• 80,000+ IBM staff presently utilizing IBM Bob; surveyed customers report common 45% productiveness acquire
• Multi-model orchestration robotically routes every activity to an appropriate mannequin based mostly on accuracy, efficiency, and price
• Goes past code era to automate full software program growth lifecycle workflows
• Governance, compliance, and safety controls constructed into each step
Apr 28, 2026
ARMONK, N.Y., April 28, 2026 — IBM (NYSE: IBM) right now introduced the worldwide availability of IBM Bob, an AI-first growth companion constructed for enterprise groups. Bob doesn’t simply assist builders write code quick. It really works throughout the complete software program growth lifecycle (SDLC), from planning and coding to testing, deployment, and modernization, with the governance and safety controls enterprises want.
AI is altering how software program will get constructed. However for many enterprises, that pace is working headfirst into a long time of collected complexity: legacy programs, hybrid environments, compliance necessities, and the very actual value of getting it mistaken. Quick AI with out the proper guardrails just isn’t progress. It’s simply sooner threat.
IBM Bob is designed to shut that hole. It’s constructed on a structured framework that embeds Bob into each position throughout the event course of – together with persona-based modes, enforced requirements, reusable playbooks, software calling, and human-in-the-loop governance – so groups can transfer quick whereas staying in management.
Key capabilities embrace:
- AI-first SDLC orchestration: It’s estimated that a good portion of growth effort is fragmented throughout instruments, roles, and lifecycle levels—slowing supply and introducing threat. Bob embeds agentic AI throughout your complete SDLC—from discovery and planning by means of design, coding, testing, deployment, and operations—coordinating specialised role-based brokers, reusable expertise, and ruled workflows.
- Clever modernization: It’s estimated that 60–80% of growth budgets go towards modernization efforts that may take weeks or months.1 Bob coordinates specialised brokers throughout code, assessments, documentation, and pipelines to execute full modernization duties. For instance, Bob helped cloud options and consulting providers firm Blue Pearl conduct a typical 30-day Java improve in simply 3 days, saving over 160 engineering hours.2
- Safety controls inbuilt from day one: AI isn’t simply accelerating software program growth; it’s reworking the safety panorama and introducing new dangers. Bob consists of immediate normalization, delicate knowledge scanning, real-time coverage enforcement, and AI red-teaming instantly throughout the growth workflow, not as an afterthought.
- Auditability: AI-generated code can attain manufacturing with out ample evaluation, creating compliance blind spots. Bob’s CLI (BobShell) creates self-documenting agentic processes in actual time, so each motion is traceable from begin to end.
- Multi-model orchestration: Bob dynamically routes duties to an appropriate mannequin based mostly on accuracy, efficiency, and price, drawing on a mixture of frontier fashions together with Anthropic Claude, Mistral open supply fashions, and IBM Granite, alongside specialised fine-tuned fashions for code reasoning, safety, and next-edit prediction. Easier completions go to lighter fashions. Advanced duties go to extra succesful ones. The objective: higher outcomes and decrease spend.
- Transparency and developer management: Bob’s approval mannequin lets builders configure checkpoints that match their workflow, from handbook approvals to auto-approve by activity kind, maintaining people within the loop.
“Each enterprise is racing to modernize. However pace with out management and transparency is a legal responsibility. IBM Bob is how enterprises can transfer at AI pace with out sacrificing the governance and safety wants their companies require. Bob was engineered by builders inside IBM for the thousands and thousands like them worldwide, and it’s the muse on which enterprises will develop into actually AI-first.” — Dinesh Nirmal, Senior Vice President, IBM Software program
Cease managing fashions. Begin managing outcomes.
Enterprises haven’t got a mannequin drawback. They’ve an end result consistency drawback. As AI adoption matures, the problem is not which mannequin to make use of, it is learn how to persistently get one of the best consequence throughout a quickly evolving panorama with out making mannequin choice an ongoing engineering distraction.
Bob handles this robotically. It attracts on a mixture of frontier LLMs, open supply fashions, IBM Granite SLMs, and specialised fine-tuned fashions to route every activity to an appropriate mannequin based mostly on accuracy, latency, and price throughout the complete SDLC, from planning and coding to testing and validation. With pass-through pricing and utilization visibility, organizations can align AI spend to actual outcomes moderately than experimentation.
