Bob More Than Just A Code Assistant, IBM i Chief Architect Will Says
December 1, 2025 Alex Woodie
When IBM i professionals finally get their hands on Bob, the new AI-powered tool currently in development in Big Blue’s labs, they will find that it is much more than just a code assistant, IBM i chief Architect Steve Will said recently. “It has a lot of knowledge,” he said. “It knows things about IBM i.”
While precise details about the timing of the release of Bob are slim, IBM is widely expected to release a public preview of the new AI-powered plug-in for VS Code in early 2026. The new software, which was unveiled in early October around the same time that IBM announced the fall Technology Refresh for IBM i 7.6 TR1 and 7.5 TR7, will replace Watson Code Assist as the primary coding co-pilot developed from large language models.
Bob ostensibly is a coding co-pilot, which was one of two categories of generative AI tools to establish themselves in the public domain. Early LLMs like OpenAI GPT-1 were being played around with and adopted via tools like Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, which was released in 2021, a full year before OpenAI ignited the GenAI revolution with ChatGPT. Similarly, large retailers and telecom companies were using open source LLMs like Google BERT to build customer service chatbots to cut call center headcount well before that historic ChatGPT moment occurred in late November 2022.
But Bob is much more than a coding co-pilot, according to Will, who provided a detailed look at Bob’s futuristic capabilities in a recent IBM i Guided Tour. “Bob has exploded our capabilities,” Will said. “It’s more than just a chatbot. It’s more than just a code assistant. It can understand what you are trying to do.”
Regular Joe or Super Bob?
IBM is developing Bob with six main themes, or modes, in mind. These include understand, explain, refactor, generate, transform, and test. Much of the work is done in the context of application modernization. IBM i shops have a ton of legacy code – or “legendary code,” as one IBM exec recently called it – that needs to be brought into the present. But modernizing the syntax of RPG is only part of the problem.
Bob’s core capabilities fall into these categories. (Source: IBM)
Other factors come into play during application modernization projects. Sure, you might be able to upgrade fixed-format RPG III code into fixed-format ILE RPG IV code. That would be an improvement. You might also be able to move from fixed-format RPG IV code into free-format RPG IV code. That would also be an improvement. That code could also be converted to Java, which may also be an improvement.
Bob is expected to do all of these things, and more. But there are other variables and concerns that come up during application modernization projects. What if a mix of Java and RPG is best for performance? What about SQL and database access? How can you best architect the modernized application? And importantly, how can you ensure it will be secure?
Many of these questions go beyond the abilities normally expected in a midrange developer. They cross the lines into other roles, such as system architect, database engineer, and security analyst. Ideally, an IBM i shop would have access to this expertise during the course of an application modernization project. But that doesn’t always happen, thanks in part to the shortage of IBM i skills.
This is where Bob comes in. The way IBM is developing it, Bob will provide expertise within all of those areas.
Whole-of-Bob Approach
Bob will be able to assist with multiple steps during the application modernization process, Will said, not just in RPG, CL, and SQL, but also COBOL, Java, and Python. Plus, it knows English and Spanish, and other languages, too.
“Bob’s capabilities extend beyond RPG to all of these programming languages,” Will said. “We know that most people who develop new things on RPG are using the most modern version of RPG, and it turns out Bob is really good at that. But Bob can also handle those other things.”
Bob provides an interactive developer experience as plug-in for VS. Code (Source: IBM)
About 70 percent of IBM i shops run homegrown applications. Many of those applications were written 20 to 40 years ago and need to be updated. But modernization requires folks who understand that old code, and most IBM i shops don’t have those highly skilled programmers, Will said. Bob will be able to step in and fill that function. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg that is Bob.
During his demo, Will showed what a developer interaction with Bob will look like during the explanation process. Bob has a built-in knowledge about IBM, and it has an idea about the information it needs during the modernization process, such as file names, program structures, program flow, and details about SQL.
“I would expect any code assistant to be able to do that. Our early version of our code assistant [Watson Code Assist] would be doing something similar to this,” Will said. “But a lot of what I’m going to show you now is how project Bob delivers you something that is more than just explanations.”
Bob’s Super Powers
For instance, once Bob had explained how the program worked, Will asked it if there are any parts of this program which could be improved? “So now we are definitely beyond what a traditional code assistant is helping you to do,” Will explained.
Bob is more than just a chatbot or a co-pilot. (Source: IBM)
Bob made some recommendations in Will’s demo. The error handling was limiting and could be more modular. It could use the SQL better than. The user interface is also limited, Will said. “There are some modern RPG practices this does not seem to use,” he said. “It’s very, very poorly documented.”
Bob can also spot security problems in IBM i applications. In his demo, Will asked Bob for specific security recommendations as it relates to a database structure, and Bob responded by saying that the application had excessive public access.
“There’s sensitive data that can be exposed,” Will said. “The ownership for this thing is not what you might want it to be. It gave a list of very IBM specific information – attack vectors, security potential exposures.”
Will said that he would not have thought to add “security analyst” to the list of features to be developed in Bob. You are going beyond the realm of what code assistant’s traditionally do when you ask it to validate the advice the AI is giving you from a security perspective, Will said.
“It’s more than a code assistant,” he continued. “It knows things about IBM i and how IBM i can be attacked, what you ought to do when you’re writing a piece of software for IBM i and it can try to answer you. This is way more than a code assistant.”
IBM wanted to check all the boxes with Bob, and make sure it could accurate reflect the knowledge and recommendations in the IBM manuals. But Bob goes beyond that, and brings some “special sauce” that will make for a better experience, Will said.
“Bob is more than just a chat. It’s more than just a code assistant,” he said. “It can understand what you’re trying to do. It interacts and it asks clarifying questions. It can be redirected.”
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