Talsco Weekly: RPG Transformation & Modern Capabilities

Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

IBM i Brief: ⏰ IBM i Updates for September 2025. 🔧 IBM i needs your security attention. 🚀 IBM and AMD power AI innovation.
AI: 📊GenAI rivals the Dot Com boom. 🔗 MCP Is Really A Big Deal, Here Is Why.
Career: 👔 IBM exec seeks entrepreneurial spirit in interviews.
Development: 🦋 RPG language undergoes remarkable evolution. 🎬 VS Code modernizes IBM i development.
Hiring: 🟦 RPG's Modern Evolution: Building an IBM i Flexible Team for an AI-Driven Future.
Learning: 👥 Developer Powerpack: SQL & React with Patrick Behr. 🍽️ System i Developer Event: Summit offers free IBM i lunch & learns.
Modernization: 🔄 Legacy systems fix data problems, not platforms.

IBM i Brief

⏰ IBM i Updates for September 2025

In case you missed it, here is the monthly update for September 2025 from Proximity Group.

It includes:

Key community news, led by IBM i 7.4 support ending on September 30, 2026
A comparison of IBM i's lifecycle to AIX and Linux
Positive cost-reduction findings from Kyndryl's modernization report
Announcement of the 2026 Forta Marketplace Survey opening

The update positions modernization and survey participation as essential steps for IT leaders preparing for the platform’s future. You can watch the 📺 video here for all of the details.

🔧 IBM i needs your security attention

This week brings two WebSphere Liberty security patches addressing denial of service vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-36097, CVE-2025-36047, CVE-2025-48976) and a security configuration vulnerability (CVE-2024-56339). Both issues share the same PTF numbers (SJ06595-SJ06601) across IBM i releases 7.2-7.6. Additionally, Power S924 server users should note the January 31, 2026 end of support date announced in letter AD25-0134.

🚀 IBM and AMD power AI innovation

Tech giants IBM and AMD are providing Zyphra with advanced AI infrastructure featuring AMD Instinct MI300X GPUs on IBM Cloud for training frontier multimodal models.

The $1B-valued open-source superintelligence lab will develop models across language, vision, and audio to power Maia, an enterprise productivity superagent.

This marks the first large-scale AMD full-stack deployment on IBM Cloud, expanding in 2026 and building on the companies' quantum-centric supercomputing partnership.

AI

📊GenAI rivals the Dot Com boom

Global spending on generative AI is soaring, echoing the internet-fueled surge of the late 1990s. IDC projects AI investments will climb from $430 billion in 2024 to $1.3 trillion by 2029, representing over 26% of IT budgets. While the Dot Com era drove about 22% of IT spending, today’s GenAI growth feels larger—yet still less than 1% of global GDP. The question remains: how do we truly measure the costs of the AI boom?

Our take:

🤖 AI is shaking up business models.

The Questions we should be asking but we are not.

While AI companies are raking in revenue, how much of it flows back out to large tech providers powering the infrastructure?

This dynamic mirrors the internet boom, which disrupted industries and forced new value chains. For software and ERP vendors reliant on seat-based models, AI and agents may render traditional licensing obsolete.

The real question: do we fully grasp the economic costs of the AI boom—or the entirely new business models it may spawn?

Do we really know what the economic costs are of AI?

I don’t think we do, so the key going forward is to be flexible in your IBM i Strategy, and get your house in order (see below).

🔗 MCP Is Really A Big Deal, Here Is Why

As an RPG Developer, exploring MCP is a valuable addition to your skill set - while you might not use it now, you will likely in the future. This is a worthwhile 📺 to watch as it highlights these key concepts:

MCP = Model Context Protocol — a standard for connecting large language models (LLMs) with external tools, data, and services.
MCP is more than just a convenience for “agentic desktop apps” — it’s foundational infrastructure for agentic microservices and next-gen AI systems.
It enables LLMs to go from passive text generation to actionable systems that can pull in data, call APIs, use real-time streams (e.g. from Kafka), and thus do useful work.

Career

👔 IBM exec seeks entrepreneurial spirit in interviews

Corinne Sklar, IBM VP and managing director of Salesforce, uses one key question to identify self-starters:

Tell me how you first made money.

The executive values candidates who drive strategy without permission, citing her own childhood entrepreneurship selling handmade bookmarks.

How did you first make money?

Development

🦋 RPG language undergoes remarkable evolution

Here Neal Whittle, puts RPG evolution in context.

Once a rigid, column-based code from the 1960s, modern RPG now features free-form syntax that's intuitive for developers familiar with Java, Python or C#.

It seamlessly integrates with IBM i systems while supporting APIs, modular programming, and contemporary testing frameworks.

