AI-driven COBOL modernization accelerates upgrades while trimming consultant needs

Anthropic’s Claude Code is pitched as an AI-assisted COBOL modernization toolkit that maps dependencies, traces data flows, and documents workflows across thousands of lines of legacy code. It can translate COBOL logic to modern languages, create API wrappers to run old and new code side by side, and generate automated tests that verify migrated components produce identical outputs. By automating exploration and risk assessment, it aims to cut heavy consultant workloads and accelerate modernization, though such AI-driven approaches could disrupt traditional COBOL vendors like IBM.