Talsco Weekly: Why IBM i Modernization Needs Leadership

Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

IBM i Brief: 🤝 IBM acquires Confluent for hybrid cloud AI. 🖥️ IBM emerges as superior AI investment.
AI: 👷‍♂️ IBM opens Project Bob preview to developers. 🤝 AI leadership demands new technical fluency.
Development: 🔓 RPG developer champions free-format coding evolution. 📅 IBM i adds new RPG date formats.
ERP: ⚡ ERP systems must accelerate for AI.
Learning: 🎥 IBM i architects hit 100 iSee episodes.
Modernization: Why IBM i Modernization Projects Need an Embedded Owner.
Open Source: ➕ Seiden PHP+ brings PHP 8.5 to IBM i. 🔒 Node.js releases critical security updates.
Trends: 🚗 Rivian unveils comprehensive AI strategy.

IBM i Brief

🤝 IBM acquires Confluent for hybrid cloud AI

This email was sent to all IBMers, so I thought all IBM i-ers should get it also:

IBM announced a definitive agreement to acquire Confluent, a strategic move accelerating its hybrid cloud and AI strategy. The acquisition brings real-time data streaming capabilities that will create a smart data platform for enterprise generative AI.

Confluent’s event-driven architecture will serve as the foundation for IBM’s AI workloads, positioning the combined entity to address enterprise bottlenecks in AI deployment by enabling clean, connected data to flow in real-time across systems.

The acquisition follows IBM’s Red Hat and HashiCorp purchases, positioning IBM to compete with Salesforce and Oracle in AI-driven data governance. The deal closes mid-2026.

Why this matters for IBM:

The AI market is consolidating, and speed is everything. By buying specialized capabilities instead of building them, IBM strengthens its position in enterprise-focused, domain-specific AI. Thus, reinforcing IBM’s role in delivering practical, real-world AI solutions.

🖥️ IBM emerges as superior AI investment

IBM’s $9.5 billion AI business and profitable Q3 demonstrate market success, while its Nighthawk quantum processor approaches quantum advantage in 2026.

Competitor Quantum Computing Inc. generated only $384,000 in Q3 revenue against $10.5 million operating costs. IBM’s 30-year dividend streak, 2% yield, and lower price-to-sales ratio make it the better AI stock choice over speculative quantum startups.

AI

👷‍♂️ IBM opens Project Bob preview to developers

IBM is expanding access to Project Bob, its AI-assisted development tool for IBM i, inviting developers to explore early capabilities and shape the platform’s future.

The preview offers hands-on experience with AI-powered RPG, CL, and SQL development before official launch.

Developers can register to test features, provide feedback, and influence IBM i modernization direction. Early testers report impressive results with edge-case handling.

🤝 AI leadership demands new technical fluency

Three experts—including former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon—emphasized that business leaders must balance AI adoption with human judgment and ethical governance.

Leaders need technical literacy to assess AI risks while empowering teams to solve problems collaboratively. The fundamental responsibilities of ethical leadership remain constant, but executives must now orchestrate human-machine partnerships, establish clear AI guidelines, and maintain realistic expectations about the technology’s capabilities and limitations.

Development

🔓 RPG developer champions free-format coding evolution

Ditch fixed-format RPG’s cryptic columns and indicators for modern free-format syntax that’s readable and maintainable.

Why Free-Format?

Fixed-format RPG is like driving a 1980s Volvo: reliable, boxy, and indestructible… but not exactly sleek. Free-format, on the other hand, is like upgrading to a Tesla with its clean lines, modern syntax, and fewer chances of falling asleep at the wheel. - Nick Litten

The transformation replaces archaic op codes like COMP, GOTO, and CASXX with structured alternatives including IF/ENDIF loops and named procedures.

Free-format modernizes arrays, data structures, and conditionals while eliminating spaghetti code, making RPG accessible to contemporary developers without sacrificing IBM i’s legendary reliability.

📅 IBM i adds new RPG date formats

IBM i 7.6 TR1 and 7.5 TR7 introduce three century-inclusive date formats to address the 2040 date problem: *DMYY (DD/MM/YYYY), *MDYY (MM/DD/YYYY), and *YYMD (YYYY/MM/DD).

These formats work with existing date BiFs like %CHAR, %DEC, and %DATE, plus MOVE and TEST operations. The *MDYY format produces identical output to *USA, while *DMYY offers a cleaner alternative to *EUR for UK developers.

ERP

⚡ ERP systems must accelerate for AI

As artificial intelligence transforms business operations, traditional ERP systems face pressure to process data and decisions at unprecedented speeds. Organizations need to modernize their enterprise resource planning infrastructure to support real-time AI-driven insights and automation.

