Gartner Warns Against Overestimating AI in Mainframe Migrations
Gartner is warning organizations not to overestimate generative AI’s ability to accelerate mainframe migrations. The firm predicts that more than 70% of AI-driven mainframe exit projects launched in 2026 will fail because organizations expect AI to do more than it can. According to Gartner, relying too heavily on AI for legacy code migration can lead to cost overruns, technical debt, project delays, and failures in mission-critical systems.
While AI is increasingly being used to support mainframe modernization, Gartner emphasizes that it should be viewed as an enabler—not a replacement for sound migration planning. Companies such as JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley have successfully applied AI to modernize legacy applications by combining it with governance, safeguards, and internal expertise. Meanwhile, technology providers, including AWS and Anthropic, promote AI-powered modernization, while IBM and Kyndryl continue to position the mainframe as a strategic platform for enterprise workloads.
Gartner advises organizations to take a balanced approach based on the complexity of their IT environments. Rather than pursuing broad mainframe exits, enterprises should focus on optimizing existing mainframe investments and use generative AI selectively to modernize applications where it adds value. The firm also predicts that by 2030, 75% of mainframe exit vendors will change or abandon their business models as demand shifts away from one-size-fits-all migration approaches.
Key takeaways
- Gartner predicts over 70% of AI-driven mainframe exit projects initiated in 2026 will fail due to unrealistic expectations for generative AI.
- Overreliance on AI can result in higher costs, technical debt, and risks to mission-critical applications.
- AI is most effective as a tool to modernize mainframes, not as a standalone solution for migrating off them.
- Organizations like JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley have successfully used AI alongside strong governance and human expertise.
- IBM and Kyndryl continue to advocate for the mainframe as a modern enterprise platform rather than encouraging wholesale migration.
- Gartner expects 75% of mainframe exit vendors to adapt or exit the market by 2030 as customers adopt more tailored modernization strategies.
Source: Gartner
IBM, Red Hat, and Deloitte Announce Lightwell Collaboration to Help Strengthen Open Source Software Supply Chain Trust
Deloitte, IBM, and Red Hat have announced a collaboration to help protect the software supply chain against increasingly automated cyber threats. Deloitte joins the initiative as an integration collaborator for Lightwell, bringing its broader secured software supply chain architecture and cyber risk services to the large-scale enterprise open source security model deployed by IBM and Red Hat.
Most organizations rely on a mix of first-party code, open source software, and third-party commercial software. Because a single business application can include all three, an unpatched vulnerability can introduce immediate risk across the entire corporate estate. Frontier AI models have accelerated this risk and can enable adversaries to discover and exploit zero-day flaws in minutes.
Lightwell aims to help address this operational pressure by decoupling open source software security remediation from the traditional software upgrade cycle. The initiative combines an enterprise open source security model with an active engineering force. Supported by IBM and Red Hat, Lightwell coordinates upstream threat disclosures with independent maintainers while developing, testing, and backporting patches directly to the pinned software versions running in production environments. Lightwell delivers validated patches to those specific, in-use software versions, protecting critical systems without forcing disruptive upgrades.
Through this collaboration, the three organizations will coordinate across the software lifecycle to help clients manage security threats:
- Continuous Visibility & Discovery: Continuously mapping and scanning first-party, open source, and third-party software to identify exactly what code exists, where it runs, and which critical business functions it supports.
- Contextual Prioritization: Separating active threats from noise by analyzing severity, exposure, threat-chaining, and exploitability to inform operational decisions.
- Machine-Speed Remediation: Combining Red Hat and IBM’s automated patch validation with Deloitte’s orchestration services to rapidly coordinate, test, and deploy validated fixes into production repositories, limiting disruption. To achieve this, Deloitte will maintain a bench of Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) to support ongoing remediation and maintenance of client applications.
- Ecosystem Trust & Compliance: Through the collaboration, the organizations will help enterprises manage upstream open source and vendor relationships, including pre-disclosure vulnerability handovers, while delivering continuous, evidence-based reporting for boards, auditors, and regulators.
As the pace of vulnerability discovery increases, organizations are looking for solutions that help reduce exposure while improving accountability across the software lifecycle. This collaboration aims to help clients do exactly that — transform software supply chain security from a fragmented, reactive process into a coordinated, evidence-based operating model.
