COMMON POWERUp 2026

If you're new to SQL or just need a refresher in the basics, this sessoin is for you. We'll explore how to use basic SQL commands to make your everday life easier.

Learning Objectives:

Understand 1. How to create an SQL statement 2. How to run an SQL statement 3. Some "gotcha" when using SQL

Having negative performance impacts from query tools like Query/400, QMF, Showcase, Tableau and others because of the "query from heck" eating up system resources? Is your system open to security exposures from wide-open ODBC type connections? This session will cover options including using the new-ish Db2 Query Supervisor to control and/or audit long-running queries.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn about the Db2 Supervisor to control and/or audit long running queries. 2. Gain insight into the tools you can use to monitor, tune, and prune queries.

We live in a world of endless distractions. Get distracted and you lose focus. According to research, it takes around 23 minutes to refocus after a distraction. Should we manage the distractions? Or let ourselves get distracted? Or learn to focus despite the distractions? If you can’t focus your attention, how can you accomplish anything? This session will teach you how to identify when and why you’re being distracted, what to do about it, and how to increase your focus.

Learning Objectives:

1) How to identify when you’re distracted 2) Understanding why you get distracted 3) How to avoid distractions 4) How to increase your focus

Control Language (CL) remains a core tool for IBM i system operations, and recent releases have added features that make scripting faster, cleaner, and more powerful. In this 20-minute session, Simon Hutchinson will provide a hands-on look at the most useful new CL commands, built-in functions, and SQL integration techniques. Attendees will learn how to modernize legacy scripts, automate system tasks, and streamline everyday operations using the latest CL features.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, attendees will be able to: - Identify and use the most important new CL commands and functions. - Integrate SQL statements into CL scripts for database operations. - Modernize legacy CL code with practical tips for efficiency and readability. - Apply CL features to automate routine system tasks.

Need to know who changed what — and when — in your IBM i files? SQL triggers make it easy! In this fast-paced 20-minute session, you’ll learn how to use SQL triggers to automatically capture file changes (inserts, updates, and deletes) and write them to an output or audit file. Simon will demonstrate how to create, test, and manage SQL triggers using Db2 for i. You’ll see real examples of triggers that record user information, timestamps, and before-and-after values — perfect for building audit trails or debugging data issues. If you’ve ever wanted an “audit log” without changing your application code, this session will show you how quick and powerful SQL triggers can be.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, attendees will be able to: - Understand what SQL triggers are and when to use them. - Create an SQL trigger that writes file changes to an audit/output file. - Capture key details — user, timestamp, and changed values — automatically. - Manage and remove triggers safely in production environments.

The Code for IBM i family of extensions continues to grow with new tools and powerful enhancements. In this session, we will showcase recent improvements, highlight community contributions, and share a glimpse of upcoming features on the roadmap for 2026.

Learning Objectives:

• Share newly released features across all IBM i VS Code extensions • Showcase new tips and tricks to improve the developer experience • Share an overview of upcoming features in the 2026 roadmap

The numbers are in — and they tell a story most AI vendors don't want you to hear.
 
79% of enterprises are experimenting with AI. Only 8.6% have made it to production. 94% have adopted AI tools, but fewer than half have the governance frameworks to support them. 72% have scaled pilots — but only 33% have governed what they scaled. And after everything, only 6% can point to measurable EBIT impact.
 
And the pace isn't slowing. The CEO of the lab most associated with measured, conservative AI claims is now describing the rate of change as a civilizational tsunami — one most organizations haven't recognized yet. The window to close the readiness gap is not a planning horizon. It's a competitive one. AI-native companies aren't waiting for organizational alignment — they're likely already in your market, and they're building on day one what it took your organization a decade to construct.
 
The IBM i community has always known how to build systems that last. The platform didn't fail. But technology that arrives without organizational readiness doesn't transform — it accumulates. And when Naval Ravikant publicly declares software "uninvestable," he's not making a valuation call. He's pointing at the only layer that still holds durable value: governance, trust, and the organizational infrastructure to deploy at scale.
 
This session is a practitioner's account of what actually happens when you run a technology transformation and an organizational transformation in tandem — not sequentially, not siloed, not hoping the tech carries the org when it's finally ready.
 
