IBM to open eight new labs worldwide, including one in Bangalore

The company plans to open additional labs in future to support the global demand for data-driven experiences.

As hallmarks of its consulting practice, the new labs will enable companies to engage with their customers in new ways.

"Our researchers are developing capabilities to harness the value of data to help clients create personalised experiences, while designers are working with clients to develop the design that makes a difference in business outcomes," Kralingen said.

Each day, the company generates 2.5 quintillion bytes of data from a variety of sources -- climate information, to posts on social media sites and purchase transaction records to healthcare medical images.

"We believe that data is emerging as the newest resource for competitive advantage and analytics is the key to make sense of it. We are helping clients harness big data and analytics to provide insights needed to make better decisions, create value, and deliver that value to customers and society," Kralingen added.

IBM has the world's largest portfolio of big data and analytics technologies and solutions, spanning services, software, research and hardware.