I am a Mainframer: Jakub on Zowe, Open Source, AI, and the Future of z/OS

Join host Steven Dickens in this episode of I Am a Mainframer featuring Jakub from Broadcom, chair of the Zowe Technical Steering Committee and an active contributor to the open-source mainframe community.Jakub explains how Zowe helps integrate z/OS with modern enterprise tools and workflows through components such as Zowe Explorer for VS Code and IntelliJ, the Zowe CLI, the API Mediation Layer, virtual desktop capabilities, and the Zowe MCP Server.The conversation explores Zowe’s evolution from a vendor-supported project into a growing open-source community, with customers and service providers increasingly contributing code. Jakub also discusses how AI and MCP-based tools could change mainframe development, while highlighting the importance of secure integration and human review in open source projects.He shares his unexpected journey from software engineering and the space industry into the mainframe ecosystem, offers advice to early-career professionals about staying curious and building lasting relationships, and discusses the importance of giving developers hands-on access to z/OS.Looking ahead, Jakub envisions the mainframe as an optimised and critical part of enterprise infrastructure, supporting core transaction processing while its data helps power AI-driven innovation.Subscribe for more conversations from Mainframe Connect and the I Am a Mainframer series.#IAmAMainframer #MainframeConnect #OpenMainframeProject #Zowe #Broadcom #OpenSource #zOS #AI #MCP #MainframeModernization