IBM Corp.’s Apptio Inc. on Wednesday joined a growing conga line of software companies with a series of new artificial intelligence (AI)-infused features and updates across its portfolio of technology business management (TBM) and FinOps solutions.
The products, to be showcased at next week’s TBM Conference in San Diego, are designed to help enterprises automate technology planning and costing practices, as well as to buttress their IT financial management (ITFM) practices.
“Apptio is committed to empowering businesses to better manage technology investments and operations. We aim to make FinOps and TBM accessible to everyone within an organization, driving clear alignment to business outcomes,” Eugene Khvostov, chief product officer at Apptio, said in an interview. “The portfolio additions we’re announcing today create an ecosystem that promotes transparency, efficiency, sustainability and proactive decision-making.”
Apptio, which was acquired by IBM last year for $4.6 billion, announced a beta version of Apptio AI Assistant for select customers. The technology, powered by the IBM watsonx platform, provides around-the-clock support for IBM Cloudability and IBM Apptio in early 2025. Based on instant guidance from FinOps and product documentation, customers will be allowed to glean immediate answers in response to “how-to” questions, product guides and help with documentation, according to Khvostov.
Apptio also said it is enhancing its Essentials suite with a new, streamlined planning solution to automate and simplify budget and forecasting processes. The suite includes a new solution that automates billing for defensible chargeback. Organizations will have tools for costing, planning, billing and benchmarking — all considered foundational pieces for building an ITFM practice.
IBM Targetprocess, now available on Microsoft Azure Marketplace, has expanded capabilities to provide advanced reporting and hybrid dashboards that concurrently offer side-by-side tracking of agile and waterfall frameworks progress. The unified approach improves visibility, optimizes resource allocation and enables better alignment with strategic goals.
Additionally, IBM unveiled the expansion of its IBM Software portfolio to include Apptio Targetprocess, on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, as well as the expansion of software availability to 14 countries.
Apptio’s AI play continued a week full of AI assistant-related news from a broad swath of tech companies, including Upwork, LinkedIn, Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., ServiceNow Inc. and others in their pursuit of a market expected to take off next year. The concept of AI agents — virtual assistants that perform repetitive, low-level tasks to free up workers to do more enterprising work — is particularly appealing to employers of all sizes.