This collaboration builds on the broader Deloitte and IBM relationship focused on helping clients address cybersecurity, resilience, digital trust, and other emerging technology risks. It also draws on the decade-long Deloitte and Red Hat alliance, which combines open source technologies and IT automation to help enterprises manage hybrid cloud complexity and accelerate business integration. Learn more about the Deloitte and IBM relationship here, and explore Deloitte’s alliance with Red Hat here.
Source: IBM
BMC to Separate Helix AI ServiceOps Business
BMC Software is separating its Helix ServiceOps business into a standalone company through a carve-out transaction that will give private equity firm Montagu a majority stake in the business for $875 million. Under the agreement, funds managed by KKR will retain ownership of BMC Software and hold a minority stake in Helix. KKR acquired BMC in 2018.
Helix provides AI-powered IT service and operations management software, combining IT service management (ITSM), AIOps and agentic AI capabilities to help organizations manage complex hybrid IT environments. According to BMC, operating Helix as an independent company will allow it to focus on expanding its ServiceOps and AI portfolio, while BMC continues to focus on automation technologies.
“We believe this transaction positions both BMC and Helix to move faster and stay sharply focused on their respective core priorities,” said Ayman Sayed, President and CEO of BMC. “BMC, alongside KKR, will continue to support Helix’s journey by retaining a minority stake.”
Source: BMC
Kyndryl and AWS sign expanded strategic collaboration agreement to advance agentic AI adoption across enterprise IT
Kyndryl has announced the expansion of its multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help customers adopt, deploy and scale agentic AI as they modernize and operate mission-critical workloads on AWS.
Under the expanded SCA, Kyndryl and AWS have committed to growing and strengthening Kyndryl’s global AWS business and technical team that currently includes more than 11,000 AWS-certified professionals. Specifically, AWS is investing in Kyndryl’s talent development, joint solution engineering, AI specialization and industry-focused modernization capabilities to accelerate agentic AI-powered innovation, modernization and business transformation.
According to the Kyndryl Readiness Report, customer investments in AI are growing—more than 68% are investing heavily— but most aren’t realizing the anticipated benefits or operational efficiencies. Kyndryl and AWS plan to help organizations address this challenge by co-developing new industry-specific agentic AI modernization blueprints, offerings and advanced delivery capabilities that will enable customers to rapidly adopt AI-powered solutions while maximizing the value, speed and resiliency of their existing AWS Cloud investments.
The skills and deep technical expertise fostered under the expanded SCA also will support the companies’ collaboration in Europe, where Kyndryl is a launch partner for the AWS European Sovereign Cloud initiative, and further Kyndryl’s broad portfolio of AWS Competencies, including Mainframe Modernization, AI, Agentic AI and Digital Sovereignty as well as multiple AWS Industry Competencies.
The collaboration will center on applying AI, including agent-based approaches, to automate routine tasks, coordinate workflows, and support moving workloads to AWS across large, distributed environments. Kyndryl and AWS will continue to team on joint go-to-market efforts to bring agentic AI capabilities and solutions to customers globally, helping organizations modernize their IT environments and use AI to improve how those systems are run and maintained.
Source: Kyndryl
Mainframe Security Expert Further Strengthens Vertali Leadership
Mainframe security expert James Loftus has joined Vertali’s senior leadership team as Technical Delivery Manager for Security, bringing CISO/director-level client-side expertise in cybersecurity, information security, assurance, IT performance, and customer services.
Holding CISSP, CISA, CDPSE, CCSK and C|CISO accreditations, James is an IT executive with more than 30 years’ experience spanning Blue Chip financial institutions and mainframe software providers. He combines deep technical expertise with commercial acumen.
“I am excited to start a new chapter at Vertali, focusing on mainframe security and helping organizations treat security as a core business priority,” he says. “I’m looking forward to working with some great people and getting deeply involved in the challenges ahead.”
Delivering mainframe services globally, Vertali is experiencing rapid growth in response to rising client demand, reflecting continued investment in mainframes, strong confidence in the platform, and modernization programs worldwide. The BMC Mainframe Survey 2025 reported that positive perception of the mainframe had reached an all-time high of 97%.
“Organizations are under threat like never before,” says Leanne Wilson, Senior Technical Delivery Manager at Vertali. “We’re investing in senior security expertise because demand for secure mainframe operations and modernization continues to grow. James further strengthens our global team, enabling us to consistently deliver excellence for our clients while safeguarding their systems, data, and reputation.”
James’ role at Vertali builds on a proven track record of leading high-stakes programs and delivering transformative technology initiatives, often requiring cross-functional collaboration.
Source: Vertali
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