A recent study from the IBM Institute for Business Value finds that 64% of executives say they need to modernize apps to make use of generative AI. “Rapidly evolving generative AI use cases demand a level of speed, flexibility, and connectedness that traditional IT platforms just can’t handle,” the report states.

Three general areas emerged from the research behind the study:

* Application modernization. “Rather than bolting modern apps onto legacy systems, making the technical environment ever more complex, businesses can use generative AI to speed app modernization for digital transformation organization-wide,” according to the report. “Today, 79% of executives say using generative AI in app modernization projects will increase business agility.”

* Find missed opportunities. “Generative AI empowers CEOs to run their business in entirely new ways...but only if they reach beyond low-hanging fruit to high-value opportunities: applications or processes in core systems that were either too difficult or too scary to attempt modernizing before,” according to the report.

Top executives are thus urged to “get a list from your CIO/CTO of modernization initiatives that represented the most business value but were abandoned due to the estimated cost or level of difficulty. Tackle those priorities and build a running list of new modernization targets...it’s time to urgently advance modernization efforts in the core business systems—such as product lifecycle management systems in manufacturing or flight scheduling systems in airlines—where generative AI is expected to deliver the biggest, most strategic results.”

* Update the operating model. The report urges executives to “stop measuring business and IT goals separately—explicitly prioritize IT projects with the strongest links to business value. Strengthen and lengthen the handshake between IT and the business.”

The full report is available from IBM.