"Project BOB"

Oct 14, 2025

 

 

IBM has announced "Project BOB" for developing better code. Per @Steve Will on his IBM i blog on Tech Channel:

 

"The IBM i community has been waiting for an AI coding assistant to help with the immense volume of critical software written in RPG and other languages. We’ve been talking about such an assistant, and how it can help address the need for IBM i skills while also guiding application modernization. Today, that assistant was announced. These requirements are some of the many which are addressed by Project Bob. We are excited to use Project Bob as the foundational tool to help our clients move forward on IBM i and Power." 

 

Steve's Tech Channel "You and I" Blog can be found here.

The IBM "Project Bob" page can be found here.

 

Article from ITJungle can be found here.

 

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From @Neil Whittle - IBMi Consultant, Author, Speaker, AI Enabler, RPG expert: 

 

"Bob is more than just a coding assistant. Whether it's a modernization project or building something new, with agentic workflows, built- in security and enterprise-grade deployment flexibility, Bob has the power to transform across the full SDLC to become the go-to IDE."

 

"Bob is an ai-powered IDE and pair developer. More thanjust auto-complete or suggestions, a developer can use Architect Mode to scope and design complex systems or collaborate in Code Mode to move fast and iterate efficiently."

 

"Throughout the SDLC, from design through  coding, testing, deployment and maintenance,B ob retains context across editing sessions, so developers don't have to switch tools or lose track."

 

"Bob supports enterprise constraints (security, governance, on-prem/cloud, compliance) more deeply than consumer grade or single-task A1 tools so tasks can be done with full awareness of dependencies to help you deliver secure,
production-ready code."

 

"Bob breaks down complex tasks and coordinates specialized agents across code, tests, documentation and pipelines. There is in-built functionality to bring in quantum security and other compliance and vulnerability scans directly into the IDE."

 

"You can run Bob on macOS, Windows or Linux and deploy in your cloud to meet governance and data-residency requirements. Use 'BobShell' to create
repeatable, self-documenting workflows, deal for CI/CD pipelines and recipe-driven
upgrades."

 

"It seems likely that both the Watsonx Code Assistant for Z for Cobol (released in
October 2028) and Watsonx Code Assistant for RPG on the IBM I (still in
preview) will be integrated directly into Project Bob, offering developers an
unrivalled ai-powered IDE!"