McKinsey’s LegacyX platform harnesses the power of generative and agentic AI to transform aging digital infrastructure that hampers innovation in large organizations. This breakthrough approach tackles a widespread challenge—70 percent of Fortune 500 software was developed over two decades ago—by accelerating modernization efforts by up to 80 percent while reducing costs. Beyond technical upgrades, the platform also intelligently reengineers underlying business processes that have been tailored to legacy systems over decades, addressing a critical but often overlooked dimension of digital transformation.
The big picture: Legacy infrastructure remains a significant barrier to digital innovation for large enterprises, requiring massive investments of time, money, and engineering talent to modernize.
Key innovation: McKinsey’s QuantumBlack AI division has developed LegacyX, a proprietary platform leveraging autonomous AI agents to drastically accelerate and simplify infrastructure modernization.
Why this matters: Aging digital infrastructure represents a hidden tax on innovation across virtually every industry, with most large organizations struggling to maintain competitiveness while tied to decades-old systems.
Practical impact: By utilizing agentic AI for infrastructure modernization, organizations can overcome the traditional barriers of cost, time, and complexity that have forced many to maintain outdated systems.