With cloud computing and big data causing a "reordering" of the computer and technology industry, IBM plans to lead the disruption as it spreads around the world, the company's CEO, Virginia Rometty, told CNBC on Tuesday.
Rometty said the 103-year-old tech giant plans to reorder itself around the three big trends affecting its industry—the move from physical mainframes to cloud computing, the need for services that sift through massive reams of data and user engagement through social and mobile platforms.
The transition to the new business areas will fundamentally transform the company, Rometty said.
"They are truly going to change the profile of this company and if you think about it, they are truly going to change the profile of the industry," Rometty said on "Squawk on the Street," adding that data will become the world's natural resource for the next century.
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The interview comes as some on Wall Street question IBM's growth prospects. Rometty told CNBC the company has already made a big transition away from its legacy hardware business, with 85 percent of the company now made up of high-value service and software. Hardware makes up the remaining 15 percent, she said.
In an interview with The New York Times published on Sunday, Rometty called the current climate a "rocky time" for IBM. She cited sluggish revenue growth and the move to cloud computing as headwinds facing a business historically focused on hardware.
Last month, IBM posted quarterly earnings that fell in line with Wall Street estimates, but weakness in its storage and servers businesses cut into growth in software services.
—By CNBC's Jeff Morganteen.