LIVE SIGNALS
SIG-05 Feb 2026 jobs report · 92K jobs lost vs. +59K expected · posture gap made visible in labor market data
SIG-06 SWE-CI benchmark · 75%+ regression rates across 233-day production timelines · EvoScore as the right evaluation frame
SIG-07 Andrew Yang at Abundance Summit · the pulled rung · pyramid to column · knowledge pipeline eliminated before transfer happens
SIG-08 Yang's 1–3 year window · social contract rupture threshold · posture is not only operational — it is the question of what org you are building
STAT 94% of orgs adopting AI · 44% have a security plan · 72% scaled · 33% governed
STAT 6% EBIT impact from readiness gap · 79% experiment · 8.6% in production
SIG-05 Feb 2026 jobs report · 92K jobs lost vs. +59K expected · posture gap made visible in labor market data
SIG-06 SWE-CI benchmark · 75%+ regression rates across 233-day production timelines · EvoScore as the right evaluation frame
SIG-07 Andrew Yang at Abundance Summit · the pulled rung · pyramid to column · knowledge pipeline eliminated before transfer happens
SIG-08 Yang's 1–3 year window · social contract rupture threshold · posture is not only operational — it is the question of what org you are building
STAT 94% of orgs adopting AI · 44% have a security plan · 72% scaled · 33% governed
STAT 6% EBIT impact from readiness gap · 79% experiment · 8.6% in production
09
Signal 09
The Protocol Signal
The Bridge Has a Name. It's Live.
IBM, October 2025 → 2026 — IBM releases the IBM i MCP Server. Tech preview shipped at TechXchange 2025. Production-ready documentation published under Apache 2.0. 500 tools targeted for 2026.
For years, the practical barrier to connecting IBM i to the modern AI ecosystem wasn't the data or the logic — it was the interface. Model Context Protocol changes that. MCP is the tool protocol — the layer that defines what an agent is authorized to access, execute, and observe. IBM shipped the implementation. The supported client list covers the entire AI development ecosystem: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, VSCode, Cursor, Windsurf, and more. IBM is not picking winners on the client side. They're building for the whole ecosystem.
"Our team has made an initial version of an IBM i MCP server available, and we've set a goal to produce at least 500 tools in 2026."
— IBM i MCP Server documentation · IBM · 2025–2026
The bridge isn't coming. It's here. The question is whether your organization walks across it.
10
Signal 10
The API Signal
Mapepire: The Db2 You Already Have, Now Callable.
IBM, 2024–2025 — Mapepire ships as IBM's open-source database access layer for IBM i. Db2 data and business logic exposed over WebSocket connections. No disruption to what's running. Multiple agentic frameworks confirmed working.
The fear that stopped most IBM i modernization conversations was legitimate: you can't touch what's running. Mapepire is different. It sits above the Sovereign Core — RPG and Db2 stay exactly as they are. Mapepire makes them callable via WebSocket, optimized for the request-response patterns AI agents actually use. In July 2025, Seiden Group — one of the IBM i community's most respected independent consultancies — announced production support for Mapepire, noting that many developers already rely on it as the back-end to the Db2 for i extension for VS Code.
"Mapepire bridges the gap by providing a modern, WebSocket-based SQL query interface that's optimized for the request/response patterns of AI agents and MCP tools."
— IBM i MCP Server documentation · IBM · 2025–2026
The data didn't have to move. The bridge came to it.
11
Signal 11
The Stack Signal
The Four Layers Are Named. All of Them Exist Today.
IBM, 2025–2026 — The complete IBM i agentic stack specified and documented. Four layers. Each named. Each available now. Not a roadmap — a deployable architecture.
Layer 1: The Sovereign Core — RPG and Db2, untouched. Layer 2: Mapepire — the API bridge, Db2 now callable. Layer 3: The Agentic Layer — Python orchestration via LangChain or Agno, MCP protocol bridge, agents that Think → Act → Observe in loops. Layer 4: The Modern Surface — React or Next.js, business users change system behavior without writing code. The overnight batch job becomes an observable, auditable, agent-driven process. Each layer has a distinct responsibility. Nothing bleeds across the boundary.
"Each layer has a distinct responsibility. MCP is the protocol bridge, not the orchestrator. Nothing bleeds across the boundary."
— IBM i Agentic Architecture · IBM · 2025–2026
This is not a future state. It is the current state for organizations that have made the decision to move. The stack is here. The question is the decision.
12
Signal 12
The Native Signal
The Stack Is Still Expanding.
IBM, 2025 → — IBM develops an experimental SDK that lets RPG programs call AI models directly via embedded SQL. No new language. No new architecture. One SQL function connects existing business logic to any LLM endpoint. Currently in active development.
The four-layer stack is deployable today. But IBM is building the next layer — one that would let existing RPG code participate in AI workflows without a rewrite. The SDK, currently documented as experimental, targets watsonx, Ollama, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. IBM's own GitHub describes it as "in bringup state" and not yet production-ready. The direction is clear. The organizations that understand the current stack now will be positioned to extend it when this capability arrives.
The core stack is deployable today. The ecosystem is still expanding. Both things are true — and both matter for the decision you're making right now.
— Signal4i analysis · Vol. 3 · March 15, 2026
The ones that wait for the complete picture will be starting from scratch at that point.
About Signal4i
Signal4i is a practitioner-facing publication tracking the AI signals that matter for IBM i organizations. Not predictions. Not vendor positioning. Events that have happened, data that has landed, and what they mean for the organizations running the world's most resilient enterprise platform.
Published by a CTO who has spent 30 years on the platform — and is watching what's coming.
The Thesis
The IBM i platform runs roughly half the world's business transactions. The people who understand it — deeply, operationally, across decades of business logic — are exactly what the agentic economy is going to need.
The gap isn't the technology. The gap is the posture. Signal4i exists to close it.