Kyndryl Survey Finds AI Expands Modernization Plans

Kyndryl says in a press release that AI adoption is expanding modernization plans across infrastructure and applications. Its survey of 2,000 business and technology leaders across five continents and 12 industries found that nearly half of organizations are behind schedule on modernization.

AI was the leading reason for increased use of mainframes and edge computing, as well as upgrades to networks and application portfolios. Every surveyed organization with a mainframe reported plans to deploy AI on the platform. The report also found that 98% of organizations delayed modernization and experienced negative business effects.

Ten percent of organizations use agentic AI in production for modernization tasks such as dependency mapping, code conversion and documentation. Among these organizations, 67% were ahead of or on track with modernization goals, compared with 51% of other respondents. Only 9% of all respondents said they fully understand dependencies across their applications, while one quarter reported having many undocumented applications.