IBM launches Watsonx Code Assistant for enterprises

Tech giant IBM has introduced Watsonx Code Assistant, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool designed to assist enterprise developers and IT operators code more efficiently using natural language prompts. 

The product focuses on two primary enterprise use cases. First, it aids in IT Automation through Watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed, which helps with tasks like network configuration and code deployment. Second, it supports mainframe application modernisation with Watsonx Code Assistant for Z, facilitating the translation of COBOL to Java on IBM Z. 

This tool is built to speed up development while upholding key principles of trust, security, and compliance. It harnesses generative AI based on IBM's Granite foundation models for code that runs on the Watsonx platform. Granite utilises the decoder architecture to predict the next steps in a sequence, making it valuable for natural language processing tasks. IBM is also exploring ways to enhance Watsonx Code Assistant with domain-specific generative AI capabilities for code generation, explanations, and the full software development lifecycle to drive enterprise application modernisation. 

According to a report by IDC published in September, this AI-powered tool improves code quality by promoting coding best practices and reducing the reliance on unverified code repositories. 

Kareem Yusuf, Senior Vice President of Product Management and Growth at IBM Software, stated, “Watsonx Code Assistant puts AI-assisted code development and application modernisation tools directly into the hands of developers to help address skills gaps and increase productivity.” 

The launch of Watsonx Code Assistant adds to IBM's suite of Watsonx assistants, which includes Orchestrate and Assistant, all dedicated to making generative AI accessible and seamless for enterprises. 

Preliminary data from the technical preview of this tool shows a productivity increase of 20-45%, with an impressive 85% acceptance rate for AI-generated content recommendations, the company shared. 

IBM's long-term partnership with the IT firm TCS has been instrumental in developing and deploying this tool, as per the company. Together, they have created a comprehensive practice for in-place application modernization. Given its potential to boost developer productivity, the tool is poised to have applications on the mainframe.