i-UG i-Power Conference 2026

REST APIs are everywhere, and increasingly IBM i applications need to talk to them — whether that's consuming external services or connecting with modern web platforms. In this session, I'll show you how to integrate your IBM i applications with REST APIs using open source tooling available on the platform. I'll touch on the range of options available to IBM i developers, before taking a deep dive into Scott Klement's HTTPAPI service program — a well-established and widely used open source library that makes HTTP communication from IBM i practical and approachable for RPGLE developers. I'll cover the key concepts you need to understand, walk through how HTTPAPI works in practice, and demonstrate how you can get your IBM i applications communicating with external REST APIs without leaving the platform you know.

Your Server, Your AI: Agentic Workloads on IBM Power With or Without Spyre
IBM Power can run agentic AI workloads without dedicated GPU infrastructure — and the Spyre Accelerator makes them faster when you need it. This session looks at both approaches: running AI agents directly on Power using CPU-based inference and then adding in Spyre acceleration.
Note: We have Spyre running in our dev environment on a beautiful Power 1122 server, ready for real-life test and dev of customer use-cases.
We'll touch on governance, data security and integrity; plus describe how to start small and build up your AI journey safely and efficiently with your IBM Power workload.
We'd LOVE THIS TO BE AN INTERACTIVE SESSION session so bring your thoughts and questions and we'll bring the answers and advice!!

In this session, I'll share my real-world experience using an AI code assistant as part of my development workflow when building open source applications. As an IBM i developer who also works with Node.js and other open source languages and frameworks, I'll walk through three different IBM i related open source projects where I've put AI assistance to work — giving you a broad view of how it performs across different contexts and challenges. This isn't a theoretical look at AI in development; it's an honest account of what has worked well in practice, where the tools genuinely add value, and what you need to keep in mind when bringing AI into your own workflow. Whether you're curious about AI assistants or already experimenting with them, this session will give you a grounded, practical perspective from someone actively using them day to day.
My code assistant of choice is Claude but it's less about the code assistant and more about the opportunity code assistants have provided.

RPG has evolved — fast. This session shows you the modern language updates and techniques that make today’s IBM i development cleaner, sharper and dramatically easier to maintain. From fully free‑format coding to embedded SQL and contemporary modular patterns, you’ll see what “modern RPG” really looks like in 2026.
We’ll also go beyond the language itself and show how to combine RPG with ILE to get maximum return from the platform. By structuring applications with service programs, activation groups and modular design, you’ll learn how to build faster, more reliable and more maintainable solutions that deliver real business value. If you want to sharpen your skills, modernise your applications and help your organisation get more from IBM i, this session gives you the clarity and confidence to move forward.

Visual Studio Code is everywhere — but so is its telemetry. For IBM i developers who want the power of the VS Code ecosystem without the data collection, VS Codium offers a clean, open‑source alternative that keeps your workflow fast, modern and private. This session cuts through the confusion and shows exactly what you gain (and what you don’t lose) by making the switch.