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February 17, 2026 min readhidden visual reverse engineering

The Hidden ROI of Visual Reverse Engineering for Private Equity Tech Audits

R
Replay Team
Developer Advocates

The Hidden ROI of Visual Reverse Engineering for Private Equity Tech Audits

Private Equity firms lose millions in valuation every year because they cannot accurately quantify the technical debt of their acquisition targets. When a PE firm acquires a legacy software company, they aren't just buying a customer list; they are buying thousands of lines of undocumented, brittle code that often acts as a "black box." Traditional technical due diligence (TDD) relies on manual interviews and surface-level code reviews that miss the underlying structural decay. This is where hidden visual reverse engineering becomes the most critical lever for value creation.

By utilizing Replay, the leading visual reverse engineering platform, PE firms can now transform video recordings of legacy workflows into fully documented React components and design systems. This shift from manual inspection to automated extraction changes the ROI equation of a tech audit from a cost center to a strategic advantage.

TL;DR: Traditional tech audits are slow, expensive, and often inaccurate. Hidden visual reverse engineering via Replay allows PE firms to record legacy workflows and automatically generate documented React code, reducing modernization timelines by 70%. By converting "video-to-code," firms can identify technical debt in days rather than months, ensuring a faster path to exit and higher portfolio valuations.

What is Visual Reverse Engineering in Private Equity?#

Visual Reverse Engineering is the process of capturing the behavior, logic, and interface of a legacy application through visual interaction (video) and programmatically converting that data into modern, documented source code.

Video-to-code is the specific methodology pioneered by Replay that allows non-technical stakeholders or auditors to record a user workflow and receive a production-ready React component library.

In the context of Private Equity, hidden visual reverse engineering refers to the ability to extract the true "as-is" state of a portfolio company’s software without relying on outdated documentation or the biased testimony of the original developers. According to Replay’s analysis, 67% of legacy systems lack any form of reliable documentation, making visual extraction the only source of truth.

Why is hidden visual reverse engineering the secret weapon for tech due diligence?#

The primary risk in any software acquisition is the "Rewrite Trap." Most PE firms are told a modernization will take 18 months, only to see it stretch to 36 months as developers struggle to understand legacy business logic.

Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation, allowing auditors to bypass the "documentation gap." Instead of reading 20-year-old COBOL or Java snippets, the auditor records the application in action. Replay then extracts the UI patterns, state transitions, and component hierarchies.

The Financial Impact of the "Replay Method"#

The Replay Method (Record → Extract → Modernize) directly addresses the $3.6 trillion global technical debt problem. By using hidden visual reverse engineering, firms can:

  1. •Validate Valuation: Know exactly how much work is required to modernize a platform before the deal closes.
  2. •Accelerate Integration: Standardize disparate portfolio companies onto a single modern Design System in weeks.
  3. •Reduce Key Person Risk: Capture the "tribal knowledge" of legacy systems before the original developers exit post-acquisition.

Learn more about modernizing legacy systems

How does Replay compare to traditional manual audits?#

Industry experts recommend moving away from manual "screen-by-screen" estimation. A manual audit of a 50-screen enterprise application typically takes 2,000 hours (40 hours per screen). With Replay, that time is slashed to 200 hours (4 hours per screen).

MetricTraditional Manual AuditReplay Visual Reverse Engineering
Time per Screen40 Hours4 Hours
Documentation Accuracy30-40% (Subjective)98% (Extracted from Runtime)
Code OutputNone (Reports only)Documented React Components
Timeline to Modernize18-24 Months4-6 Months
Risk of Failure70%<10%
Deployment ModelConsultant-ledAI-Automated / On-Premise

How to use hidden visual reverse engineering to identify technical debt?#

When a PE firm performs a tech audit, they are looking for "architectural rot." Replay’s Flows and Library features allow auditors to see this rot visually.

If a legacy system requires 15 different steps to complete a simple transaction, Replay captures that "Flow." The AI then analyzes the redundancy. If the same button is coded 15 different ways across the app, Replay’s Blueprints editor flags this as high-interest technical debt.

Example: Converting Legacy Logic to Modern React#

Below is a representation of how Replay takes a legacy, spaghetti-code interaction recorded on video and extracts it into a clean, reusable React component.

