From lab to legacy: moving fast, testing smart

At Capco, we embrace both sides of this reality: solving tough challenges through rapid AI-assisted prototyping in our AI Labs and modernizing safely through transforming large-scale enterprise systems. The mindset behind both activities? Understand deeply. Build quickly. Test safely.

Building fast: how Generative AI supercharged Capco’s AI labs

After Capco rolled out ChatGPT Enterprise, our AI Labs became a proving ground for how GenAI can transform the software development lifecycle (SDLC). What began as engineers using tools like ChatGPT for quick answers evolved into something much deeper – AI woven directly into our workflow.

With AI-driven coding tools such as Codex, GitHub Copilot and Cursor integrated into our development environment, AI now sees what our engineers see – the files, context and dependencies. Previously, small context files in each repository were required to define standards, naming rules and design patterns. However, our primary AI-driven coding tool Codex – in line with our partnership with OpenAI – does not just read these. It learns from them, helping generate code that aligns perfectly with our style and structure.

The result? Less time switching tabs, more time solving problems. Engineers can open unfamiliar files and get instant summaries, pinpoint bugs in seconds and share knowledge effortlessly. The numbers speak for themselves:

• Tasks such as code annotation and overall repository documentation that took 5 hours now take 1.
• Deep-rooted bug fixes relating to networking, deployment and development that took hours now take minutes.
• Test coverage jumped from around 75% to over 90%.

The same mindset that drives speed and safety in our AI Labs now underpins how we modernize the enterprise: fast, controlled and intelligent. What we have built in the lab is shaping AI-infused SDLC solutions for our clients in financial services and energy.

Modernizing safely: scaling the same mindset to the enterprise

Speed is powerful but, in complex enterprise systems, safety is everything. GenAI helps us achieve both. This is not ‘vibe coding’ at scale, in fact quite the opposite. It is more work, in more detail, with more control – but done faster.

In complex systems, automation and creativity behave like coupled variables – push one too far and the other contracts. GenAI reshapes that curve. We no longer need trade as much insight for speed, or originality for control. We can move fast and think deeply, even when transforming on an enterprise scale.

Legacy modernization in financial institutions means working with millions of lines of code written across decades, in different languages and frameworks. Each change can impact operations, data and compliance. That is why our modernization approach starts with understanding the whole system – not just fixing what is broken.

By using GenAI for pattern recognition, intelligent summarization and code generation, we can refactor, re-platform and re-architect faster without adding technical debt. Automated documentation, data lineage analysis, and testing make modernization continuous and controlled rather than disruptive.

The outcome is not just newer code. It is a living, adaptable architecture, brought to the surface in a knowledge graph and enriched using GenAI techniques. The new code connects legacy with modern business processes, and provides a central source of transparent truth.

Capco’s legacy modernization capability has refactored millions of lines of code for our clients already, fully documented, compliant, tested robustly and functioning smoothly.

GenAI builds the connective tissue that lets institutions innovate confidently, preserving the reliability that built their reputation while gaining the agility to shape the future.

Ready to see what AI can do for your SDLC?

Many clients see what we have built and say: “We want that internally”. However, standing up an internal GenAI SDLC pipeline – across legacy stacks, siloed teams and layers of governance – can take months using internal resources. Leveraging Capco AI Labs can deliver your new development environment in weeks. 

From AI-assisted development environments to enterprise-grade legacy code modernization, we turn ambition into delivery. Engage with our team to modernize how you understand, build and test – fast, safely and at scale.