Leading edge companies no longer see ERP as a back-office ledger but as a decision platform that connects operations, finance, and customer data in one intelligent system.

Legacy systems built for monthly reporting cycles cannot meet the demands of AI applications requiring instantaneous data access and processing.

Companies investing in cloud-based, API-enabled ERP platforms position themselves to leverage AI capabilities effectively and maintain competitive advantage in an increasingly automated business landscape.

Learning

🎥 IBM i architects hit 100 iSee episodes

In the darkest days of the 2020 pandemic, with COVID lockdowns in full force, IBM i business architects Tim Rowe and Scott Forstie decided to try something new: start a video blog blending technical content about ACS and SQL services with humor and cartoon illustrations.

The 10-15 minute episodes, hosted on COMMON’s website, deliver practical tips while showcasing the duo’s decades-long partnership and playful chemistry. Now producing two episodes monthly, they continue educating IBM i professionals with accessible, entertaining content that bridges in-person events.

Thanks to COMMON for hosting this blog series—it’s one of the most watched and celebrated learning content series in the IBM i community.

Fun fact: COMMON has been around for 65 years and started out as “The 1620 Users Group”.

Modernization

⚙️Why IBM i Modernization Projects Need an Embedded Owner I’ve been thinking about the downstream effects of modernization projects—the ripple impacts that aren’t always obvious at first. Too often, modernization projects are led by people who don’t fully understand how their changes will affect the rest of the organization. In addition, we see many IBM i shops try to modernize, but fail to get anywhere. Yet, others seem to get it right. What are they doing differently? I recently came across an article about Robert Lupton. Nothing related to the IBM i by any means, but his work is relevant. Robert Lupton is a community developer with a distinctive approach to charity work. Unlike many charitable organizations that attempt to help communities from a distance, Lupton commits to living in the communities he serves—often for 10 years or more. He doesn’t rush in and make drastic changes. Instead, he takes time to understand the downstream effects his interventions will have on the community.

Robert Lupton is a community developer who believes real change only happens from the inside. He lives in the neighborhoods he works to restore, arguing that money and programs alone don’t fix broken systems—embedded leadership, long-term presence, and shared ownership do.

Think about ERP migrations or modernizations. The ones that fail do so because those who are implementing the changes, don’t stick around long enough to see the downstream effects of what they have done. You can’t just throw money or tools at the problem and expect transformation. Drive-by consulting fails for the same reason “drive-by charity” fails. Yes—use consultants. They are incredibly valuable to your project and bring the insight your organization must have. But modernization requires at least one embedded owner:

A dedicated internal modernization lead
Not a part-time responsibility
Not fully distracted by day-to-day operations

Consultants can accelerate. Vendors can advise. But only an internal, accountable modernization leader—working in the system every day—can make change stick. If no one owns modernization full-time, it isn’t modernization. It’s maintenance with better marketing. Need help, selecting and IBM i Modernization leader? This is what we do best. Schedule a call with us to find the right full-time modernization leader for your IBM i environment.

Open Source

➕ Seiden PHP+ brings PHP 8.5 to IBM i

The new release, available November 20, 2025, features fatal-error backtraces for better debugging and native glob() for improved filesystem handling. With PHP 8.1 reaching end-of-life December 31, 2025, IBM i users should upgrade to maintain security and support.

Seiden Group provides builds, guidance, and proactive support to ensure a dependable, modern PHP environment.

🔒 Node.js releases critical security updates

The Node.js project will release new versions across 25.x, 24.x, 22.x, and 20.x release lines on December 15, 2025, addressing multiple vulnerabilities including 3 high severity issues, 1 medium severity issue, and 1 low severity issue.

Users are urged to update to maintained versions as End-of-Life versions remain vulnerable during security releases.

Trends

🚗 Rivian unveils comprehensive AI strategy The electric automaker held its first Autonomy & AI Day, showcasing its vertically integrated approach including custom RAP1 processors, third-gen autonomy computers, and a Large Driving Model trained on fleet data. Rivian emphasizes owning the AI stack end-to-end, with applications spanning autonomous driving, predictive maintenance, and enterprise operations. Why this is important

Enterprises leveraging AI will move significantly faster than those that don’t. Organizations must operate under the assumption that the rate of change over the next five years will be much faster than the last five years—potentially an order of magnitude greater.

This creates a unique challenge for legacy organizations. Startups can build AI-first technology stacks from the ground up, giving them an apparent advantage. For established organizations running legacy and monolithic systems, integrating AI isn't as straightforward—but when done right, AI can unlock extraordinary value from decades of accumulated data and institutional knowledge that startups simply don't have.

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