We are People not Robots: An IBM InnerSource Story

Описание: Speaker: Micaela D Eller & Jenna Ritten

At IBM, we didn't just scale InnerSource, we rewired a collective mindset around how collaboration and open innovation happens. The IBM InnerSource journey started in 2019 with a simple but urgent challenge: unify over 30 fragmented NLP stacks. What followed was a multi-year transformation that turned isolated innovation into a reusable, enterprise-wide AI platform that we called Watson Core. We did this, not by throwing more tools at the problem, but by investing in making processes better and building tools that made collaboration and reuse easy.
But the real breakthrough wasn't technical. It was human.
Heading into 2022 the IBM CIO decided to invest in building a people-first infrastructure by forming an InnerSource Program Office (ISPO) with the mission to build a consistent governance framework, platform of common tools and playbook of InnerSource practices as an InnerSource@IBM 'how to' manual that would establish the connective tissue for aligning architects, developers, product teams, leadership and more, by grounding them in cultural practices of consistency, repeatability, reusability and community collaboration.
By the end of 2022, InnerSource@IBM had grown and matured into a robust global community that was breaking down communication barriers and knowledge silos via participation in an education curriculum for InnerSource Practitioners@IBM, following the framework in InnerSource@IBM Program Guide and using InnerSource@IBM Platform tools provided by the newly formed ISPO.
In 2023, ownership of the ISPO was transitioned from IBM CIO to IBM Research to enable researchers to upskill on InnerSource@IBM practices, transform IBM's Academy of Technology (AoT) and create a scalable, open innovation pipeline of research assets as a fast-track into products, which ultimately led to watsonx launch at IBM's 2023 Think conference. Throughout 2023 and 2024 the ISPO enabled IBM's AI foundation model teams and scientific contributors to begin working side-by-side with product engineers, using InnerSource@IBM as the scaffolding between experimentation and deployment.
By 2024 InnerSource@IBM was firmly established as a research accelerator with ISPO support of AoT's transformation into the Open Innovation Community (OIC), successful transition of IBM's granite models to open source and InstructLab's announcement at Think in 2024.
The IBM InnerSource story isn't about only AI or code, productivity or ROI. It's about building a culture of trust where researchers, engineers, and product teams share knowledge instead of hording information. Co-create instead of compete. Where contribution is rewarded, acknowledged and celebrated.
In this session we will tell An IBM InnerSource Story where participants will join a quest to understand why designing a scaffolding for humans by humans makes scalable innovation a reality. Our intent for sharing this story is to offer a roadmap for anyone who wants to build a future of innovation that isn't just technical, it's about improving our collective human experience. Afterall, we are people not robots.


About InnerSource Summit 2025
To mark 10 years of InnerSource collaboration and innovation, we came together for a truly global celebration as we mark the 10th anniversary of InnerSource Commons with a 24-hour Summit spanning Yokohama, Berlin, and New York. Our agenda was packed with inspiring keynotes, in-person sessions, and online talks from leading InnerSourcerers around the world. From practical case studies and success stories to deep dives into collaboration, culture, and scaling InnerSource practices, the program reflects the diversity and innovation of our community. Each regional hub highlighted local expertise and global perspectives-creating a continuous journey of learning and connection across time zones.

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The InnerSource Commons is a thriving community that empowers organisations and people worldwide to apply and gain the benefits of open collaboration in their internal work.
Founded in 2015, the InnerSource Commons is now supporting and connecting over 3000 individuals from over 800 companies, academic institutions, and government agencies. The InnerSource Commons Foundation was incorporated on February 19th, 2020 and is now a 501(c)(3) public charity.

Learn more
Web: https://innersourcecommons.org
Slack: https://innersourcecommons.org/slack
GitHub: http://github.com/InnerSourceCommons
LinkedIn:   / innersourcecommons