watsonx.data
The open, hybrid data-lakehouse component of IBM's watsonx platform, generally available since July 2023, whose documented data sources include a native IBM Db2 for i connection for querying and cataloging IBM i data.
watsonx.data is the data-lakehouse component of IBM's watsonx platform, announced in May 2023 at IBM Think and generally available from July 2023. It separates compute, metadata and storage layers so open query engines such as Presto and Spark can work against shared data without copying it, and it ships in several deployment forms, including a self-contained Developer edition. Its documentation lists IBM Db2 for i as a supported data source, configured with a hostname, port, username, password and an optional SSL toggle. IBM notes that in the Data Manager UI several statements against a Db2 for i source, including CREATE TABLE, DROP TABLE and DELETE, are not available, and that REAL column values can appear rounded due to binary floating-point representation. This makes watsonx.data, rather than watsonx Assistant or watsonx Orchestrate, the first watsonx-branded product with a documented, direct Db2 for i connector, distinct from IBM Bob reaching Db2 for i through the IBM i MCP Server.
Related Terms
watsonx
IBM's platform for AI and data, spanning watsonx.ai (foundation models and generative AI), watsonx.data (data store), and watsonx.governance (AI governance), with watsonx Assistant and watsonx Orchestrate built on top.
watsonx.ai
The studio component of watsonx for building, tuning, and deploying foundation models and generative AI applications, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) against enterprise data.
Db2 for i
The relational database management system built into every IBM i operating system, tightly integrated with IBM i rather than a separately installed database product.
IBM i MCP Server
An open-source, IBM-published server implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP), letting AI agents and LLMs query Db2 for i data and take defined actions on IBM i using natural language. In beta since October 2025.