Bringing AI to Mainframe Data: Introducing IBM SQL Data Insights Pro
IBM is excited to announce IBM® SQL Data Insights Pro, a new AI-powered capability that uncovers hidden patterns in mission-critical data directly inside Db2 for z/OS.
IBM Z has served as the trusted system of record for high value transactional processing for decades. Within this transactional data are behavioral patterns that can reveal fraud risk, customer intent, operational anomalies and more. Yet many organizations still copy mainframe data to external analytics platforms, introducing unnecessary cost, operational complexity, data latency, governance and compliance risk.
SQL Data Insights Pro eliminates these challenges by bringing AI directly to Db2 for z/OS. Insights become available instantly and securely, without moving data off the platform.For example, a fraud analyst can begin with a known suspicious transaction and instantly find others exhibiting similar patterns—including signals hidden in payment descriptions without moving data off platform. And a customer analytics team can start with recently churned customers and identify others who show similar behaviors, enabling earlier intervention.
SQL Data Insights Pro delivers this by enabling organizations to analyze structured data—numbers, categories and more—and unstructured text together in place using a single unified model. With familiar SQL, teams can surface records that are similar in meaning, behavior or context—unlocking insights that traditional value‑based queries alone cannot detect.
SQL Data Insights Pro stands apart by bringing:
- Pattern and anomaly discovery: Detect signals, clusters, and unusual activity across large datasets without any risk or cost of moving data or impacting application SLAs.
- Unified structured and unstructured analysis: Unified relational data with notes, descriptions, or logs to uncover richer insights that would otherwise remain hidden.
- Quick time to value, without needing specialized AI skills: Data scientists are not required to build or operate AI pipelines. SQL Data Insights Pro integrates AI capabilities directly into Db2 for z/OS, allowing database professionals and analysts to run AI-powered queries using the skills they already have.
- Risk-free AI model training and incremental model retraining: Model training runs on IFLs, protecting critical Db2 workloads. Support for incremental retraining allows models to refresh efficiently using only new or changed data.
SQL Data Insights Pro opens new possibilities across industries. Here are a few examples teams within organizations can apply today:
- Customer analytics and personalization
- Customer retention: Identify customers who resemble those who recently canceled a service, helping teams intervene earlier.
- Product recommendation: Find customers whose purchase behavior resembles those who bought a particular product, enabling more targeted cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
- Fraud, risk and anomaly detection
- Fraud detection: Start with a known suspicious transaction and instantly find similar ones, including hidden behavioral patterns in text descriptions.
- Operational anomaly detection: Detect unusual systems or operational events by analyzing structured logs together with free-text messages.
- Data management
- Entity resolution: Resolve duplicate or incomplete customer profiles for unified customer view.
- These insights are generated without exporting data, without external AI stacks and without requiring data science expertise.
IBM SQL Data Insights Pro will be generally available on 20 March 2026. To help teams get started quickly, IBM will introduce industry‑specific starter kits shortly after GA. These kits include curated datasets, prebuilt AI models, and ready‑to‑use SQL AI queries that teams can adapt to their own data and business scenarios.
Source: IBM
Virtel 4.64 Now Available: Stronger Session Security, Enhanced Japanese Codepage Support, and Key Usability Improvements
Virtel has announced the availability of Virtel version 4.64, delivering major improvements in session protection, user experience for Japanese environments, and multiple maintenance updates aimed at increasing platform reliability and day-to-day administration efficiency.
Stronger protection for privileged and business-critical sessions
Virtel 4.64 introduces enforced 2FA session tokens, designed to reduce the risk of session theft and man-in-the-middle attacks. This capability is enabled via a new enhanced HDRSEC parameter, which can also be used to add security headers and optionally hide the HTTP “Server” header. When a connection attempt is detected with an invalid or missing session cookie, Virtel logs a new warning message to support rapid detection and response.
In addition, Virtel aligns passphrase management with common mainframe security managers by setting the maximum passphrase length to 100 characters, improving compatibility with RACF, TSS, and ACF2 environments.
Improved UX for Japanese users—and more flexibility for everyone
With Virtel 4.64, Japanese language support has been significantly enhanced with:
- Full support for IBM1390 and IBM1399 codepages
- A new Yu Gothic font to better render Japanese character sets
- The ability to switch codepages without disconnecting sessions, via an alternate UTF-8 codepage option (ALTUTF8) combined with a toolbar toggle
- A new JIS display mode selection (JIS78 / JIS83 / JIS90 / JIS97) through configuration options
While designed for Japanese deployments, the codepage toggle can also be leveraged in European environments to switch between Latin and US codepages when needed.
