The modernization equation just changed.
Legacy codebases that seemed permanently stuck are suddenly within reach. Gartner’s new Innovation Insight on AI-augmented code modernization tools explains why—and what software engineering leaders need to know.
Key findings from the research:
- 90% of modernization will use AI by 2029 Gartner projects that “By 2029, organizations will complete 90% of software modernization using AI-augmented tools, a significant increase from less than 15% today.”
- 50% labor cost reduction anticipated “By 2029, GenAI will reduce modernization labor costs by 50% compared with 2025 levels.”
- Testing is critical “Comprehensive AI-driven test coverage is critical for safely refactoring and migrating legacy systems.”
- Risks are real The research provides honest assessment of challenges including hallucinations, silent failures, and quality variability.
Diffblue is recognized as a Representative Provider in this research.
What’s inside the research:
- Discover phase capabilities: Automated inventory, business rules extraction, legacy documentation
- Design phase capabilities: Specifications, planning, impact analysis
- Deliver phase capabilities: Automated transformation, testing and validation, continuous monitoring
- Risk assessment: Organizational, knowledge, technology, and process risks
- Recommendations: How to pilot, govern, and scale AI-powered modernization
- Representative Providers: Including Diffblue
Gartner®, Innovation Insight for AI-Augmented Code Modernization Tools, Arun Batchu, Oleksandr Matvitskyy, Mark O’Neill, Tigran Egiazarov, 17 July 2025
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