This session will explore what transformation actually looks like at both layers — the technology and the organization — and why the sequence and structure of that work matters more than the tools you choose.
 
The organizations that close the gap first won't be the ones with the best technology. They'll be the ones who understood what the technology was actually asking of them.

Service programs have been around for quite some time. Perhaps you’ve even bumped into one in your professional travels. You will certainly find them on the road to application modernization. This session focuses on what they are, how to implement them and making them a regularly used asset during your application development. In this session we will discuss service programs, program signatures and using binder language.

Learning Objectives:

We will go step by step to the creation of an RPG service program.

Every RPG shop has them. Most developers avoid them like the plague. Large monolithic programs are a significant source of technical debt in all RPG shops. They limit your agility which in turn is detrimental to your business. So, once you are ready to deal with the issue, where do you start? There is no one answer, but there are steps you can take to begin dismantling and repurposing the code within these behemoths.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss steps to refactoring monolithic RPG programs 2. Learn common pitfalls to avoid 3. Learn how to organize extracted procedures for ease of use

Now that virtual meetings have become the new normal for so many of us, it's vital that we learn to make the most of this approach to getting things done. Whether you use Zoom, Teams, Webex, or another product, come to this session to learn the secrets to supercharging your online meeting productivity and getting results!

Learning Objectives:

In just 20 minutes, you'll learn: - How to plan your meeting for success - How to run your meeting for maximum productivity - The best ways to take meeting notes - When and how to end your meeting - Tips and tricks to maximize your use of technology and supercharge your work from home environment

Do you dread the thought of negotiating on your own behalf? Are you unsure of the best ways to handle conflict in the workplace? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you need to attend this session! We'll cover time-tested techniques for negotiations and conflict resolution that could change your life!

Learning Objectives:

In just 20 minutes, you'll: - Learn to consider the value of an argument vs the cost - Find common ground to smooth the negotiation - Understand that all new ideas are great, and that we all make mistakes - Show respect and build a reserve of good will to allow everyone to leave the negotiation with their head held high

In today’s ever-evolving IT landscape, ensuring continuous business operations requires a strategic approach to High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR). With a growing array of technologies, both on-premises and in the cloud, choosing the right solution can feel like navigating a maze. This session will guide you through the key considerations for building a resilient HA/DR strategy. We’ll explore the different types of outages and align them with the technologies designed to mitigate their impact. Whether you're planning for hardware failures, software issues, or full system outages, understanding your business requirements and protection goals is critical. Join us for a practical overview of HA/DR technologies including Db2 Mirror, Live Partition Mobility, Logical and Software-Based Replication, Full System Replication, and PowerHA. You’ll leave with a clearer roadmap to help you make informed decisions and confidently chart your HA/DR journey.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn the importance of considering your recovery point objective and recovery time objective for different types of outages 2. Learn how different technologies can help achieve various RPO and RTO targets. 3. Learn how the technologies can be combined

The speaker's insights into running AI workloads on Power. Some history of how the Power approach to Machine Learning, Large Language Models, and Transformers evolved up to Power 11 and Spyre.

Learning Objectives:

1. Python libraries for AI on Power 2. CPU/MMA support for AI on Power 3. Spyre on Power

What is an authorized pointer? How does the authority checking algorithm really work? What are the performance aspects of IBM i security? Using her knowledge obtained as IBM i Security team leader, Carol Woodbury answers these questions and more, as she takes you into the depths of IBM i security.

Learning Objectives:

Understand the deeply technical aspects of IBM i Security.

Tricks” to make your life easier when you start working with JSON data. After a short discussion of the HTTP functions that have been added to QSYS2 and how they can be used with the JSON_TABLE Function, Jim shows the attendee how to work with the QSYS2.HTTP_GET and JSON_TABLE Functions to consume an API returning a JSON object. If you have tried using these functions many have problems writing the correct SQL/JSON path expressions to extract the data and represent it in a relational table. Jim will help the attendee understand this process with solid examples.