RPG is no longer just a “report generator”. Businesses with decades of investment in RPG can continue to run mission-critical applications while still evolving with web services, REST APIs and integration into cloud-native architectures.

This transformation allows businesses to maintain mission-critical applications while evolving with web services and cloud integration, proving RPG isn't just surviving—it's thriving worldwide.

Join the conversation.

🎬 VS Code modernizes IBM i development

Nick Litten, in this video tutorial, guides you through transforming RPGLE and COBOL chaos into organized workflows using Visual Studio Code with Git integration.

The tutorial walks through essential extensions, smart folder structuring in IFS, and version control implementation that saves developers from endless headaches. By organizing source files logically and implementing proper Git practices, IBM i developers can escape the traditional green-screen limitations while preserving their legacy codebase.

Hiring

🟦 RPG's Modern Evolution: Building an IBM i Flexible Team for an AI-Driven Future

We know your leadership teams are discussing critical questions about IBM i modernization - here are the most common concerns we hear:

Unsure of where to start with your IBM i Modernization Strategy?
Do you feel paralyzed with indecision because it is hard to grasp what the future of AI will bring?

Or, is this what you are feeling?

Do you sense that your current leadership is tired, and simply wants to pass the buck down the road (or kick the can down the road)?

Despite the future technology unknowns, there is a common starting point, no matter what the future brings.

It is this and more that will be covered in this webinar.

You will learn how talent plays into the mix.
How security will play an even bigger role than you even think.
How understanding and cleaning up your data will be one of the single most important things you can do now.
And to put a wrapper around all of this, it is going to take a deep knowledge base of expertise to get this all done. Mentorship and training will be the key to it all.

Come join the panel of experts below for a thoughtful discussion that will help push you forward.

In a world racing toward AI transformation, organizations need strong foundations. Modern RPG offers powerful capabilities that align perfectly with today's digital demands while maintaining the stability IBM i systems are known for.

The time to modernize your foundation is now — not through costly platform replacements, but by leveraging RPG's remarkable evolution alongside proper data integration.

Learning

👥 Developer Powerpack: SQL & React with Patrick Behr

Get the best of both worlds with this comprehensive training package!

Master SQL fundamentals and React Hooks in one exceptional learning experience.

Ride the SQL Bullet Train 🚂 from zero to advanced concepts, then build modern interfaces with React Hooks - all guided by instructor Patrick Behr.

There is nobody better to put this puzzle 🧩 together than Patrick Behr.

When: October 9th 2025 - You won't find a better training value anywhere!

Where: Alioto's Bar & Grill, 3041 N Mayfair Rd, Wauwatosa, WI 53222

Who is this for? This training is perfect for anyone within a reasonable drive from Milwaukee, WI! Whether you're feeling behind the tech curve and need a boost, haven't attended training in ages, or simply want to stay ahead of the innovation game - ALL are welcome! Come sharpen your skills, meet fellow developers, and enjoy some learning with good food. Your future self will thank you!

🍽️ System i Developer Event: Summit offers free IBM i lunch & learns

This October-November 2025 series delivers 75-minute technical sessions featuring IBM i experts Jon, Susan, Patrick, Simon and Mike.

Each online event includes technical tips, demonstrations of IBM i development tools, and interactive Q&A sessions.

The "Summit Lunch & Learn Series" runs from October 21st through November 6th, offering valuable insights into the latest IBM i enhancements.

Registration is simple—just select your preferred sessions and complete the form to participate in these productive lunchtime learning opportunities.

Modernization

🔄 Legacy systems fix data problems, not platforms

Research reveals that most so-called legacy system issues are actually data problems in disguise.

Fix the data layer, then suddenly the system and you will figure out that your “outdated” is actually working fine.

By wrapping older systems with modern data integration layers, companies can avoid costly platform replacements while gaining real-time capabilities.

shops are backing away from big-bang platform replacements and instead taking a more tactical approach to application modernization. Wholesale migrations off the mainframe (i.e. IBM i, System Z, and Fujitsu big iron) remain exceedingly rare

With AI systems on the horizon, many organizations are pausing migration plans to potentially leapfrog directly to agentic architectures—saving millions while minimizing risk.

Our take:

🏡 Fix your foundation before considering new construction.

This shift in thinking means organizations should prioritize cleaning up their data infrastructure before committing to costly platform migrations. With the right team and proper data integration, your "legacy" systems might just be the stable foundation you need for future innovation.

Join

Contact us

If you are an RPG programmer looking to explore opportunities or a client who is looking for a talented IBM i professional, please contact us. We look forward to assisting you.

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