IBM Corp. today introduced a software platform designed to give enterprises and governments more direct control over artificial intelligence and cloud workloads in response to tightening sovereignty and compliance demands.
The new offering, called IBM Sovereign Core, allows organizations to deploy and manage workloads under the customer’s operational authority and within a single jurisdiction.
The company said organizations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate compliance, control operational environments and keep sensitive data within national or regional boundaries. It cited recent Gartner Inc. research that predicted that more than 75% of all enterprises will have a digital sovereignty strategy by 2030.
Regulatory and AI pressures
Increasing regulation is one of the drivers behind the product, said Sachin Prasad, program director for product management for AI and data at IBM. “We are building a platform that can address multiple regions and multiple regulations,” he said. The initial focus will be Europe, but the software is intended for global use.
Prasad said the company is motivated by more than just data residency rules. “AI touches sensitive data,” he said, noting that commercial AI models are often external to an organization, creating risks in handling sensitive information. “You need to have competitive models that are in-house.”
Prasad said IBM sees regulatory pressure increasing. “Almost every country and most regions are coming up with their own AI regulations,” he said. “These regulations are not easing up. They are getting stronger and stronger.”
Open platform
The company said Sovereign Core is built on an open-source software stack from its Red Hat subsidiary. Prasad said IBM expects to include Red Hat Enterprise Linux, OpenShift, virtualization, identity management and secret storage, although detailed component lists are still being finalized. IBM intends to offer models as a service, probably including its own Granite model.
Customers will have the option to deploy workloads in on-premises data centers, in-region cloud infrastructure or through service providers. The goal is to create what IBM calls a verifiable audit trail that documents continuous compliance. Customers can keep identity, encryption keys and operational telemetry inside the jurisdiction and under their control.
All the major cloud providers offer sovereign services, but Prasad said IBM’s approach differs from overlay models. “AI is not an afterthought,” he said. “AI has to be baked into the fabric.”
IBM’s platform will monitor changes and log them for auditing purposes. The system will also track AI operations. “We are going to be monitoring AI reasoning, AI inferencing and the tokens going in and out,” he said.
IBM is initially partnering with European service providers before expanding more widely. Prasad said the approach is intended to gather feedback but will not limit distribution and that IBM expects to sell the package directly. “It is going to be sold the way we sell any other product,” he said.
The company said Sovereign Core will enter a technical preview in February with general availability planned for mid-2026.
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