IBM watsonx Code Assistant for Z

IBM watsonx Code Assistant for Z is a commercial, generative-AI-assisted IBM product, announced on August 22, 2023, that works inside the developer's IDE on COBOL and PL/I applications running on IBM Z. IBM's product page describes COBOL-to-Java transformation paired with generated unit tests that compare the Java service with the original COBOL, and says the Java is meant to interoperate with IBM Z runtimes. PL/I support on that page covers analysis, explanation and refactoring, not Java transformation. IBM's version 2.6 announcement lists code explanation for COBOL, JCL, PL/I and REXX, an Assembler preview, and COBOL code generation.

The NOSI case study describes a pilot on two COBOL applications and a subsequent decision to retain IBM Z. It supports a code-comprehension use case; it does not document a completed Java conversion. The productivity figures in it are IBM-published and not independently verified.