AWS Transform Revolutionizes Legacy System Modernization with Agentic AI Capabilities
In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, legacy systems often hinder innovation by consuming valuable resources and creating technical debt. A typical organization spends 30% of its teams’ time on manual modernization work—effort that could otherwise be directed toward driving new business value. To address this challenge, AWS Transform, the first agentic AI service for transforming Windows .NET applications, VMware systems, and mainframes, is introducing groundbreaking enhancements that enable rapid, large-scale modernization across any software, code, library, or framework. These advancements empower organizations to modernize legacy systems up to 5x faster, reducing maintenance and licensing costs by up to 70%.
Accelerating Full-Stack Modernization Across All Layers
One of the most significant updates to AWS Transform is its ability to accelerate full-stack Windows modernization by up to 5x. This includes modernizing .NET applications, SQL Server, user interface (UI) frameworks, and deployment layers into open-source, cloud-native solutions. By eliminating dependencies on expensive proprietary software, customers can achieve substantial cost savings while improving security and performance.
The process begins with AWS Transform agents analyzing the entire Windows stack and proposing coordinated modernization plans across all layers. Once approved, the agents execute transformations for the application, UI framework, database, and operating system, providing comprehensive summaries and updates along the way. These capabilities allow customers to transition from Windows and SQL Server to open-source alternatives like PostgreSQL, freeing them from costly licensing agreements and significantly reducing operational expenses.
For example, Teamfront, a strategic partner for market-leading software companies, used AWS Transform to modernize 800,000 lines of code in just two weeks—a task that would traditionally take months. “This breakthrough showed us a clear path to retiring technical debt,” said Bobby Land, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Teamfront. “We’re now moving from SQL Server to PostgreSQL while simultaneously transforming our applications, accelerating our modernization journey and enabling us to better serve our portfolio of field service software companies.”
Similarly, Thomson Reuters, a global leader in AI and technology for legal, tax, and compliance industries, leveraged AWS Transform to migrate from Windows to open-source alternatives. Using agentic AI-powered automation, they now migrate 1.5 million lines of code per month, achieving 30% lower costs and reducing technical debt by 50%.
Custom Capabilities for Any Code or Application
AWS Transform’s new custom capability takes modernization to the next level by enabling organizations to transform any system, even those with company-specific programming languages, frameworks, or libraries. With pre-built transformations for common patterns (e.g., Java, Node.js, and Python upgrades) and custom transformations for unique organizational needs, specialized agents execute consistent, repeatable, and high-quality transformations at scale.
For a typical organization, AWS Transform custom can modernize hundreds or thousands of applications up to 5x faster than manual efforts. The transformation agent automatically captures feedback and improves over time, ensuring each subsequent transformation becomes more reliable and efficient.
Air Canada, the largest airline in Canada, faced challenges with outdated software that jeopardized its business operations. In just a few days, Air Canada deployed AWS Transform to modernize thousands of Lambda functions, achieving an 80% reduction in expected time and cost compared to manual migration.
QAD, a leader in cloud-based solutions for global manufacturers, also experienced transformative results. “Modernizations that used to take two weeks now take just three days,” said Sanjay Brahmawar, CEO of QAD|Redzone. “AWS Transform has already processed more than 180,000 lines of legacy code with exceptional accuracy, driving 60%-70% productivity gains and saving over 7,500 developer hours annually.”
Enhancements for Mainframe and VMware Modernization
AWS Transform continues to evolve, introducing new capabilities for mainframe and VMware modernization. For mainframes, three new agents build on existing features like code analysis, business rule extraction, and technical documentation. These agents help produce activity analysis to guide modernization decisions, create blueprints for reimagining legacy code into clear business functions, and simplify domain decomposition. Additionally, new task agents automate test planning and validation, generating test plans, data collection scripts, and automation scripts—tasks that traditionally consume up to half of project timelines.
For VMware environments, AWS Transform now offers an agentic experience that simplifies and accelerates large-scale discovery, planning, and network migration. A new on-premises discovery tool supports security reviews and inventory discovery, while a migration planning agent applies business context using unstructured inputs like documents, files, chats, and business rules. Enhanced network migration capabilities also support advanced configurations and security technologies from Cisco ACI, Fortigate, and Palo Alto Networks.
Partner-Led Innovation Through Composability
AWS Transform’s new composability initiative empowers AWS Partners to integrate their proprietary tools, agents, and knowledge bases into customized workflows within the AWS Transform product experience. Early adopters include Accenture, Capgemini, and Pegasystems, who have built new agents tailored to deliver more effective and contextually relevant transformations for customers in industries such as financial services and healthcare.
Realizing the Full Value of AI-Driven Modernization
AWS Transform has already helped customers analyze an estimated 1.1 billion lines of code and save over 810,000 hours of manual effort. With these latest enhancements, AWS Transform is poised to accelerate organization-wide modernization efforts, empowering businesses to eliminate technical debt, reduce costs, and focus on innovation. Whether transitioning from Windows to open-source solutions, modernizing mainframes, or transforming VMware environments, AWS Transform provides the tools and capabilities needed to succeed in the cloud-native era.
By leveraging agentic AI, AWS Transform not only transforms legacy systems but also accelerates the pace of digital transformation, enabling organizations to unlock new levels of efficiency, agility, and business value.
About AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is guided by customer obsession, pace of innovation, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. By democratizing technology for nearly two decades and making cloud computing and generative AI accessible to organizations of every size and industry, AWS has built one of the fastest-growing enterprise technology businesses in history. Millions of customers trust AWS to accelerate innovation, transform their businesses, and shape the future. With the most comprehensive AI capabilities and global infrastructure footprint, AWS empowers builders to turn big ideas into reality. Learn more at aws.amazon.com and follow @AWSNewsroom.
