From October 26 to 29, 2026, IBM TechXchange takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. It is IBM's technical learning conference: four days of breakouts, hands-on labs and certifications for developers, architects and technical decision-makers.
XDEV has been part of the TechXchange program every year since 2024. In 2026, XDEV is on the agenda in three sessions, represented by Richard Fichtner: two Technology Breakouts in the "AI Applications" track with high-profile co-speakers, and a panel as an IBM Champion.
Two XDEV Sessions
AI-Assisted Java Development on Real Enterprise Codebases with IBM Bob and Quarkus (TEC-2324)
with Markus Eisele, Java Champion and Developer Advocate at IBM
Thu, October 29, 2026 | 10:15 – 11:00 AM EDT
Enterprise development is rarely greenfield. Most teams work on codebases that have grown over years and need to stay maintainable, secure and understandable long after the first AI-generated commit lands. The session shows how IBM Bob and the Quarkus Dev MCP help steer AI assistants toward established best practices and modern enterprise patterns. The live example is the BYLES project, Germany's largest digital reading screening platform.
Modernizing Mission-Critical Java Applications: From Java 8 to Java 21 with IBM Bob (TEC-2319)
with Mark Stoodley, STSM and Chief Architect for Java at IBM
Wed, October 28, 2026 | 1:30 – 2:15 PM EDT
Plenty of companies still run business-critical applications on Java 8, in some cases for more than a decade. At the same time, modern frameworks and platforms increasingly target Java 17 and Java 21. The session takes on the actual obstacles: compatibility, performance and shifting security requirements, without putting production at risk. It shows how IBM Bob supports the modernization path with AI-assisted analysis, and how the IBM Semeru Runtimes help improve performance and reduce memory consumption – up to preparing applications for post-quantum cryptography.
Panel with Five IBM Champions
Why IBM Champions Choose Bob as Their AI Partner (TEC-4378)
Thu, October 29, 2026 | 9:00 – 9:45 AM EDT
In the third session, Richard Fichtner joins a panel of five IBM Champions talking about what they use IBM Bob for day to day, and what measurably changed as a result. Instead of a product demo, the focus is on experience from actual implementations – across the entire development lifecycle, from planning to rollout. The panel is hosted by Susann Keohane, Program Director for IBM Bob Product Management at IBM. Also on stage:
- Mohan Garikapati, Systems Architect, Mitsubishi Motors NA
- Stephen Spence, Fellow and Architect, Travelport
- Ashish Thomas, Software Development Engineer, PC Richard & Son
- David Tan, CTO, CrushBank
JCON USA @ IBM TechXchange 2026
For the second year, TechXchange also hosts JCON USA @ IBM TechXchange 2026, the US edition of the Java community conference. As the organizer of the Java User Group Oberpfalz, XDEV is again closely involved in planning and running it, together with JavaPro magazine. More information at
usa.jcon.one
