Welcome to your IBM i update for October 2025, your monthly digest into what’s happening within the IBM i community. This month, Watson moves out and Bob moves in!
But what is Project Bob?
We explore the replacement for the Watson X Coding Assistant for i and explain the differences.
You can watch the video above or read the blog post below…
What is Project Bob on the IBM i?
Project Bob converges both the Watson Coding Assistant (WCA) for i’s RPG and the System Z’s Code Assistant for COBOL (that is primarily there to help COBOL shops port their applications to Java on the mainframe).
So, rather than maintaining separate tools for IBM i and System Z, the effort is consolidated under Project Bob’s umbrella.
This is a sensible approach for IBM, a business that is under pressure from its shareholders.
But what does this mean that all efforts achieved to date on the Watson X Code assistant for i?
Well, the good news is that WCA for i isn’t being discarded altogether, some of its learning, architectural work, and code/training assets may be absorbed into Bob’s ecosystem…
But primarily, it seems like the architectural will be based around Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet. That’s the LLM that was underpinning the System Z coding assistant, while WCA for i was using IBM’s Granite.
How these two will reconcile the models remains to be seen. But, even beyond that, the convergence into one, unified ‘bobby-assistant’ has its challenges.
For example, the main objectives behind each assistant differ.
While the Watson X Code Assistant for i was… well, just that – a generative code assistant, the tool for Z was geared more towards converting COBOL to Java.
So, while having one unified tool across platforms makes sense from a business perspective, you can see that putting these two together isn’t going to be solved by just stitching the two garments together.
No. Threads will be need to be unpicked, remeasured, recut and tailored to make the metaphoric coding clothing wearable, usable and durable.
What to expect from Project Bob?
Now, Project BOB was introduced to the masses earlier in October at TechXchange 2025 in Orlando.
Here, Neel Sundaresan, General Manager of Automation and AI, provided a real-time demonstration of Bob fixing Java code.
I’ve included some ‘highlights’ of the demo in the video above but for the full presentation and demonstration, please see the link here: Watch the full Project Bob presentation
It was impressively intuitive to use.
So much so that even I could have made the change (and that’s saying something!).
What they also demonstrated was the ability to lift Java 8 to Java 17, to do Java framework migrations.
However, there wasn’t much reported on regarding RPG or COBOL at the event.
But post-event, IT Jungle reported more on what the IBM i community is to expect from the initial release of the product.
And its functionality exceeds that which was originally scoped for the Watson Code Assistant for i.
You’ll remember that these were limited to three core functions – AI-powered code explanation, code generation, and test case generation.
And, out of those three functions, only ‘code explanation’ had been delivered as a preview.
Now, contrast that with Project Bob.
First, code understanding will be expanded beyond RPG with CL, DDS and SQL included.
It’ll explain code graphically with diagrams and drill into functionality.
You’ll be able to refactor code and create reusable procedures. The generative ability remains, but will be expanded outside of RPG.
Speaking of RPG, you’ll have the ability to uplift old RPG II and III to modern ILE, plus convert embedded SQL. And on testing, you’ll be able to test down to individual isolated components. So, a big boost to functionality over its precursor.
However, with the additional functionality and convergence of the existing tools, this is going to take some time.
When will Project Bob be released on the IBM i?
And so, while some were looking forward to the WCA on i in the immediate future, all clocks have been reset and there are currently no timelines for delivery.
Should you wish to join the limited customer preview, then there is a waiting list. Join the waiting list
So, super exciting times are ahead… we’ll have to wait a little longer but as things progress, I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.
Complete the 2026 IBM i Marketplace Survey
The IBM i Marketplace Survey is open… but not for too much longer!
So, this is a quick reminder to complete the survey.
You can do so using the link below – it’ll take less time than a tea break to complete, and your input will help gauge the state of the platform and guide the direction for development and the future of the platform too!
So, I would warmly encourage you to grab a bourbon or digestive biscuit, click the link and complete the questionnaire: Complete 2026 IBM i Marketplace Survey
And that’s it for this edition of the IBM i Update. For now, I’m Andrew Nicholson, we’re Proximity, the IBM i partners that are in your corner. We’ll see you next time.
If you missed it, catch up on our September IBM i update. We’ve also got a summary of all the IBM i Updates published last year here.
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