A Promising Future: Why IBM i is Worth the Investment

Nirmal Khatri, VP of Technology, Programmers.io

Addressing IBM i/AS400’s “legacy” label – and how we're bridging the persisting retirement gap.

For enterprises worldwide, the IBM i (formerly AS400, iSeries) platform has powered mission-critical workloads for decades. Known for its legendary reliability, resilience, and uptime, IBM i has proven indispensable in high-volume industries like retail, manufacturing, logistics, finance, and healthcare. Yet with the advent of new technologies being developed at lightning speed, technology leaders are starting to wonder how the platform measures up against the competition.

IBM has responded by doubling  down on its commitment to bringing the IBM i platform into the age of AI, citing near back-to-back announcements on technology refreshes, tools, and updated support for modern environments. Even through AI-powered advancements, IBM i has retained support for both legacy and modern programming languages, allowing companies to extend existing applications, integrate with web and cloud services, and modernize without replacing core business systems.  

From a technical viewpoint, the IBM i/AS400 platform has long since evolved from its “legacy” misnomer, yet many monolithic, decades-old codebases remain today. Why?

With digital transformations driving the need for skilled talent, a critical challenge persists: the widening retirement gap in skills such as RPG, SQL, COBOL, and other core IBM i technologies. With most RPG developers nearing retirement age, the risk of losing decades of institutional knowledge is at an all-time high.

Programmers.io: Closing the Skills Gap

Programmers.io is dedicated to closing this gap; not only by seeking the top talent around the world for core IBM i skills, but by training the next generation of developers through structured training programs, continuous upskilling initiatives, and contributing innovative tools and thought leadership.

Building a Sustainable Network

With IBM i skills reported as a top concern among leaders planning IT initiatives, the first step to supporting the IBM i community is to revitalize IBM i's global talent pipeline. Building on this mission, Programmers.io applies a holistic approach to IBM i modernization, offering global access to niche expertise across strategic advisory, development, implementation, and support.

But the focus isn’t just on staff augmentation; rather, Programmers.io works to truly support the global talent pool by keeping their educational opportunities free, accessible, and up to date on the latest advancements.

Their cost-free internship program is endorsed through the IBM Power Skills Academy and has trained over 1,500 students to date. Additionally, any resources hired out of college will receive 1.5 years of hands-on experience before working individually on enterprise projects.

Through these efforts, Programmers.io now supports the world’s largest bench maintaining up to 350 IBM i professionals, including experienced advisors, PMs, and talent trained in AI-augmented productivity.

The Support of a Thriving Community

From smaller user groups to global-scale events, the IBM i community is voicing full optimism and support for the platform’s future. Organizations are sharing groundbreaking success stories. Attendance for these events is steadily climbing. Global organizations like COMMON are helping to drive interest through premier events like POWERUp, NAViGATE, and more, which drive thousands of students, professionals, and industry leaders to come together for the latest in IBM i education and innovation.

In 2025, Programmers.io partnered with COMMON to throw the first ever COMMON India event, which featured over 30 different workshops and keynote sessions from industry leaders around the world. Plans are in full effect to return COMMON India to Hyderabad in February 2026. 

Driving Innovation: Products & Modernization Tools

Their commitment to IBM i modernization goes beyond services and talent. Programmers.io has made significant investments in products that empower organizations to future-proof their IBM i environments:

• iA – AI-Powered Impact Analysis Tool:

A proprietary, AI-driven solution helps companies retain and leverage their existing knowledge base, making it easier to manage retiring skills and ensure continuity in mission-critical systems.

• DevOps for IBM i:

A comprehensive DevOps product that enables organizations to implement the latest GIT-based processes, meeting modern CI/CD guidelines and accelerating development cycles for IBM i applications.

• Modernization Suite:

A suite of modernization tools allows enterprises to convert traditional green screen interfaces into dynamic web interfaces on the fly, easily enhancing user experience and unlocking new business capabilities.

These innovations reflect Programmers.io’s vision to blend deep IBM i expertise with cutting-edge technology, further supporting the need for cost-effective IBM i resources and ensuring clients stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Conclusion

As technology continues to evolve, the true value of platforms like IBM i lies in their ability to adapt and empower organizations to innovate securely and efficiently. At Programmers.io, our mission is to not only preserve decades of critical expertise, but to foster a thriving ecosystem where new talent and seasoned professionals collaborate to drive transformation – for the decades ahead.

I believe that investing in IBM i modernization is an investment in resilience, agility, and future-ready growth. We invite industry leaders, partners, and aspiring technologists to join us in shaping the next chapter of enterprise innovation.