By @joemckendrick
Publication Date: 2026-10-08 14:35:00
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- IT modernization has been going on for decades.
- AI agents may add cohesion to modernization efforts.
- Only 10% of IT chiefs use agentic AI for modernization.
At some point in your career, or at many points, you might have been asked to help with an IT modernization program, porting applications from older systems, such as mainframes, to newer systems, be they on-premises or in the cloud.
Also: 5 ways to use AI to modernize your legacy systems
Modernization has been on CIO agendas for decades. Popular efforts have included web services, microservices, cloud, virtualization, and x86-based Windows and Linux servers. These efforts aimed to create more advanced and flexible systems.
When reflecting on these trends, it sometimes feels like modernization is always something that’s five years away. Now, it’s AI’s turn to modernize IT systems.
So far, AI implementations have bypassed technology modernization efforts, according…