“Builders want a system that understands the complete context of their work and may act on it. That is what we constructed with Bob. It is an agentic platform that embeds an AI companion into each position throughout the SDLC, from the architect sketching a design to the safety engineer reviewing code earlier than it ships. We constructed Bob round a easy perception: mannequin functionality alone is not sufficient. The way you deploy it, the way you construction context, and the way you retain people within the loop is what determines whether or not AI really delivers. With Bob, we’re serving to builders to automate the mundane, and increase the difficult.” — Neel Sundaresan, Basic Supervisor, Automation & AI, IBM Software program
Confirmed at scale inside IBM
Bob launched inside IBM in June 2025 with 100 builders. It’s now in use by greater than 80,000 IBM staff worldwide. These surveyed have self-reported a median productiveness acquire of 45% throughout modernization, safety, and new growth work. On particular duties, the numbers had been larger:
- Builders surveyed from the IBM Instana group reported a median 70% discount in time spent on chosen duties, equaling a median time financial savings of 10 hours per week.
- The IBM Maximo developer group examined Bob for varied code era and refactoring duties, together with updating code – duties that usually take days. With Bob, the group was in a position to full the duties in hours, leading to an estimated 69% time financial savings.
Actual-world outcomes
Ernst & Younger is utilizing IBM Bob to speed up modernization of their international tax platform by automating code refactoring, take a look at era, and documentation.
“Creating enterprise platforms isn’t nearly pace. It’s about understanding deeply embedded logic, sustaining architectural requirements, and evolving programs responsibly. EY groups leveraged IBM Bob to use AI to higher interpret advanced logic and streamline how adjustments are launched, serving to create a stronger basis for scalable transformation.”
— Christopher Aiken, Tax Platforms Chief and Chief Product Officer, Ernst & Younger, LLP
Blue Pearl used Bob to speed up supply throughout its BlueApp platform. Work that sometimes required weeks of engineering effort was accomplished in three days, with zero defects post-deployment and over 160 hours saved by means of automated refactoring.
“Working with IBM by means of Bob…enabled us to ship measurable worth.” — Saireshan Govender, Group CEO, Blue Pearl
APIS IT used Bob to modernize mission-critical authorities programs spanning a long time of technical debt, together with mainframe and .NET environments. Bob produced 10x sooner structure evaluation and documentation, with 100% accuracy in documenting legacy JCL/PL/I programs, and migrated advanced .NET providers in hours moderately than weeks.
“Bob migrated our advanced .NET providers in hours as an alternative of weeks.” — Veran Pokornić, Answer Architect, APIS IT
Availability
IBM Bob is now typically obtainable as a SaaS providing, together with a complimentary 30-day trial alongside particular person and enterprise plans. On-premises deployment is focused sooner or later for organizations with knowledge residency or regulatory necessities. To entry Bob, go to bob.ibm.com.
IBM Bob represents the evolution of IBM’s code assistants, elevating capabilities to an end-to-end supply mannequin that delivers a step-change in productiveness, modernization, and coordination throughout the SDLC. Present WCA purchasers will proceed to be totally supported and can have an adoption path to Bob.
Supporting Supplies:
Weblog: Shifting from AI-assisted coding to AI-assisted delivery with IBM Bob
Weblog: Introducing the IBM Bob Premium Package for Z
About IBM
IBM is a number one supplier of worldwide hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting experience. We assist purchasers in additional than 175 nations capitalize on insights from their knowledge, streamline enterprise processes, scale back prices and acquire the aggressive edge of their industries. 1000’s of governments and company entities in crucial infrastructure areas similar to monetary providers, telecommunications and healthcare depend on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Pink Hat OpenShift to impact their digital transformations shortly, effectively and securely. IBM’s breakthrough improvements in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud options and consulting ship open and versatile choices to our purchasers. All of that is backed by IBM’s long-standing dedication to belief, transparency, duty, inclusivity and repair. Go to www.ibm.com for extra data.
Media contact:
Sarah Benchaita
Software program Communications, IBM
sarah.benchaita@ibm.com