Infosys Launches AI Code Migration Tool for Legacy Systems

Infosys, one of the world's largest IT services companies, has launched a new AI-powered code migration tool designed to help enterprises modernize aging legacy systems at a fraction of the traditional cost and time. The tool, part of Infosys's broader Topaz AI platform, automates the conversion of legacy codebases — including COBOL, FORTRAN, and mainframe assembler — into modern languages like Java, Python, and cloud-native architectures.

The announcement comes as enterprises worldwide face mounting pressure to retire decades-old systems that remain critical to daily operations but increasingly struggle to integrate with modern cloud infrastructure, APIs, and AI-driven workflows.

Key Facts at a Glance

• What: An AI-driven code migration tool that automates the translation of legacy enterprise code into modern programming languages
• Who: Infosys, via its Topaz AI platform, targeting Fortune 500 and large enterprise clients
• Why it matters: An estimated 800 billion lines of COBOL code still run in production globally, powering banking, insurance, and government systems
• Cost impact: Infosys claims the tool can reduce migration project timelines by up to 50% and cut costs by 30-40% compared to manual rewriting
• Availability: Rolling out to existing Infosys enterprise clients first, with broader availability expected in Q3 2025
• Competition: Rivals include IBM's Watsonx Code Assistant for Z, Accenture's migration accelerators, and startups like ModernizeAI

Why Legacy Code Migration Is a $50 Billion Problem

Legacy systems represent one of the most stubborn challenges in enterprise IT. Banks, insurers, healthcare providers, and government agencies still rely heavily on software written in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. These systems process trillions of dollars in transactions daily.

The problem is not just technical — it is existential. Organizations cannot easily adopt cloud computing, real-time analytics, or AI capabilities when their core systems run on 40-year-old mainframe architectures. Yet manual migration projects are notoriously expensive, often costing hundreds of millions of dollars and spanning 3-5 years or more.

COBOL alone accounts for roughly 95% of ATM transactions and 80% of in-person financial transactions worldwide, according to Reuters. The pool of developers who understand these languages is shrinking rapidly as veteran programmers retire, creating what industry analysts call a 'skills cliff' that threatens operational continuity.

How the Infosys AI Migration Tool Works

The new tool leverages large language models fine-tuned specifically on enterprise codebases, combined with static analysis, dependency mapping, and automated testing frameworks. Unlike generic code translation tools, Infosys says its system understands business logic embedded within legacy applications — not just syntax.

Here is how the migration pipeline operates:

• Code Discovery: The AI scans the entire legacy codebase, mapping dependencies, data flows, and business rules across millions of lines of code
• Logic Extraction: Rather than line-by-line translation, the system extracts underlying business logic and re-implements it in the target language using modern design patterns
• Automated Refactoring: The tool restructures monolithic applications into modular, microservices-based architectures suitable for cloud deployment
• Test Generation: AI automatically generates unit tests, integration tests, and regression test suites to validate functional equivalence between legacy and modernized code
• Human-in-the-Loop Review: Critical sections flagged by the AI are routed to human engineers for verification, ensuring accuracy in high-stakes business processes

This approach differs significantly from earlier attempts at automated code migration, which often produced 'transliterated' code — technically correct but unreadable and unmaintainable output that simply replicated legacy patterns in a new language. Infosys claims its tool produces 'idiomatically modern' code that follows best practices in the target language.

Infosys Topaz AI Platform Powers the Engine

The migration tool does not exist in isolation. It is part of Infosys Topaz, the company's AI-first platform launched in 2023, which integrates generative AI, analytics, and automation capabilities across Infosys's service offerings. Topaz has already been deployed across more than 100 enterprise clients for use cases ranging from document processing to software development acceleration.

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh has repeatedly emphasized AI as the company's strategic growth driver. In the most recent quarterly earnings call, Parekh noted that AI-related deals now represent a growing share of the company's $18.5 billion annual revenue pipeline. The code migration tool represents a natural extension of this strategy, targeting one of the most lucrative segments of the enterprise modernization market.

The global application modernization market is projected to reach $52.4 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual rate of 16.7%, according to MarketsandMarkets research. Infosys is positioning itself to capture a significant share of this spend.

How This Compares to IBM and Accenture Offerings

Infosys is not the first major player to apply AI to legacy code migration. IBM launched its Watsonx Code Assistant for Z in late 2023, specifically targeting COBOL-to-Java migration on IBM Z mainframe environments. IBM's tool benefits from deep mainframe expertise but is tightly coupled to IBM's own hardware ecosystem.

Accenture has similarly invested in AI-driven migration accelerators, leveraging its massive consulting workforce to pair automated tools with hands-on implementation. Wipro, TCS, and other Indian IT services giants have also announced competing initiatives.

What differentiates the Infosys offering, according to the company, is its language-agnostic approach and focus on business logic preservation rather than syntactic translation. The tool supports migration from a broader set of source languages — including RPG, PL/I, and Natural/ADABAS — and can target multiple modern platforms including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and on-premises Kubernetes clusters.

Startups are also entering this space aggressively. Companies like ModernizeAI, Babelcode, and CodeMorph have raised venture funding to build AI-native migration platforms. However, they typically lack the enterprise relationships, security certifications, and at-scale delivery capabilities that firms like Infosys bring to the table.

What This Means for Enterprises and Developers

For enterprise CIOs, this tool addresses one of their most persistent headaches. Legacy modernization has traditionally been a high-risk, high-cost endeavor with a troubling failure rate — Gartner has estimated that up to 75% of large-scale migration projects exceed their budgets or timelines. AI-powered automation could fundamentally change that equation.

For developers, the implications are mixed. On one hand, the tool reduces the grueling manual work of reading and rewriting ancient code. On the other hand, it may reduce demand for specialized migration consultants — a lucrative niche in the IT services industry.

Key practical implications include:

• Faster time to cloud: Organizations can accelerate their cloud migration roadmaps by years, unlocking modern AI and analytics capabilities sooner
• Reduced risk: Automated test generation and logic validation reduce the chance of introducing bugs during migration
• Cost savings: A 30-40% cost reduction on projects that routinely run into the hundreds of millions represents enormous savings
• Talent pressure relief: Less reliance on scarce COBOL and mainframe expertise
• Competitive advantage: Early movers in modernization gain agility to launch new digital products and services faster than legacy-bound competitors

Looking Ahead: AI-Driven Modernization Becomes the Norm

The launch of Infosys's migration tool signals a broader industry shift. Within the next 2-3 years, AI-assisted code migration is likely to become the default approach for large-scale modernization projects, replacing the labor-intensive manual methods that have dominated for decades.

Several trends will accelerate this shift. First, LLM capabilities continue to improve rapidly, enabling more accurate and context-aware code understanding. Second, cloud providers like AWS and Microsoft Azure are actively incentivizing migration by offering credits and co-investment programs. Third, regulatory pressure — particularly in financial services and healthcare — is increasingly forcing organizations to move off unsupported legacy platforms.

Infosys has indicated it will expand the tool's capabilities throughout 2025, adding support for additional source languages, deeper integration with DevOps pipelines, and enhanced explainability features that help auditors and regulators understand how migrated code maps to original business logic.

The race to modernize the world's legacy systems is accelerating. With AI now capable of understanding and translating decades-old code, the question is no longer whether enterprises will modernize — but how quickly the tools will mature to make it seamless.