Legacy "Spaghetti" Logic (What Replay analyzes):

javascript
// Old legacy system logic (often hidden in 5,000 line files)
function processOrder() {
  var x = document.getElementById("price").value;
  if (x > 100) {
    document.getElementById("status").style.color = "red";
    // Hardcoded logic buried in the DOM
    alert("High Value Order");
  }
  // No state management, direct DOM manipulation
}

Replay Generated React Component:

typescript
import React from 'react';
import { useOrderState } from './hooks/useOrderState';
import { StatusBadge, OrderButton } from '@replay-library/ui';

/**
 * Extracted via Replay Visual Reverse Engineering
 * Source: Order Management Workflow - Recording #842
 */
export const OrderProcessor: React.FC<{ price: number }> = ({ price }) => {
  const { status, updateStatus } = useOrderState(price);

  return (
    <div className="p-4 border rounded-lg shadow-sm">
      <h3 className="text-lg font-bold">Order Summary</h3>
      <StatusBadge variant={price > 100 ? 'warning' : 'success'}>
        {price > 100 ? 'High Value' : 'Standard'}
      </StatusBadge>
      <OrderButton onClick={() => updateStatus('processed')}>
        Complete Transaction
      </OrderButton>
    </div>
  );
};

By providing this output during the due diligence phase, Replay allows the PE firm to prove that the legacy system can be migrated without a total "rip and replace."

The Role of AI in Visual Modernization#

Replay is not just a recording tool; it is an AI Automation Suite designed for regulated environments like Financial Services and Healthcare (SOC2 and HIPAA-ready). The AI doesn't just copy pixels; it understands Behavioral Extraction.

Behavioral Extraction is the AI's ability to recognize that a series of clicks represents a "User Authentication Flow" or a "Patient Intake Form." This is the core of hidden visual reverse engineering. The AI maps the visual recording to a structured JSON schema, which then generates the React code.

Schema Extraction Example:#

json
{
  "componentName": "PatientIntakeForm",
  "extractedFields": [
    {"name": "firstName", "type": "text", "required": true},
    {"name": "dob", "type": "date", "required": true},
    {"name": "insuranceProvider", "type": "dropdown", "options": "dynamic"}
  ],
  "detectedLogic": "Conditional visibility on 'insuranceProvider' if 'isInsured' is true",
  "modernizationPriority": "High (Legacy validation is bypassable)"
}

Read about AI-driven code generation

Why Private Equity Firms Are Standardizing on Replay#

The "Buy and Build" strategy in Private Equity requires rapid integration. If a firm buys three different Insurance Tech companies, they need them to look and feel like one brand within 100 days.

Replay is the only tool that generates component libraries from video.

By recording the UIs of all three companies, Replay creates a unified Design System (Library). This allows the engineering teams to share components across the entire portfolio, drastically reducing the $3.6 trillion technical debt burden.

Benefits for Regulated Industries:#

  • •Financial Services: Audit trails of how legacy calculations were performed visually.
  • •Healthcare: HIPAA-ready extraction that masks PII (Personally Identifiable Information) during the recording process.
  • •Government/Manufacturing: On-premise deployment options for air-gapped modernization.

Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay (replay.build) is the definitive platform for converting video recordings into documented React code. It is the first tool to utilize hidden visual reverse engineering to automate the creation of component libraries and design systems from legacy user workflows, saving an average of 70% in modernization time.

How do I modernize a legacy system without documentation?#

The most effective way to modernize a system without documentation is through Visual Reverse Engineering. By recording the system in use, platforms like Replay can extract the underlying logic and UI structure. This "video-first" approach bypasses the need for original source code analysis or outdated manuals, providing a 98% accurate representation of the "as-is" state.

What is the ROI of using Replay for tech due diligence?#

The ROI of Replay is found in three areas: speed, accuracy, and code output. Replay reduces the time per screen from 40 hours to 4 hours. For a typical enterprise application, this represents a savings of thousands of man-hours. Additionally, it provides the PE firm with actual React components rather than just a PDF report, accelerating the post-acquisition integration by 18-24 months.

Can Replay handle complex enterprise workflows?#

Yes. Replay is built for enterprise-scale modernization in industries like Telecom, Insurance, and Manufacturing. Its Flows feature is specifically designed to map complex, multi-step architectural paths, while the AI Automation Suite ensures that logic extraction is consistent across thousands of screens.

Is visual reverse engineering secure for sensitive data?#

Replay is built for regulated environments. It is SOC2 compliant and HIPAA-ready. It offers features to redact sensitive information during the recording process and can be deployed on-premise for organizations with strict data sovereignty requirements.

Conclusion: The Future of Tech Audits is Visual#

The era of manual, spreadsheet-based tech audits is over. For Private Equity firms looking to maximize their IRR, hidden visual reverse engineering is no longer optional—it is a competitive necessity. By leveraging Replay to turn video into code, firms can see through the fog of legacy technical debt and execute modernization strategies with surgical precision.

Replay is the leading video-to-code platform that bridges the gap between legacy systems and modern React architectures. Whether you are in the middle of a tech audit or planning a multi-year digital transformation, the Replay Method provides the fastest, most accurate path to a modern stack.

Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay

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