IBM’s latest mainframe, the z17, is engineered to boost AI adoption with a fully encrypted system powered by the IBM Telum II processor. Unveiled on Monday, this new hardware is designed to handle over 250 AI use cases, including AI agents and generative AI applications.
Despite their legacy status, mainframes remain a staple for 71% of Fortune 500 companies. Market Research Future consulting firm valued the mainframe market at $5.3 billion in 2024.
The z17 can manage 450 billion inference operations daily, marking a 50% increase from the IBM z16, which launched in 2022. The new system integrates with existing hardware, software, and open-source tools.
According to Tina Tarquinio, VP of product management and design for IBM Z, the z17 has been in development for five years. IBM incorporated feedback from over 100 customers, gathered over 2,000 research hours, during the z17’s development.
Tarquinio noted the alignment between early customer feedback and the current AI market trends: “It has been wild knowing that we’re introducing an AI accelerator, and then seeing, especially in the later half of 2022, all of the changes in the industry regarding AI… The possibilities are really unlimited in terms of what AI can help us do.”
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The z17 will initially support 48 IBM Spyre AI accelerator chips, with plans to increase that number to 96 within a year.
Tarquinio emphasized the z17’s adaptability: “We are purposely building in headroom… We’re purposely building in AI agility. So as new models are introduced, [we’re] making sure that we’ve built in the headroom for bigger, larger models — models that maybe need more local memory to talk to each other. We’ve built in that because we know it’s really the approach that will change, right? The new models will come and go.”
Tarquinio highlighted the z17’s energy efficiency: “On-chip, we’re increasing the AI acceleration by seven and a half times, but that’s five and a half times less energy than you would need to do, like, multi-model on another type of accelerator or platform in the industry.”
The z17 mainframes will be available starting June 8.
