Pushing Boundaries: How to lead with Edge AI computing

A collaboration between IBM and KPMG ushers in a new era of rapid, secure, sustainable AI solutions

Is your enterprise ready to move AI from the data center to the point of action?

Discover how agentic, edge-native architectures deliver sub-second decisions, stronger privacy, and measurable value—without compromising trust. With IBM and KPMG, AI runs at the edge for real-time insight, resilience, and secure, scalable modernization.

Enterprise AI is leaving the data center. Multi‑agent systems running at the edge turn local data into instant action without round trips to the cloud. The result: lower latency, higher resiliency, tighter security, and faster value.

What once lived in labs now sits squarely on the C‑suite agenda. AI agents operating at the edge shrink the gap between signal and response from minutes to milliseconds, reshaping how organizations detect, decide, and act. As GenAI, autonomous agents, and new compute demands accelerate, edge becomes a true business capability—not just an IT choice—influencing resilience, stakeholder trust, and growth.

AI is advancing rapidly, yet many organizations still struggle with cloud latency, rising data demands, and the operational risks tied to centralized processing. Edge computing offers a practical path forward by bringing AI closer to where data is created, enabling faster insights, stronger security, and greater resilience. As real‑time data processing, Gen AI, 5G, and autonomous agents evolve, IBM and KPMG are helping enterprises adopt edge‑native architectures that deliver scalable, trustworthy AI across distributed environments. This paper explores how these capabilities come together to unlock meaningful value at the point of action.

AI Agents at the Edge, in a nutshell

Edge‑native agents sense, decide, and act where data is created—on devices, gateways, micro‑data centers, or co‑location sites—then synchronize insights to the cloud. The result: ultra‑low latency, smaller attack surface via data minimization, higher throughput, and OpEx‑friendly scaling through managed edge services.

Why it matters

Milliseconds-to-impact for safety, operations, and customer experience
Privacy-by-design with local processing and rigorous data provenance
Resilience when connectivity is variable or regulated data can’t move
OpEx over CapEx via subscription/managed models to scale fast

Explore how edge native AI drives real time value with speed, privacy, and trust, with strategic guidance from KPMG and IBM.
Download the paper for the full analysis.

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IBM and KPMG, through SanQtum AI with watsonx, have transformed city management by enabling safer, smarter cities with real-time edge AI computing and zero trust cybersecurity.

Daniel Gregory

CEO, Available Infrastructure

Across public spaces, major venues, and clinical environments, real‑time edge AI is reshaping how organizations keep people safe, improve experiences, and deliver critical services. By processing data locally—right where it’s generated—edge and zero‑trust architectures enable faster decisions, stronger security, and more resilient operations.

Safer, smarter cities

Cities around the world are modernizing their infrastructure with edge‑enabled capabilities such as smart lighting, intelligent transportation, IoT sensors, and real‑time video analytics. With local data processing and zero‑trust cybersecurity, city leaders can respond faster to emerging situations, allocate resources more efficiently, and safeguard resident data. IBM, KPMG, and Available Infrastructure are accelerating this shift with SanQtum AI with watsonx, combining integrated edge hardware and storage with trusted AI advisory and compliance expertise.

Stronger event security

Large-scale events demand immediate awareness and coordinated response. Edge AI brings intelligence directly to the venue—analyzing live video from drones and cameras, detecting threats within milliseconds, and routing alerts instantly to on‑site teams. From anomaly detection to crowd flow monitoring and safety escalation paths, edge systems enhance security without slowing the attendee experience. IBM’s work with partners like the Miami Dolphins and global events such as the US Open and Wimbledon demonstrates how edge AI is redefining operational excellence at premier venues.

Improved healthcare outcomes

Healthcare organizations rely on accurate, timely insights while navigating cyber threats and strict regulatory requirements. Edge AI and sovereign cloud solutions enable hospitals and clinics to process critical data at the point of care—supporting emergency response, remote monitoring, medical imaging, and life‑saving diagnostics. These decentralized systems strengthen cybersecurity, reduce latency, support HIPAA compliance, and improve operational resilience during network disruptions. Together, IBM and KPMG help healthcare organizations modernize infrastructure and deploy AI safely—such as delivering early sepsis detection through edge‑based clinical decision support.

Act Now to Gain Real-Time Advantage

Move intelligence to the source for instant decisions and rapid response at the edge—far beyond the limits of cloud-only systems. Early investment positions your organization ahead of competitors still dependent on legacy infrastructure.

Accelerate with Strategic Partnerships

Collaborate with partners who bring deep enterprise AI and implementation expertise. Joint innovation reduces complexity, speeds deployment, and delivers stronger outcomes across diverse environments.

Build for Flexibility with Agentic Systems

Shift toward adaptable, agent-based operations that scale efficiently across your edge environment. Emerging standards now make secure, seamless agent collaboration and data sharing easier than ever.

Adopt Easily with Lower Upfront Costs

Edge AI no longer requires long transformation cycles. With reduced capital barriers and agentic AI breakthroughs, organizations can deploy rapidly and realize ROI sooner—modernizing the edge with confidence.

Edge computing is not an entirely new concept, however this may be the first time we are actually getting it right, with AI unleashing significant business value and high-value compute use cases for both commercial and public sectors.

Greg Corlis

Partner KPMG Emerging Technologies

Explore how edge native AI drives real time value with speed, privacy, and trust, with strategic guidance from KPMG and IBM.
Download the paper for the full analysis.

Download Now

Emerging Trends Shaping the Future of Edge AI

Discover the key shifts—across technology, architecture, and operating models—that are redefining how organizations deploy, scale, and unlock value from Edge AI.

OpEx Models Replace CapEx

Organizations are shifting to subscription‑based, pay‑as‑you‑go edge and AI services—reducing upfront costs, maintaining data sovereignty, and scaling resources flexibly with changing data demands.

AI Becomes Agentic, with Quantum on the Horizon

Edge devices are evolving into autonomous, intelligent agents capable of real‑time decisioning and self‑improving code. These capabilities will accelerate as Quantum Cloud and QPUs begin to emerge.

Standards Enable Secure, Scalable Adoption

Protocols like Agent2Agent (A2A) and Model Context Protocol (MCP) streamline agent collaboration and model governance across the edge. Platforms like IBM watsonx and Edge Application Manager help operationalize these frameworks at scale.

Alliances Accelerate Next‑Gen Networks

Cross‑industry partnerships—spanning cloud, telecom, AI, and cybersecurity—are enabling the rollout of advanced 5G/6G edge solutions, blending deep expertise with secure, distributed architectures.

Balanced Architecture & Deterministic Networks

Enterprises are adopting hybrid approaches that combine edge, cloud, and data warehousing. Deterministic networking (DetNets) ensures predictable performance, helping organizations optimize cost, reliability, and risk.

About IBM and KPMG

Empowering clients with the power of AI

IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge in their industries.

KPMG is ranked #1 for quality AI advice and implementation in the US* and known for our Trusted AI frameworks, digital infrastructure development, financial advisory, and secure sovereign network technology implementations. We help our clients unlock competitive advantage through AI investments, Edge AI computing adoption, and strategic finance, delivering tailored solutions that drive efficiency, innovation, and measurable business impact.

Technological collaborations between IBM and KPMG are helping to usher in a promising new era of digital infrastructure, secure computing innovation and profitable use-cases. These opportunities can deliver high performance compute (GPU, CPU, QPU) at the nation’s network edge, along with secure communications, sovereign (non-public) deterministic cloud networking, sustainable power specifications, encrypted data and inference capabilities all with zero latency speeds

*Perceptions of Consulting in the US in 2024, Source, May, 2024