TPF Users Group 2026 Conference Agenda
Conference Theme: Agentic AI in the TPF Environment
Sunday - March 22nd, 2026
4:00PM - 6:00PM Early Registration Open
4:00PM - 6:00PM Board of Directors / Subcommittee Chairs Meeting (Closed) Subcommittee Chairs and Directors only
6:00PM - 6:30PM New Attendees Orientation
Monday - March 23rd, 2026
7:30am - 6:00pm Registration Open
7:45am - 9:00am Breakfast provided by TPFUG
9:00am - 11:00am General Session - Opening
- TPFUG Welcome - John Chauvenne (Travelport)
- Vendor Introduction - Connie Walberg (IBM)
- IBM Lab Welcome - Luanne Jagich (IBM)
- Conference Theme "Agentic AI for z/TPF"
- Agentic AI for z/TPF - Mark Gambino (IBM)
- AI and Security for Data - Beth Peterson (IBM)
11:00am - 11:15am Break
11:15am - 12:05pm Subcommittee Meeting - Operations and Coverage
Addresses the issues with operating and managing the TPF systems, including Console support (TOS), Virtual Tape, DASD subsystems, performance, load and incident management in the TPF environment.
- Welcome
- Presentations
- The AI in AIROE - Stephen Johnson & Robert West (DXC Technology)
- RTMC Update - Liz Potapova (IBM)
12:05pm - 1:05pm Lunch provided by TPFUG
1:05am - 2:05pm Subcommittee Meeting - Operations and Coverage (Continued)
- Presentations (Continued)
- Anomoly Detection - Michael Shershin (IBM)
- RTMC Futures - Josh Wisniewski (IBM)
- Open Discussion
2:05pm - 3:15pm Subcommittee Meeting - System Control Program
Addresses CPU, DASD, and tape components as well as the general issues of TPF shipments, packaging, support standards, documentation, and procedures.
- Welcome
- Presentations
- Identify all Tape NSV's for a Given Dump - Michael Shershin (IBM)
- Name Value Pair Area Enhancements - Michael Shershin (IBM)
- ECB Heap Enhancements - Gabe Nieves (IBM)
- VFILE from VSSI: File Transfer - Shaken, not Stirred - Rick Troth (VSSI)
3:15pm - 3:30pm Break
3:30pm - 4:50pm Subcommittee Meeting - Application Development
Addresses issues related to development of applications for the zTPF environment, including the application program interface presented by zTPF, programming language compilers, development, and test tools, and development methodologies.
- Welcome
- Requirements Discussion
- Presentations
- Compiler Update - JT Plotzke (IBM)
- DFDL Enhancements - Bradd Kadlecik (IBM)
- zDFExplorer - Intelligent Data Navigation for z/TPFDF - TSI
- Open Discussion
5:00pm – 6:00pm Monday's Hot Topics
- Hot Topic 1 - TBD
- Hot Topic 2 - TBD
6:30pm - 9:30pm TPF Users Group Reception and Special Program
- Location: Stillery Midtown
- Address: 1921 Broadway, Nashville TN 37203 615-760-5158
- More Info: Stillery Midtown
Tuesday - March 24th, 2026
7:30am - 6:00pm Registration Open
7:45am - 9:00am Breakfast provided by TPFUG
9:00am - 10:50am Subcommittee Meeting - Development Tools
Addresses TPF Toolkit and other source development tools. This includes test tools, zTPFGI, VPARs, VTAPE, and other third-party products.
- Welcome
- Presentations
- TPF Documentation: Generative AI vs Tool-based approach - Nayan Zaveri (Crazy Ideas)
- z/TPFGI Update - What's New - TSI
- Development Tools with VS Code (Build/Test) - Matt Gritter (IBM)
- Development Tools with VS Code (Debugger) - Kathleen Chalas
10:50am - 11:05am Break
11:05am - 12:05pm Subcommittee Meeting - Database
Addresses all issues related to TPF Database/TPFDF, Business Events, Recoup, Pools, and the file systems in TPF. This includes DASD file systems.
- Welcome
- Presentations
- TBD - Stephen Spence (Travelport)
- Business Event Error Handling Enhancements -Austin Frank (IBM)
- z/TPF Support for MongoDB - Austin Frank (IBM)
12:05pm - 1:05pm Lunch provided by TPFUG
1:05pm - 1:45pm Subcommittee Meeting - Database (Continued)
- Presentations (Continued)
- TPFDF Performance Improvements - Chris Filachek (IBM)
- Analyzing and Understanding Database Usage - Chris Filachek (IBM)
- Open Discussion
1:45pm - 3:05pm Subcommittee Meeting - Communications
Addresses TCP/IP, MQSeries and inter-processor communications, including MPIF, OSA, etc.
- Presentations
- 64-Bit MQ Customer Experience - Patrick Dean (Delta Air Lines)
- MQ Update - Jamie Farmer (IBM)
- Remote TLS Monitoring and OpenSSL - Jamie Farmer (IBM)
3:05pm - 3:20pm Break
3:20pm - 4:15pm Subcommittee Meeting - Communications (Continued)
- Presentations (Continued)
- Future TPF IP Routing Solution - Jamie Farmer (IBM)
- HTTP/2 Client for z/TPF - Claire Durant (IBM)
- OTEL Content for REST - Josh Wisniewski (IBM)
- Open Discussion
4:15pm - 5:15pm Tuesday's Hot Topics
6:00pm - 9:00pm Vendor Reception and Exhibition Programs
Wednesday - March 25th, 2026
7:30am - 9:00am Registration Open
7:45am - 9:00am Breakfast provided by TPFUG
9:00am - 10:30am Ongoing TPF Education
- z/TPF Development User Experience - Zach Pollect (IBM)
10:30am - 10:45am Break
10:45am - 11:30am General Session
- Introductions / Announcements / Membership Roster Updates
- Board of Directors Report
- Financial Report
- Subcommittee Reports
- Requirements Subcommittee Session
- Welcome/Introduction
- Requirement Submission and Voting
- Conference Adjournment