Generative AI will help developers evaluate, modify, validate, and test the right code more quickly, enabling them to modernize large-scale applications more efficiently and freeing developers to focus on high-impact work.

IBM announced a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) product, 'Watson x Code Assistant for Z' on the 1st.

Watson x Code Assistant for IBM Z will help accelerate COBOL to Java conversion and improve developer productivity on the IBM Z platform. Scheduled for general availability in Q4 2023, it is expected to help accelerate the modernization of COBOL applications.

Watson x Code Assistant for IBM Z joins the Watson x Code Assistant family of products, alongside Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed, which is scheduled for release later this year. These solutions are based on IBM’s Watsonx.ai code model, which has knowledge of 115 coding languages learned from 1.5 trillion tokens.

With 20 billion parameters, it aims to be one of the largest generative AI-based models for code automation. The Watson x Code Assistant product portfolio is expected to expand to other programming languages in the future, accelerating modernization and solving the challenge of upskilling developers.

Watson x Code Assistant for IBM Z is designed to help enterprises accelerate mainframe application modernization using generative AI and automated tooling, all while maintaining the performance, security and resiliency capabilities of IBM Z.

The COBOL data processing language underpins many of the world’s most critical business and operational processes for enterprises. With the broad adoption of Watson x Code Assistant for IBM Z—estimated to represent billions of lines of COBOL code as potential candidates for modernization—it will be easier to selectively and incrementally transform legacy COBOL code into well-designed, high-quality Java code than other approaches.

IBM is designing capabilities to provide the right tools for each stage of modernization. The solution is expected to include IBM’s existing Application Discovery and Delivery Intelligence (ADDI) inventory and analytics tools. Following ADDI, the process includes refactoring business services in COBOL, converting COBOL code to Java code through optimized design, and finally verifying the converted results using automated testing capabilities.

Potential benefits include: Accelerated code development and improved developer productivity across the entire application modernization lifecycle; Managed overall cost, complexity and risk of application modernization initiatives, including code translation and optimization within IBM Z; Expanded access to a broader pool of IT skills and accelerated developer engagement and adoption; Higher quality code and easier maintenance through model customization and application of best practices.

A new study from the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) found that companies are 12 times more likely to leverage existing mainframe assets rather than rebuild application assets from scratch in the next two years. But at the same time, the biggest challenge facing these companies is a lack of human resources and skills.

“With Watson x, we plan to drive real progress for our clients by applying generative AI capabilities to new use cases,” said Dr. Kareem Yusuf, senior vice president, product management and growth, IBM Software. “We’re engineering the Watson x Code Assistant for IBM Z to take this targeted, optimized approach and expand the skill pool by quickly and accurately transforming code optimized for IBM Z, accelerating time to market.”

“This will allow us to enhance applications and add new capabilities while maintaining the performance, resiliency and security that IBM Z is known for,” he added.