How My Side Project Got Listed as IBM's Official Watsonx Partner

So there's this side project of mine called Agentgenesis - agentgenesis.dev, which got a lot of traction in the first couple of months after launch. Without actively promoting it, it got 100+ stars on GitHub which was pretty cool for a side project :))

But then something REALLY exciting happened...

Sometime back my project got listed as an official IBM watsonx partner - https://www.ibm.com/products/watsonx/partners#AI+agents

That's a very very very big validation for me!! Like, as a side project without having senior dev experience, my project which is already open source is getting listed in IBM's official watsonx partners webpage. Cool!

The most interesting part? My project's name is sitting right beside those companies who are heavily funded, having big teams, and some are even YC funded! So that makes it a BIG DEAL.

So how did this happen?? ...

What is Agentgenesis anyway??

First, I would like to brief about Agentgenesis - it's an open source platform that provides copy-paste codes for AI development. Like how shadcn does in the UI Frontend part, my code goes into making AI function calling tools, making basic RAG flows, making tools for AI workflows etc. And everything is extendable and editable, as I have written all code in class-based components with strict classes so any dev can jump into that, modify it, extend it as per their needs.

Just took some inspiration from shadcn and implemented it into AI development! Simple yet effective approach.

The Unexpected Email That Changed Everything

Now coming back to how this happened...

I was just scrolling through my mails and suddenly I saw a mail from a marketing head of IBM. They just scheduled a meet, and they told me that they have their own inhouse model aka watsonx (like OpenAI has ChatGPT), and they have their own models such as granite models (like GPT-3, GPT-4 etc.)

So they are increasing awareness about their model, and they wanted me to create a class component of their model (their docs sucks tbh, I also spent a lot of time to figure out how to use their models using their SDKs), and make it live on my platform. Agentgenesis also has OpenAI, Gemini and Claude copy paste code snippets with proper docs - https://www.agentgenesis.dev/components/chatOpenAi

And in return for that, they will check the component and if the audits are passed, then they will list my company/project into their official partner website.

So obviously I started working on that, because getting listed there is itself a big deal, as it's IBM, a tech giant!

The Grind Begins

So after a vigorous back and forth, I somehow created the code snippet, prepared proper docs of how to integrate and use their models using their SDK, and then sent that to them.

The process wasn't easy at all... their documentation was confusing, their SDKs had quirks, and I had to spend hours figuring out the right implementation. But you know what?? Sometimes you just gotta push through when you see the bigger picture.

The Validation Moment

Sometime passed, I got a reply back mail that the audits are passed by internal team and my project is listed on them.

I really got amazed at that, and also realized that a unique niche project has tremendous opportunities if it's unique and solving some real issue.

All you need is some luck and traction from the right set of people :))

What I Learned From This Experience

This whole experience taught me that sometimes the best opportunities come when you're not actively chasing them. I wasn't reaching out to IBM or trying to get partnerships - they found me because of the work I was already doing.

Building something genuine and useful in public can attract attention from places you never expected. The key is to keep building, keep sharing, and keep solving real problems that developers face.

Check It Out

Want to see what came out of this partnership??

Checkout watsonx X Agentgenesis - https://www.agentgenesis.dev/components/chatwatsonxAi

It's pretty cool to see how a simple side project can end up being recognized by tech giants. Sometimes all it takes is building something useful and putting it out there for the world to see.

Hope this story motivates you to keep building and sharing your work!! You never know who might be watching :))

By Abir