The Workforce AI Index · Technology
IBM (IBM)
Technology and consulting, read with its exhibit. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-24. Ranked 14 of the 24 Technology companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The annual report's table counts 264,300 employees at IBM and wholly owned subsidiaries and nothing by segment, so the patterns follow segment revenue, services, software and hardware (c).
The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
What follows from the reading
Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 23% now, 53% at the end of 2027, 67% at the end of 2028, 73% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 73% desk work, 21% people work and 6% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 27% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 57% becomes checking a model's work and 9% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
264,300 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). The annual report gives no count by country; revenue by geography puts the Americas at 49%.
The filing: “The table below presents the company's employees and related workforce at December 31, 2025 (in thousands): IBM/wholly owned subsidiaries 264.3; Less-than-wholly owned subsidiaries 8.7; Complementary 13.8.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Systems Design and Related Services | 50% | By revenue (c): Consulting at 31% and the services inside Infrastructure at 23% of revenue, the labor-heavy consulting and technology services the annual report describes, with no count by segment. |
| Software Publishers | 35% | By revenue (c): Software at 44% of revenue, the hybrid cloud and AI software the annual report describes, weighted down because software carries fewer people for its revenue than services, with no stated count. |
| Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing | 15% | By revenue (c): the hardware part of Infrastructure, IBM Z, Power and storage systems, which the annual report describes but does not count. |
What the filing says about the workforce: 264,300 employees at IBM and wholly owned subsidiaries at December 31, 2025, from the table in the annual report to stockholders filed as Exhibit 13; 8,700 at less-than-wholly owned subsidiaries and 13,800 complementary workers shown separately and not counted; workforce rebalancing charges of $670 million in 2025, as the filing states them; over 200,000 employees took part in the 2025 engagement survey.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Computer Systems Design and Related Services, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Accenture (ACN, 779,000 employees)30% now, 66% by 2028
- Cognizant (CTSH, 351,600 employees)29% now, 67% by 2028
- General Dynamics Corporation (GD, 117,000 employees)18% now, 46% by 2028
- DXC Technology Company (DXC, 115,000 employees)26% now, 68% by 2028
- Kyndryl Holdings, Inc. (KD, 72,000 employees)24% now, 69% by 2028
- EPAM Systems, Inc. (EPAM, 62,850 employees)24% now, 69% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
112 sentences in the filing name AI. The 10-K and its annual report name AI in 112 sentences: a strategy built on hybrid cloud and AI, AI technology that supports clients' transformations and modernization, and new competitors met as that strategy is executed.
- “And it continues today-we create sustained value for clients by helping them leverage the power of hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI).”
- “Our hybrid cloud platform and AI technology support clients' digital transformations and helps them reimagine critical workflows, at scale, and modernize applications to increase agility, drive innovation and create operational efficiencies.”
- “Across our business segments, we recognize hundreds of competitors worldwide and as we execute our hybrid cloud and AI strategy, we are regularly exposed to new competitors.”
- “Our hybrid cloud and AI platforms allow clients to realize their digital and AI transformations across the applications, data, and environments in which they operate.”
- “Our competitive position is supported by industry expertise; hybrid cloud, data, and AI capabilities; and the use of IBM technology and ecosystem partners to deliver solutions aligned to clients' strategic priorities.”
Headcount by filing year
As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.
| Period | Employees | Filed | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | not read | 2026-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 270,300 | 2025-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 282,200 | 2024-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | not read | 2023-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 282,100 | 2022-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 345,900 | 2021-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 352,600 | 2020-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 350,600 | 2019-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 366,600 | 2018-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 380,300 | 2017-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 377,757 | 2016-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 379,592 | 2015-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 431,212 | 2014-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 434,246 | 2013-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 433,362 | 2012-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 426,751 | 2011-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 399,409 | 2010-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 398,455 | 2009-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 386,558 | 2008-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 355,766 | 2007-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 329,373 | 2006-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 329,001 | 2005-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 319,273 | 2004-03-08 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 315,889 | 2003-03-10 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 319,876 | 2002-03-11 | 10-K405 |
| 2000-12-31 | 316,303 | 2001-03-13 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 307,401 | 2000-03-13 | 10-K405 |
| 1998-12-31 | 291,067 | 1999-03-29 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-31 | 269,465 | 1998-03-30 | 10-K405 |
| 1996-12-31 | 240,615 | 1997-03-27 | 10-K |
| 1995-12-31 | 225,347 | 1996-03-26 | 10-K405 |
| 1994-12-31 | 219,839 | 1995-03-28 | 10-K |
| 1993-12-31 | 256,207 | 1994-03-28 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The headcount and workforce discussion come from the annual report to stockholders that the 10-K incorporates by reference, fetched as Exhibit 13 and read with the 10-K.
- The filing counts no people by segment; the pattern shares rest on segment revenue and description (c).
- The U.S. share is not stated.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000051143-26-000010, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Questions about this company
- How much of IBM's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 23% now and 67% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce IBM's own annual report describes and BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. It is an estimate with a stated method. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings, and it says nothing about what the company will do.
- How many people does IBM employ?
- 264,300 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up IBM's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 3 industry staffing patterns, the largest Computer Systems Design and Related Services; by those patterns the work is about 73% desk work, 21% people work and 6% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does IBM's annual report say about AI?
- 112 sentences in the filing name AI. They are counted and quoted on this page, never judged: a count says how much a filing talks about AI, not what the company does with it.
- How is this estimated?
- Claude Fable 5.1 read the annual report under the Index's written rubric (version 1) on October 1, 2026: the stated headcount, the share in the U.S. when stated, and the workforce as a blend of industry staffing patterns. The estimates are the site's industry estimates weighted by those shares, from O*NET tasks with estimated lengths and METR's measurements of how long a task AI models can finish. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.