IBM Joins OpenSearch Software Foundation as Premier Member to Drive Innovation

IBM Joins OpenSearch Software Foundation as a Premier Member

On November 11, 2025, during the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon event in North America, the OpenSearch Software Foundation announced the addition of IBM as a Premier Member. This partnership aims to strengthen the commitment to open-source, transparent, and community-centric innovations in search and analytics.

As businesses increasingly adopt technologies like retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to power AI applications, there is a growing need for dependable, transparent search infrastructures. IBM's decision to join the OpenSearch Software Foundation marks a significant step towards the creation of open ecosystems that are powered by open-source tools.

Bianca Lewis, the executive director of the OpenSearch Software Foundation, expressed her enthusiasm, saying, "IBM's commitment to the OpenSearch Software Foundation is a testament to the role open-source search and analytics play in AI-enabled enterprises of the future." The collaboration with member organizations helps to develop essential tools and technologies, fulfilling the mission of the foundation.

IBM's involvement will build upon its existing contributions with OpenSearch. The company is set to reveal a new open-source initiative that incorporates OpenSearch during the upcoming OpenRAG Summit livestream on November 13. This event aims to highlight the advancements in AI and data retrieval powered by OpenSearch.

As a Premier Member, IBM aims to enhance the integration of OpenSearch within its broad open-source ecosystem. The focus will be on improving vector search capabilities, improving experiences for multimodal document ingestion, and supporting AI agents. Moreover, IBM plans to introduce enterprise-level enhancements to OpenSearch's observability and security features, alongside high-availability patterns that have been tested using IBM Cloud's infrastructure.

In addition to these technical upgrades, IBM is keen to work with the OpenSearch community on educational initiatives and collaborative showcases. The partnership is set to kick off with OpenRAG's public preview, which will involve live demonstrations at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America.

Ed Anuff, the vice president of data and AI platform strategy at IBM, stated, "As part of IBM's work in the evolution of AI, we're thrilled to contribute to the development of OpenSearch. By joining the Foundation, we are helping ensure that production generative AI can be built on a robust open-source foundation."

IBM's commitment to OpenSearch is exemplified by its subsidiary, DataStax, which opted for OpenSearch to develop a high-performance vector search that meets the demands of scaling up to billions of vectors without compromising on efficiency or budget. The implementation of Java-based vector search library JVector with OpenSearch has proven successful, enabling faster innovation, decreasing query response time, accelerating index builds, and minimizing infrastructure costs. This relationship illustrates how an open and effective search framework can efficiently manage real-world AI and retrieval challenges.

For anyone interested in learning more about the OpenSearch Software Foundation or how to engage, participate, or contribute, further information can be found at foundation.opensearch.org.

About the OpenSearch Software Foundation

The OpenSearch Software Foundation serves as a vendor-neutral space for innovative software focused on search, analytics, observability, and vector database solutions. Supported by prominent members such as AWS, SAP, and Uber, and hosted by the Linux Foundation, it collaborates with community maintainers, developers, and organizational members. The OpenSearch project has amassed over one billion downloads since inception, significantly impacting the way information is accessed and managed today.

For the latest developments and to connect with the OpenSearch community, visit foundation.opensearch.org. Both the OpenSearch project and community play a transformative role in modern information management.