watsonx Orchestrate
Solution report card
| Runs on IBM i? | ❌ | |
| On-prem | ✅ | |
| IBM Cloud (SaaS) | ✅ | |
| AWS Marketplace | ✅ | |
| AI capabilities | Multi-Agent Orchestration Agentic AI Workflow Automation Process Automation | |
| Commercial support | ✅ | |
| Free to try? | ✅ (trial available) | |
| Requirements | IBM Cloud account or on-premises watsonx deployment; IBM i connectivity via REST APIs or MCP Server |
What is watsonx Orchestrate?
Section titled “What is watsonx Orchestrate?”watsonx Orchestrate is IBM’s enterprise AI agent platform for creating, configuring, and deploying intelligent agents that automate business tasks across systems. It acts as an intelligent orchestration layer: agents dynamically select the right tools, invoke AI models, and execute multi-step processes — all surfaced through a unified natural language chat interface.
For IBM i teams, watsonx Orchestrate provides a hybrid automation layer that can coordinate IBM i applications and Db2 for i data with cloud services, SaaS systems, and watsonx AI models — without replacing existing IBM i applications or controls.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”At its core, watsonx Orchestrate is a multi-agent system. A supervisor agent receives a user request, decomposes it into steps, and routes each step to the best available agent or tool. Agents can call REST APIs, query databases, run sub-agents on other frameworks, invoke AI models, or request human approvals — all within a single orchestrated flow.
User (chat) │ ▼Supervisor Agent ├─ Agent A (Salesforce) ├─ Agent B (IBM i via MCP or REST) ├─ Agent C (SAP) └─ watsonx AI model (summarize / classify)This architecture works across frameworks. Agents built with LangChain, LlamaIndex, Langflow, or any OpenAI-compatible system can be registered alongside IBM-native agents.
Building agents
Section titled “Building agents”No-code agent builder
Section titled “No-code agent builder”The visual builder lets business users create automation flows from templates or scratch using a drag-and-drop interface — tools, actions, branches, approvals, and data mappings — without writing code.
Agent Development Kit (ADK)
Section titled “Agent Development Kit (ADK)”The ADK is a Python library and CLI for developers who need full control. It supports:
- declarative agent definitions in YAML, JSON, or Python
- tool integration via Python functions or OpenAPI specifications
- MCP (Model Context Protocol) server connections
- knowledge base management
- local development and testing before cloud deployment
- model routing via AI Gateway, including Amazon Bedrock models
Agent Connect
Section titled “Agent Connect”Agent Connect lets you plug agents built on any framework directly into watsonx Orchestrate. External agents implement a standardized OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat endpoint and self-register via /v1/agents. This enables tool sharing and streaming across heterogeneous agent systems — no vendor lock-in, no rewrites.
Agent catalog and integrations
Section titled “Agent catalog and integrations”The platform ships with 100+ domain-specific agents and 400+ prebuilt tools covering HR, finance, supply chain, customer service, and IT operations. Prebuilt connectors reach 80+ enterprise applications including:
Salesforce · ServiceNow · SAP · Workday · Microsoft 365 · Oracle · Adobe · AWS
Custom integrations are built via:
- OpenAPI-defined REST tools
- MCP server connections
- file and document inputs for agent context
- secure credential management per connection
Deployment options
Section titled “Deployment options”| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| IBM Cloud SaaS | Fully managed, multi-tenant service — fastest to get started |
| On-premises | Self-hosted for data residency and compliance requirements |
| AWS Marketplace | Managed SaaS on AWS infrastructure |
All options support hybrid scenarios: IBM i workloads stay on-premises while orchestration is managed centrally. Governance features include centralized oversight, built-in guardrails, and automated policy enforcement.
Connecting watsonx Orchestrate to IBM i
Section titled “Connecting watsonx Orchestrate to IBM i”| Integration pattern | How |
|---|---|
| REST API tools | Expose IBM i business functions as OpenAPI-defined tools; agents call them like any other service |
| IBM i MCP Server | Use the IBM i MCP Server to give agents native access to SQL, IFS, CL commands, and system objects |
| Agent Connect | Register a custom IBM i automation agent built on any framework and surface it inside watsonx Orchestrate |
See the Agentic AI journey for end-to-end examples of building agentic workflows with IBM i data.