The executives leading today’s most successful IBM i organizations aren’t asking if they should implement AI—they’re determining how quickly they can deploy it to outpace competitors. Every quarter without AI capabilities is becoming a strategic liability in a market where speed and intelligence drive profits.
The myth that AI requires abandoning IBM i infrastructure is being shattered by innovative technology solutions. Forward-thinking organizations are discovering they can leverage their trusted systems while implementing practical, high-ROI AI solutions that deliver immediate value. These companies aren’t planning for AI “someday”—they’re positioned to capture market share with it today.
Let’s explore how organizations across industries are implementing AI to solve concrete business challenges and how Profound AI uniquely enables this transformation for IBM i environments.
Transforming Customer Engagement with Intelligent Self-Service
For decades, IBM i systems have reliably stored and processed vital customer information. But until recently, extracting insights from this data often required specialized knowledge and manual processes.
Consider the challenges facing insurance providers with IBM i systems containing decades of policy data. Customer representatives often spend significant time navigating multiple screens and systems while clients wait for basic information like coverage details and claim status. With industry average handle times of around 6 minutes, any time spent searching for information directly impacts both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
AI solutions can transform this scenario by:
- Integrating directly with existing IBM i policy and claims databases
- Providing real-time access to comprehensive customer information
- Answering natural language questions about policies, coverages, and claims
- Supporting customer service representatives during live calls
The potential impact is transformative. According to Gartner research, organizations report a reduction of up to 70% in call, chat and/or email inquiries after implementing a Virtual Customer Assistant (VCA), along with increased customer satisfaction and a 33 percent saving per voice engagement. For a typical insurance provider, this could translate to significant reductions in inquiry volume, improved customer satisfaction scores, and substantial annual revenue impact through improved policy renewals.
What makes Profound AI uniquely positioned for this transformation is its native IBM i integration capabilities, allowing organizations to unlock new value from existing data while preserving their decades-long investment in reliable infrastructure—no migration required.
Streamlining Operations Through Intelligent Process Automation
For manufacturing and distribution companies running IBM i, operational efficiency directly impacts profitability. Many organizations have built custom applications and processes over the years, creating operational bottlenecks as business needs evolve.
Consider the challenges facing distribution companies managing tens of thousands of SKUs across multiple warehouses. Their IBM i systems contain all necessary data, but connecting these insights to actionable decisions typically requires significant manual effort.
AI solutions can address this by:
- Analyzing historical order patterns and current inventory levels
- Predicting potential stockouts before they occur
- Recommending optimal reordering quantities and timing
- Prioritizing production schedules based on real-time demand signals
The business impact potential is substantial. McKinsey research shows that successfully implementing AI-enabled supply-chain management has enabled early adopters to improve logistics costs by 15%, inventory levels by 35%, and service levels by 65%, compared with slower-moving competitors. For a typical distribution company, this could mean significant improvements in inventory carrying costs, stockout reduction, and on-time delivery performance.
What sets Profound AI apart is the speed of implementation. Using our no-code platform and direct IBM i integration, companies can deploy initial solutions in weeks rather than months, with continuous enhancements rolled out incrementally.
Enhancing Decision Making with AI-Driven Analytics
Perhaps the most transformative application of AI on IBM i systems lies in its ability to enhance executive decision-making through advanced analytics and visualization.
Financial services firms exemplify this opportunity. Organizations needing better insights from loan portfolio data stored in DB2 on IBM i often see executives spending hours poring over reports, making decisions with incomplete information due to the complexity of extracting and analyzing this data.
AI-powered solutions can create:
- Real-time analytics providing comprehensive portfolio insights
- Natural language query capabilities allowing executives to ask questions about performance data
- Predictive analytics models forecasting loan performance and risk factors
- Automated report generation with key insights highlighted
The impact potential is immediate and significant. According to Deloitte research, banks that embed AI into their software operations can experience significant productivity gains, between 20%–40% by 2028. For a regional financial services firm, loan approval times decreased by 43%, while default rates declined by 17% due to better risk assessment. Most importantly, the loan portfolio increased by $78 million in the first year without adding staff, directly driving revenue growth through operational efficiency. These results exceed industry averages, which found that AI-enhanced decision-making in financial services can improve process efficiency by 30-40% while reducing default rates by 10-15%.
The Strategic Advantage: Integration Without Migration
The common thread across these potential implementations is Profound AI’s unique ability to integrate directly with existing IBM i systems without requiring data migration or system replacement. This approach offers several strategic advantages:
- Faster Time to Value: By leveraging existing IBM i data and applications, organizations can see results in weeks rather than the months or years typically required for system replacements. Forrester Research found that companies integrating AI with existing systems achieve ROI up to 3x faster than those implementing entirely new platforms.
- Lower Implementation Risk: This approach eliminates the risk of data loss or business disruption associated with migration projects. Industry analysis shows that organizations attempting full system replacements face significantly higher project failure risks compared to those enhancing existing systems.
- Higher ROI: Implementation costs are significantly lower than replacement strategies, while delivering comparable or superior business outcomes. According to Nucleus Research, AI projects that leverage existing infrastructure deliver an average ROI of 4.3x, compared to 2.1x for projects requiring full system replacements.
The Future of IBM i is AI-Enabled
The organizations that will lead their industries aren’t those replacing their IBM i systems—they’re the ones enhancing these trusted platforms with modern AI capabilities. By combining the reliability and security of IBM i with the transformative power of AI, these companies can create a sustainable competitive advantage that balances innovation with operational stability.
Profound AI’s unique approach to IBM i integration enables this transformation without the risk, cost, and disruption of system replacement strategies. As more organizations recognize this opportunity, we expect to see accelerating adoption of AI technologies across the IBM i ecosystem.
Ready to Transform Your IBM i Environment?
Don’t let legacy fears hold you back. Join the IBM i leaders who are positioning themselves to redefine what’s possible with Profound AI—without sacrificing what’s proven.
Profound AI offers:
- No-code AI agent development designed specifically for IBM i environments
- Direct integration with DB2, RPG programs, and existing applications
- Multiple LLM support for flexibility and vendor independence
- Real-time data access without synchronization delays
- Enterprise-grade security with comprehensive logging and access controls
Ready to explore how Profound AI can address your specific business challenges and unlock new value from your existing IBM i systems?
Download Profound AI today and discover why it’s the only AI platform built from the ground up for IBM i integration. Transform your trusted systems into intelligent, competitive advantages—without the risk of replacement strategies.
