Together, they showcased AI capabilities that go beyond question-and-answer tools—enabling reasoning and action while staying aligned with e&’s governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) framework.

This rapid execution is notable in an industry where enterprise AI pilots often take months just to get off the ground.

Why Risk and Compliance Comes First

Starting with risk and compliance is a strategic choice. These functions are document-heavy, process-driven, and highly regulated—making them both a challenge and an ideal proving ground for agentic AI.

For e&, embedding AI directly into GRC workflows means faster policy interpretation, more consistent decision-making, and reduced response times across the organization. It also enables 24/7 self-service access to compliance information, reducing bottlenecks without compromising oversight.

“Our ambition is to move beyond isolated AI use cases toward enterprise-scale agentic AI that is trusted, governed, and deeply integrated into how the organization operates,” said Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO of e&. “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.”

Governance by Design, Not Afterthought

A recurring concern with AI agents is governance—particularly when systems are empowered to take action. This collaboration addresses that issue by aligning natively with watsonx.governance, which is already in use at e&.

By embedding agentic AI directly into the OpenPages GRC platform, the solution ensures explainability, accountability, and compliance are built in from the start. Every response and action is traceable, supporting audit requirements and regulatory scrutiny.

This approach positions the deployment as one of the early enterprise-grade agentic AI implementations in the region, offering a practical example of how AI can support human-led decisions rather than replace them.

Hybrid AI, Enterprise Control

Another key element of the initiative is flexibility. IBM’s AI and model gateway approach allows large language models to run across hybrid environments, including customer-managed infrastructure, while remaining governed under enterprise controls.

This matters for organizations like e&, where data sovereignty, security, and regulatory compliance often limit the use of fully cloud-hosted AI services. The architecture enables innovation without forcing compromises on control or compliance.

A Signal to the Market

For the broader MarTech and enterprise AI ecosystem, the e&–IBM collaboration reflects a maturing market. Enterprises are no longer asking whether AI works; they’re asking whether it can be trusted, governed, and scaled across mission-critical systems.

“As organizations move from experimenting with AI to embedding it into the fabric of how they operate, governance and accountability become just as important as intelligence,” said Ana Paula Assis, SVP and Chair for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific at IBM. “This proof of concept demonstrates how agentic AI can be designed and validated for enterprise-scale use—deeply integrated into core systems and trusted to support human-led decisions.”

What Comes Next

While the initial focus is on risk and compliance, the foundation being built is designed to scale. Once validated, the same agentic AI framework can extend into other enterprise domains, from operations to customer engagement.

For e&, this collaboration represents more than a single deployment—it’s a strategic milestone in its enterprise AI journey. By embedding action-oriented AI into core governance workflows, the company is setting a benchmark for responsible, enterprise-grade agentic AI in the region.

As enterprises worldwide grapple with how to move from AI pilots to production systems, the message from Davos is clear: the future belongs to AI that is not just intelligent, but governed, integrated, and trusted.

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