Additional usability improvements include a keyboard beep when typing into protected fields (optional via user settings) and a change in behavior, so this no longer locks the keyboard, improving navigation and user control.
Source: Virtel
BMC Advances Trusted AI Orchestration With New Control-M
BMC has announced new AI innovations for the Control-M solution that advance the orchestration foundation enterprises need to compete, differentiate, and thrive in an AI-powered world.
New Agentic AI Capabilities for AI-Powered Orchestration Across Workflows
The Control-M solution expands its agentic AI investments with new AI-driven capabilities across the workflow lifecycle to help teams build, run, and manage workflows more efficiently. These innovations simplify workflow planning and job creation, analyze workflow performance and failures to accelerate troubleshooting, and generate automated operational insights that highlight optimization opportunities. With these updates, users can reduce manual effort, accelerate design, and proactively surface risks within governed, enterprise-grade boundaries.
Orchestration of AI Agents
The Control-M solution also expands its AI orchestration integrations, making it easier for organizations to orchestrate AI agents and AI-powered tasks alongside data pipelines, applications, and operational workflows. New integrations with solutions such as CrewAI, LangGraph, and Snowflake Cortex enable teams to run AI-driven processes with the same reliability, visibility, and governance expected from every Control-M workflow. By connecting AI agents into enterprise workflows, Control-M helps organizations move AI from isolated experiments to trusted production assets that deliver business value safely and at scale.
AI for Multiple Environments – Jett (the Control-M AI advisor) and AI Workflow Creator Available to More Customers
BMC is expanding the power of generative AI across deployment models by bringing advanced AI capabilities to self-hosted Control-M environments. With Jett, the Control-M AI advisor, and the AI Workflow Creator, organizations can benefit from intelligent workflow creation and in-context guidance regardless of where they run the Control-M solution. This expansion enables more customers to leverage modern assistive technologies to design, understand, and manage workflows more efficiently.
New Integrations and Connectivity for Easier Orchestration
The Control-M solution also expands connectivity and integration capabilities to help organizations automate faster across hybrid environments. Enhancements to Managed File Transfer improve performance, reliability, and governance, as well as new high availability and disaster recovery support, which strengthen data movement. Expanded agentless execution for Windows and new out-of-the-box integrations further reduce scripting, accelerate onboarding, and enable more scalable automation across applications and data platforms.
“By integrating generative and agentic AI directly into the orchestration lifecycle, we are ensuring that AI is not just an isolated tool, but a trusted, governed, and scalable foundation for execution of mission-critical workloads,” said Abhijit Kakhandiki, senior vice president and general manager for Digital Business Automation at BMC. “
Source: BMC
Kyndryl awarded a Texas Department of Information Resources Contract to Provide Technology Services to State and Local Governments
Kyndryl has announced it has been awarded a contract by the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) to provide deliverables-based IT services (DBITS) to state and local government agencies and other eligible public sector organizations.
Kyndryl’s work with government agencies is led by its Kyndryl Consult advisory teams, who help assess current environments, identify modernization priorities and streamline multi‑phase transformation efforts. Through this approach, Kyndryl supports agencies in strengthening cybersecurity, modernizing legacy platforms and enhancing digital services delivery — including permitting and licensing services and healthcare IT environments — while maintaining regulatory compliance and operational continuity.
“Kyndryl is committed to supporting the agencies that millions of Texans depend on every day,” said Anita Mikus, Vice President and Managing Director, US State and Local Government, Kyndryl. “With decades of experience supporting mission‑critical government systems, deep expertise across security, cloud, applications and data, and teams embedded across Texas, we’re bringing the capabilities agencies need to modernize legacy platforms, strengthen cybersecurity and deliver more reliable digital services through the DIR contract vehicle.”
Across Texas, public sector organizations are modernizing legacy systems, addressing technical debt and strengthening cybersecurity, while integrating responsible approaches to AI adoption. Kyndryl experts can help organizations address growing demands for scalable digital services, including health and human services, transportation, courts, public safety and licensing. Agencies increasingly require new approaches that support modernization without disrupting essential services.
Source: Kyndryl
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