You will be provided with a reference and some statements. Please determine whether each statement is 'supported', 'unsupported', or 'unknown' with respect to the reference. Please note:
First, assess whether the reference contains any valid content. If the reference contains no valid information, such as a 'page not found' message, then all statements should be considered 'unknown'.
If the reference is valid, for a given statement: if the facts or data it contains can be found entirely or partially within the reference, it is considered 'supported' (data accepts rounding); if all facts and data in the statement cannot be found in the reference, it is considered 'unsupported'.

You should return the result in a JSON list format, where each item in the list contains the statement's index and the judgment result, for example:
[
    {
        "idx": 1,
        "result": "supported"
    },
    {
        "idx": 2,
        "result": "unsupported"
    }
]

Below are the reference and statements:
<reference>
IBM as Client Zero

Discover how IBM streamlined routine tasks, boosted production and reduced costs throughout the entire organization.

Home

Case Studies

IBM as Client Zero

Productivity with AI and innovation

IBM unlocked USD 4.5 billion—and counting—in productivity gains through AI, hybrid cloud, automation and consulting expertise.

Download the client zero guidebook

Valuable hours wasted

IBM faced obstacles similar to many of its clients. Across the business, analysts were buried in repetitive tasks instead of delivering insights.

In HR, employees collectively spent hours searching for policies on travel and benefits across over 175 countries, while managers could spend an estimated 15–20 minutes on each of the thousands of annual employee transfers. Procurement relied on more than 40 different systems, which meant teams had to navigate dozens of disconnected repositories to answer supplier questions. In IT, support desks were overwhelmed with routine tickets, such as resetting passwords.

In Supply Chain, with over 10 million shipments, 350,000 SKUs, and 200+ direct production part suppliers supporting demand from 170+ countries, IBM faced increasing volatility, frequent disruptions, and highly fragmented data. The result was slow, manual decision-making and limited end-to-end visibility—leading to missed opportunities to optimize inventory, reduce costs, and improve logistics performance. Teams also struggled with delayed access to accurate, up-to-date information across supply chain, sales, and finance systems, resulting in inefficiencies, poor coordination between stakeholders, and an inability to identify and mitigate risks promptly.

In Sales, digital sellers collectively spent a significant number of hours each year switching between five different business applications to support prospecting efforts. Sellers were overwhelmed by the complexity of navigating multiple siloed systems—ranging from sales content platforms and product documentation to communication tools—to retrieve relevant content, craft prospecting messages, and respond to client queries. This fragmented experience reduced seller productivity, slowed deal progression, and impacted client engagement quality.

IBM’s tax department spent significant time manually aggregating and harmonizing large volumes of granular data from multiple source systems to prepare the thousands of tax returns the company files each month—each aligned to the specific regulations of individual jurisdictions.

Overall, there was less time for strategic work, as employees were bogged down with tedious tasks.

IBM’s goal wasn’t just to transform. It was to create a blueprint for enterprise-wide productivity using AI, hybrid cloud, and automation, along with strategic partner technologies and our consulting expertise.

USD 4.5 Billion

productivity gains unlocked over three years

15K

AI agents proposed by employees during the 2025 IBM watsonx Challenge

At IBM, we made ourselves the first client, proving that transformation at enterprise scale is not only possible but delivers significant measurable value.

Joanne Wright

Senior Vice President of Transformation & Operations

IBM

From complexity to productivity

At the core of this transformation was an executional framework that enabled IBM to scale change across the enterprise in the following ways:

Mindset: Challenging the status quo

IBM committed to eliminating complexity and simplifying workloads, automating repetitive tasks and embedding AI into workflows with the
IBM watsonx®
portfolio of products.

Speed: Agile sprints for rapid impact

Using an agile delivery model, IBM set out with the goal of releasing Minimum Viable Products roughly every two weeks across various tools and initiatives, emphasizing progress over perfection.

Measurement: Defining and exceeding standards

Every initiative was measured for business outcomes.

Sponsorship: Engaging from the top and bottom

A CEO-led steering committee reinforced accountability and cultural change, while employees were empowered to challenge existing processes and develop ways to apply AI to their daily work.

This process wasn’t only a technology shift but a cultural one—driving speed, accountability and continuous improvement across the business.

