IBM Launches Generative AI-Powered Code Assistant For Enterprise Application Modernisation

IBM has launched watsonx, a generative artificial intelligence-powered code assistant that allows enterprise developers and IT operators to code quickly and accurately using natural language prompts.

According to IBM, the product delivers on two enterprise use cases—IT automation with watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed for tasks like network configuration and code deployment; and mainframe application modernisation with watsonx Code Assistant for Z for translation of COBOL to Java on IBM Z.1.

The product leverages generative AI based on IBM's Granite foundation models for code running on IBM's watsonx platform and is designed to accelerate development while maintaining trust, security and compliance, IBM said. The company is exploring options to tune watsonx Code Assistant with additional domain-specific generative AI capabilities to assist in code generation, code explanation and end-to-end software development lifecycle for modernisation of enterprise applications.

"Watsonx Code Assistant puts AI-assisted code development and application modernisation tools directly into the hands of developers—in a naturally integrated way that is designed to be non-disruptive—to help address skills gaps and increase productivity," said Kareem Yusuf, senior vice president, product management and growth, IBM Software.

IBM Consulting will work on the two use cases with businesses across industries such as banking, insurance, healthcare and government to help leverage generative AI and code generation to accelerate modernisation.

The Ansible automation platform helps enterprise developers and IT operators implement automation, using Ansible Playbooks, for IT tasks such as infrastructure management, hybrid cloud deployment, network configuration and application deployment. With IBM watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed, users can enter plain English prompts to automatically generate task recommendations for Ansible Playbooks. This way, a greater number of team members can create Ansible Playbooks more efficiently and implement automation, IBM said.

"The release of watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed has the potential to close skills gaps, create greater organisational efficiencies and free enterprise IT to deliver even more business value," said Ashesh Badani, senior vice president and chief product officer, Red Hat.

IBM said that the watsonx Code Assistant for Z helps enable faster translation of COBOL to Java on IBM Z and enhances developer productivity on the platform. It is being designed to assist businesses in leveraging generative AI and automated tooling to accelerate their mainframe application modernisation.

Currently, the product follows the application modernisation lifecycle, starting with an application discovery capability, which maps out a technical understanding of the application and its dependencies. Then, an automated refactoring capability leverages the information captured in application discovery to identify selected elements and breaks down the monolithic application into modular COBOL business services. Finally, watsonx Code Assistant for Z leverages generative AI to transform individual COBOL business services into object-oriented Java code.

IBM Consulting engagements for both use cases aim to provide enterprises with the ability to deliver continuous automation, Ansible Playbook productivity, quality improvements and transformation of IT operations, along with helping them identify the right application areas to modernise with Z, the company said.

IBM Consulting and IBM Client Engineering will also work with enterprises on specific use cases with watsonx Code Assistant in an attempt to identify specific pain points and solve business and technical challenges from the users' perspective.