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.
What is inside watsonx
watsonx is not one product. It is a brand name for a group of IBM products that each do a different job.
The watsonx family
| Product | What it does |
|---|---|
| watsonx.ai | Build and run foundation models and generative AI apps |
| watsonx.data | An open data store |
| watsonx.governance | Governs AI across its whole lifecycle |
| watsonx Assistant | Chatbots and virtual assistants, built on top |
| watsonx Orchestrate | AI agents that automate work, built on top |
Where IBM i fits in watsonx
IBM's IBM i coding assistant started inside the watsonx brand and ended up outside it. The two only met again in August 2026.
How IBM i and watsonx crossed
- Nov 2025IBM previews watsonx Code Assistant for i.
- Mar 2026IBM Bob reaches general availability, outside the watsonx brand, and replaces that preview.
- Jun 24, 2026Bob 2.0 ships with the Bob Premium Package for i.
- Aug 2026watsonx Orchestrate adds a Build with Bob option, listed by IBM as a preview.
Can watsonx read your Db2 for i data?
One member can. watsonx.data lists Db2 for i as a supported data source. watsonx Assistant and watsonx Orchestrate ship no IBM i connector, so an agent built there reaches Db2 for i through the IBM i MCP Server or your own integration code.
Related Terms
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.
watsonx Assistant
IBM's general-purpose conversational AI platform for building customer-facing and employee-facing chatbots and virtual assistants; not IBM i-specific.
watsonx Orchestrate
IBM's AI agent and automation platform for orchestrating multi-step business workflows across enterprise applications. Since August 2026 it can launch IBM Bob from its Create an agent dialog through a Build with Bob preview, but it still ships no IBM i or Db2 for i connector.
IBM Bob (Project Bob)
IBM's generally available AI coding agent for IBM i, built as a fork of Visual Studio Code and tuned for RPG, CL, DDS, and SQL. Reached GA on March 24, 2026; Bob 2.0 and the IBM i-specific Bob Premium Package for i shipped June 24, 2026.
Build with Bob
An option added to watsonx Orchestrate's Create an agent dialog in the August 2026 release, listed by IBM as a preview, that launches IBM Bob into a workspace wired to your Orchestrate tenant to generate agents, tools and workflows from natural language.