IBM Infuses Db2 with AI

IBM announced a major upgrade to the Db2 database designed to enable enterprises to infuse AI and data science into their database management processes. It will now be easier to build AI into applications and gain greater insights from their data.

Among the many enhancements in Db2 version 11.5, is built-in support for data science development. Through a series of drivers for multiple open source programming languages and frameworks, it will now be easier for developers to analyze and build machine learning models into applications using Db2. The enhancements are designed to help Db2 developers more easily write applications that require less management, are more resilient to outages, and help improve productivity.

The supported languages include Go, Ruby, Python, PHP, Java, Node.js, Sequelize. In addition there is support for popular frameworks such as Visual Studio Code and Jupyter notebook. Also new with Db2 11.5 is the Augmented Data Explorer, a new natural language querying feature that is designed to give developers a traditional search engine-like experience.

In addition to these advances, Db2 users and developers will be able to take advantage of the new capabilities in IBM's Data Virtualization technology, already available with IBM Cloud Private for Data. The extended language support and new capabilities are part of a broader strategy to further advance the IBM Hybrid Data Management portfolio of Db2 solutions into the era of AI.

"The advances we've made to Db2 today are reflective of our clients' growth, and the acceleration of AI adoption we all expect," said Daniel Hernandez, Vice President, IBM Data and AI. "No longer a traditional system of record or datastore, the database is rapidly becoming a distinct component of the AI strategy, and Db2 is that AI database.