Digital transformation using artificial intelligence and hybrid cloud has accelerated amid the Covid-19 pandemic and these new technologies can play an important role in helping companies gain competitive advantage, IBM Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna said on Tuesday.

Speaking during a keynote at the IBM’s Think Digital 2020 conference, Krishna, who took charge last month, said the pace of adoption of transformation journeys by enterprises has been "compacted” into months.

“The importance of hybrid cloud and AI has accelerated. What has changed is the pace at which they’re being adopted.

Transformation journeys (of) last few years are now being compacted into months... They’re looking for long lasting answers on what they can do with technology to address the key issues that Covid-19 has brought to light,” he said.