Nilekani Urges Enterprises Modernize Legacy Systems

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani said at the Infosys Investors AI Day on February 17, 2026, that enterprises must modernize decades-old legacy systems to harness AI, warning that technical debt and data silos create a widening deployment gap between model capability and real-world implementation. He noted many firms spend 60–80% of IT budgets on maintenance, urged large-scale reskilling, and framed modernization as an opportunity for service providers.
Key Points
- 1Calls for massive legacy-system modernisation, citing decades of technical debt and pervasive data silos.
- 2Notes deployment gap as AI model capability outpaces enterprises’ ability to implement and operationalize safely.
- 3Recommends large-scale reskilling and system redesign, creating opportunities for service providers to build bespoke platforms.
Scoring Rationale
Industry-wide urgency and actionable modernization guidance from a credible Infosys executive, limited by advisory tone rather than technical specifics.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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