Beyond experimentation to tangible results

By leveraging key enablers, including AI and other technologies, IBM realized USD 4.5 billion in productivity gains.

Enterprise-wide impact

Designed more than 155 AI use cases for core functions with a goal to streamline work and scale faster decision-making.

Domain-specific impact

Finance:

During the initial 3 months of implementation, the team observed:
Approximately 90% projected reduction in cycle time across journal processing and related workflows.
USD 600,000 possible annual cost savings for the finance team implementing the automation solution.

Supply chain & Procurement:
Saved approximately 26,000 hours annually in procurement with data, AI and automation.
Enabled procurement teams to focus on supplier strategy and strategic sourcing.
Reduced complexity and improved spend, streamlined vendor management processes.
Since 2022, IBM’s supply chain organization has achieved significant logistics cost reductions—approximately 30% over three years—driven by the combined use of data, AI, and automation tools.
Approximately 15.6% in productivity savings in supply chain cost of hardware driven by AI and automation.

IT support:
Automated routine IT tasks, cutting standard support tickets by 56% from 2022 to 2024.
Resolved 86% of queries with AI agents.
Delivered an initial USD 18M cost reduction, now yielding ongoing annual cost avoidance.
Reduced calls and chats by 74% since AskIT’s 2023 launch.
Boosted employee satisfaction in AskIT to a 91.6% CSAT, up 11.6 points from its initial launch.

HR:
AI agent AskHR now resolves 94% of common inquiries, resulting in a 75% reduction in support tickets compared to historical levels—outcomes achieved through a transformation journey that began in 2016.
Reduced operating budget by 40% over the past four years through overall transformation efforts.

Tax:
Three use cases are deployed to automate previously manual, time-consuming processes and are expected to save tens of thousands of hours annually.
Over 95% first-pass invoice review accuracy with AI agents in tests across 18 of 19 invoice formats.

Sales:
Sales Assistant, the most widely used AI capability within the AskSales suite, answered over 250,000 seller questions in 2025—saving hours on research and insights.
AskSales, leveraging its diverse capabilities, marks the foundation for a unified agentic AI solution for the IBM Sales Team.

Future impact

IBM is also developing AskIBM to bring together and orchestrate domain-specific AI agents and assistants—making them more accessible and seamlessly integrated into employee workflows as part of our forward-looking strategy.

About IBM

IBM
is a multinational technology company with a rich history dating back to 1911. We serve a diverse clientele, offering a wide array of products and services in cloud computing, AI, data analytics and consulting. IBM is recognized for our commitment to innovation, with a significant focus on research and development. We workforce is comprised of talented professionals, contributing to IBM’s substantial revenue and influence in the tech industry.

Solution components

IBM® watsonx.ai®

IBM watsonx Orchestrate®

IBM Watson® Discovery

IBM watsonx Code Assistant®

IBM Turbonomic®

IBM Hybrid Cloud

IBM Apptio®

IBM Consulting®

IBM watsonx.data®

Transform your organization

Learn proven strategies to boost productivity and power enterprise transformation with AI at the core.

Register here

Learn more

Legal

© Copyright IBM Corporation, February 2026

IBM, the IBM logo, IBM Watson, watsonx, watsonx.ai, watsonx Orchestrate, watsonx Code Assistant, Turbonomic, Apptio, and IBM Consulting are trademarks of IBM Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

Examples presented as illustrative only. Actual results will vary based on client configurations and conditions and, therefore, generally expected results cannot be provided.

IBM’s statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice at IBM’s sole discretion. Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general product direction and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision.
</reference>

<statements>
1. IBM has implemented AI extensively within its own operations under the "Client Zero" program, unlocking $4.5 billion in annualized productivity savings over three years by embedding AI, hybrid cloud, and automation into HR, IT, finance, procurement, supply chain, sales, and customer support workflows. AskHR, an AI‑powered HR agent built on watsonx, handles roughly 16 million employee interactions annually, fully resolving 94% without human intervention and reducing HR operating costs by 40%. AI‑enhanced IT support and modernization have reduced infrastructure costs by about 30% and delivered over $600 million in savings, while AI‑powered customer support generated approximately $191 million in annualized operational savings.
</statements>

Begin the assessment now. Output only the JSON list, without any conversational text or explanations.