Learning Objectives:

Developers looking for clear examples of SQL/JSON path expressions with DB2. Improve developers’ understanding of SQL/JSON path expressions with DB2 and JSON. Improve developers’ understanding of how to use HTTP functions in QSYS2. Improve developers’ understanding of how to use JSON_TABLE functions.

Is your application or workload running slower than you’d like when accessing the integrated file system (IFS)? Do you want to learn how you can increase your performance without drastically overhauling everything? If so, then attend this session. In this session, we will discuss performance strategies like using user-defined file systems (UDFS) and auxiliary storage pools (ASPs), ways to reduce contention, and how to analyze file system performance. The latest updates to performance tools will also be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand how UDFSs, ASPs, and spreading data across different storage units can help increase performance. 2. Understand extensions to some APIs that can help increase performance. 3. Understand and see demonstrations of performance analysis tools.

You hear modern RPG but, what does that actually mean? we will look at converting from monolithic programs to modular programming including the use of service program and converting RLA(Record level access) to sql.

Learning Objectives:

Understanding what modern RPG means Understanding of what needs to be done to implement modern RPG.

Learn to think like a spy! Many shops use journaling for a variety of reasons, but may not be familiar with how to use these journals for forensic purposes. Mining your journals for the who, what, when, where, how - and sometimes even why - can be very useful, not to mention fun! Come join us for a lighthearted and entertaining "Mission: Impossible" themed look at one of the most useful things you can do with your journals. This session will introduce journaling concepts and share tuning tips to optimize your journal environment for forensics. After reviewing the "old fashioned" way to dig into your journals, we will demonstrate how much easier this is with the right tools. The DMPJRN and CVTJRNDTA commands used in this presentation will be made available as a free download to all attendees, including source code!

Learning Objectives:

Learning Objectives - After participating in this session, attendees should have the skills and tools to: - Optimize your journal environment to maximize the forensic information available to you - Understand what your journals are trying to tell you, and how to interrogate them to get the answers you need - Dump your journals quickly and easily using the free software made available - Be able to interpret the content of your journals to determine what really happened to your data - Use the techniques demonstrated in the provided source code to develop your own tools - Save the world from evil-doers

What are the strengths of the modern Large Language Model approach to Artificial Intelligence? What are the weaknesses? Where and how is it safe to apply this enticing yet dangerous technology? Where are the usage models headed right now? Inquiring minds want to know!

Learning Objectives:

1. Understanding the strengths of Large Language Model and Transformer architecture 2. Understanding the weaknesses of Large Language Model and Transformer architecture 3. Reviewing the technical, epistemological, and existential critiques of Large Language Model and Transformer architecture 4. Making actionable suggestions on this technology in the enterprise

You can’t do that on IBM i! Or so they may say. We’ll explore some common misconceptions, urban legends, and outright lies about our favorite platform, and of course we’ll also try to take down a running system for fun. The floor’s open for suggestions, stories, and a bit of fun while we try everything that you’re too afraid to try on your own system.

Learning Objectives:

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Keeping your system up to date and secure requires knowledge of IBM Fixes. Here will will discuss what the Fixess are, how to get them, and how to apply them. We will also discuss the different types of Fixes and how to develop a Fix strategy for your organization.

Learning Objectives:

1. What is a Fix and the different types of Fixes 2. Build a Fix strategy that works for your company 3. How to acquire and apply the Fixes and Fix groups. 4. Using virtual image catalogs to save time on Fix application

An SQL SELECT can be much more than a simple SELECT * FROM query. Among others it includes with the GROUP BY clause a powerful data aggregation capability. A bunch of aggregate functions allows to count or summarize rows, to calculate the average over multiple rows, to determine the minimum and maximum row value. The GROUP BY clause may be widely known and used, but the HAVING clause which goes hand in hand with the GROUP BY is often a mystery. There may be other secrets waiting for being revealed … or did you know you can create all kinds of sub-totals and grand-total with an SQL GROUP BY?

Learning Objectives:

In this session you’ll learn the basic use of the GROUP BY and HAVING clauses as well as the use of multiple aggregate functions. You’ll also discover how NULL values can affect the result returned by aggregate functions. It will be demonstrated how easily all kinds of sub-totals and grand-totals can be built. You’ll also learn how to use the CASE clause for building pivot tables