IBM launched watsonx Code Assistant, a generative AI-powered assistant that helps enterprise developers and IT operators code more quickly and more accurately using natural language prompts. The product currently delivers on two specific enterprise use cases. First, IT Automation with watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed, for tasks such as network configuration and code deployment. Second, mainframe application modernization with watsonx Code Assistant for Z, for translation of COBOL to Java on IBM Z.1
“With this launch, watsonx Code Assistant joins watsonx Orchestrate and watsonx Assistant in IBM’s growing line of watsonx assistants that provide enterprises with tangible ways to implement generative AI. Watsonx Code Assistant puts AI-assisted code development and application modernization tools directly into the hands of developers – in a naturally integrated way that is designed to be non-disruptive – to help address skills gaps and increase productivity,” said Kareem Yusuf, Ph.D, Senior Vice-President, Product Management and Growth, IBM Software.
Additionally, IBM Consulting brings deep domain expertise across these use cases working closely with clients across industries such as banking, insurance, healthcare and government, to build strategies to allow them to take advantage of the potential of generative AI and code generation to accelerate modernization, according to an official statement by the company.
Moreover, with IBM watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed, platform users can input plain English prompts to automatically generate task recommendations for Ansible Playbooks that adhere to best practices in task creation and maintenance. This way, a greater number of team members can create Ansible Playbooks more efficiently and implement automation engineered to be more resilient and easier to support without in-depth training.
“Red Hat has already shown what domain-specific AI can do for IT automation at the community level. The release of watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed has the potential to close skills gaps, create greater organizational efficiencies and free enterprise IT to deliver even more business value,” said Ashesh Badani, Senior Vice-President and Chief Product Officer, Red Hat.
