- Watson is IBM’s "Jeopardy"-winning artificial intelligence platform. In recent years, the company has been making international headlines in applying it to health care.
- The New York-based technology services firm confirms an undisclosed number of cuts at its Watson Health unit, which has an RTP presence.
One of Research Triangle Park’s largest employers has confirmed layoffs: IBM.
The New York-based technology services firm confirms an undisclosed number of cuts at its Watson Health unit, which has an RTP presence.
“IBM is continuing to reposition our team to focus on the high-value segments of the IT market, and we continue to hire aggressively in critical new areas that deliver value for our clients and IBM,” IBM spokesman Doug Shelton stated in an email. “This activity affects a small percentage of our global Watson Health workforce, as we move to more technology-intensive offerings, simplified processes and automation to drive speed.”
Watson is IBM’s “Jeopardy”-winning artificial intelligence platform. In recent years, the company has been making international headlines in applying it to health care. In oncology, Watson is helping doctors make decisions on diagnosing and treating patients at more than 200 hospitals, according to the company. And it’s been acquiring several health data firms to further build out its platform, including Explorys, Truven, Merge and Phytel.
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Shelton declined to say how many employees were impacted by the restructuring. Nor would he outline the specific impact to RTP. But IBM’s Watson unit has been quite active in the Triangle, even working with the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine to develop health care applications.
IBM has not released a local headcount in the past decade. In 2008, it was 10,000. It’s still expected to be among the largest employers in the park, and is responsible for about 12 percent of IBM’s patents, even without an IBM research lab.
The company has been making major investments in RTP in recent years, including the buildout of two “agile work spaces.” And it recently announced plans to bring a quantum computing lab to N.C. State University. Locally, the firm is led by Tim Humphrey, who recently took over for retiring site executive Fran O’Sullivan.
Date: May 31, 2018