Cybernetic Delivery:Modernising Legacy with AI
Tackling legacy systems is rarely simple – especially when no one knows exactly how they work. To bring clarity and scalability back, the client partnered with Orbis. Using an AI-augmented delivery approach, the Orbis team turned complexity into opportunity, streamlined delivery, and helped the team work faster and with more confidence.
Orbis transformed a complex, undocumented legacy system into a modern, maintainable platform. The team achieved around 30% efficiency gains while improving code quality and freeing people for higher-value work. AI augmentation is now embedded as a continuous, team-driven practice across the delivery lifecycle.
Fast-tracking smart legacy transformation with a 30% efficiency boost
The client, a leading advisory firm specialising in risk management, insurance, and pension benefits, faced an IT system that worked, but no one knew exactly how. Millions of lines of legacy code, no reliable documentation, and business logic scattered through years of exception-based rules made the digital landscape a black box.
- ~30% efficiency gains while building a modern, maintainable platform
- Faster coding with improved quality and fewer manual errors
- Automation of repeatable tasks, freeing time for high-impact thinking
- Increased clarity, confidence and productivity across the team
What stood in the way
The client, a leading advisory firm specialising in risk management, insurance, and pension benefits, faced an IT system that worked, but no one knew exactly how. With highly specialised expert teams, the firm delivers comprehensive, tailored solutions that help organisations navigate complexity, manage uncertainty, and secure long-term resilience. Yet they still depended on outdated IT systems that lacked the reliability today’s challenges demand.
As Orbis joined the project, certain well-known patterns quickly emerged. Change was risky. Maintenance was expensive. And despite its importance, the system could not keep up with the pace of business.
Millions of lines of legacy code, no reliable documentation, and business logic scattered through years of exception-based rules made the client’s digital landscape a black box. It was fragmented, complex, and held together by assumptions no one could trace.
How Orbis got to work
Faced with this intricate challenge, the Orbis team decided to leverage AI to augment its methods of working, addressing complexities, accelerating processes, and laying the groundwork for future innovation and sustained competitiveness.
Business Analysts & Architects use ChatGPT to reverse-engineer undocumented legacy code and complex data structures. Developers benefit from AI coding assistants, ChatGPT, and custom AI assistants enriched with the team’s coding guidelines. Quality Assurance uses AI-augmented delivery patterns combined with ChatGPT and coding assistants to generate additional test cases and identify potential gaps in coverage.
The result delivered
All in all, leveraging AI-augmented delivery as the underlying approach for augmenting the software delivery lifecycle with AI, the team now works smarter from planning to implementation, codes faster with improved quality and fewer manual errors, and automates repeatable tasks – freeing up time for high-impact thinking.
By streamlining processes and reducing waste, the team reported ~30% efficiency gains while building a modern, maintainable platform. The increased clarity and confidence also translated into a boost in productivity.
The efficiency improvement achieved here is a strong result, especially given the extreme complexity of the client’s legacy landscape. It laid the foundation for improved productivity, a meaningful outcome that reflects the strength of the approach even in tough conditions.
“Orbis was involved before AI became a mainstream part of software delivery. As the project evolved, AI tools and practices were seamlessly integrated into the delivery process, helping the project team move from a critical phase to a stable and future-proof solution. The outcome — a 30% boost in efficiency — delivered clear value to the client.”
