IMPACT — AI Change Impact & Release Readiness

IMPACT is an AI-assisted change impact analysis platform designed to help software developers and development teams understand the consequences of proposed changes before they reach production. When a developer modifies an existing codebase, the impact can extend beyond the file being edited. A change may affect dependent modules, APIs, authentication flows, database structures, tests, or other services. Identifying these relationships manually can be time-consuming and can lead to important risks or test requirements being overlooked. IMPACT addresses this problem through a structured workflow: Proposed Change → Affected Components → Risk Analysis → Recommended Tests → Release Readiness For the demonstration, IMPACT analyzes the ShopFlow e-commerce repository. IBM Bob is used as a core part of the analysis workflow to understand the repository and produce evidence-based change-impact findings. The analysis identifies directly and indirectly affected files, modules, APIs, potential risks, recommended tests, and release blockers. The resulting information is presented through an interactive dashboard containing Overview, Impact Map, Risk Analysis, Recommended Tests, and Release Readiness sections. This allows developers and development teams to move from simply understanding what might be affected to understanding what needs to be reviewed and tested before release. A key example identified during the analysis is an OAuth/JWT-related risk involving user ID handling, demonstrating how a seemingly localized authentication change can affect ownership checks and dependent functionality. IMPACT is intended to bring change analysis, risk identification, testing recommendations, and release assessment into one connected workflow rather than treating them as separate activities.