The Role of Computer Vision in 2025 Software Modernization

The $3.6 trillion global technical debt crisis isn't a coding problem; it's an information problem. Most enterprise modernization efforts stall because teams spend 60% of their budget performing "software archaeology"—digging through undocumented COBOL, Delphi, or legacy Java to understand business rules that the original developers took to their retirement ten years ago.

In 2025, the industry is shifting away from manual code audits. The Role of computer vision (CV) in software modernization has evolved from a niche research topic to a critical enterprise utility. Instead of trying to parse dead code, we are now using visual reverse engineering to observe live systems, record user workflows, and automatically generate modern, documented React components and API contracts.

TL;DR: Computer vision is replacing manual code analysis by using video as the primary source of truth, reducing modernization timelines from years to weeks while achieving a 70% reduction in labor costs.

The Failure of the "Big Bang" Rewrite#

The "Big Bang" rewrite is the most dangerous maneuver in the enterprise playbook. Statistics show that 70% of legacy rewrites fail or significantly exceed their timelines. The reason is simple: 67% of legacy systems lack accurate documentation. When you rewrite from scratch based on incomplete knowledge, you don't just lose technical debt—you lose the "hidden" business logic that handles edge cases, compliance requirements, and regulatory nuances.

Traditional modernization strategies usually fall into three buckets, all of which are increasingly insufficient for the speed of 2025 business requirements:

The Role of Computer Vision: Turning Pixels into Code#

How does computer vision actually modernize a system? At Replay, we define "Visual Reverse Engineering" as the process of using AI to interpret the UI/UX of a legacy application and map it to a modern architectural stack.

From Black Box to Documented Codebase#

Legacy systems are often "black boxes." You know what goes in and what comes out, but the internal state transitions are a mystery. Computer vision treats the user interface as the ultimate source of truth. If a button exists, it performs a function. If a field validates a specific format, that rule is visible in the user's workflow.

By recording real user interactions, Replay’s AI Automation Suite identifies:

1. •Component Boundaries: Detecting where a navigation bar ends and a data grid begins.
2. •State Transitions: Observing how data changes as a user moves through a multi-step form.
3. •Business Logic: Inferring validation rules and conditional visibility based on visual feedback.

💰 ROI Insight: Manual screen reconstruction takes an average of 40 hours per screen. Using Replay’s visual extraction, that time is reduced to 4 hours—a 90% efficiency gain.

The Replay Technical Workflow: A 3-Step Evolution#

Modernizing with computer vision isn't about "guessing" what the code does. It’s about structured extraction. Here is how the Replay platform transforms a legacy screen into a modern React component.

Step 1: Visual Capture and Recording#

A subject matter expert (SME) or end-user performs a standard workflow in the legacy application. Replay records the session, but it isn't just capturing video; it is capturing the DOM state (for web) or pixel-level transitions (for desktop/mainframe).

Step 2: Component Synthesis and Mapping#

The Replay "Blueprints" engine analyzes the recording. It identifies UI patterns and matches them against your organization's Design System (stored in the Replay Library). If the legacy system uses a non-standard table, Replay maps it to your modern, accessible React table component.

Step 3: Automated Code Generation#

Replay generates clean, human-readable TypeScript code. Unlike "low-code" platforms that spit out proprietary junk, Replay provides standard React components that your developers can own immediately.

typescript
// Example: Generated React component from a Replay visual extraction
// Legacy System: AS/400 Terminal Screen #402 (Claims Processing)
// Target: Modern React + Tailwind + Zod Validation

import React from 'react';
import { useForm } from 'react-hook-form';
import { z } from 'zod';
import { Button, Input, Card } from '@/components/ui';

const claimSchema = z.object({
  policyNumber: z.string().regex(/^[A-Z]{2}-\d{6}$/),
  claimAmount: z.number().min(0),
  incidentDate: z.string(),
});

export function ClaimsProcessorMigrated() {
  const { register, handleSubmit, formState: { errors } } = useForm({
    resolver: zodResolver(claimSchema)
  });

  // Business logic preserved: Incident date cannot be in the future
  const onSubmit = (data: any) => {
    console.log("Submitting validated claim data:", data);
  };

  return (
    <Card className="p-6">
      <h2 className="text-xl font-bold mb-4">Legacy Claims Entry (Migrated)</h2>
      <form onSubmit={handleSubmit(onSubmit)} className="space-y-4">
        <Input 
          label="Policy Number" 
          {...register("policyNumber")} 
          error={errors.policyNumber?.message}
        />
        <Input 
          type="number" 
          label="Claim Amount" 
          {...register("claimAmount")} 
        />
        <Button type="submit">Process Transaction</Button>
      </form>
    </Card>
  );
}

Why Computer Vision is Essential for Regulated Industries#

For Financial Services, Healthcare, and Government, the risk of a "broken" rewrite isn't just financial—it's legal. In these sectors, The Role of computer vision is to provide an audit trail.

⚠️ Warning: Most AI-assisted coding tools (like Copilot) are non-deterministic. They "hallucinate" logic. Replay uses visual evidence from your actual system to ensure the generated code matches the legacy behavior exactly.

SOC2 and HIPAA-Ready Modernization#

Legacy systems often reside on-premise for security. Replay offers on-premise deployment, ensuring that your sensitive data never leaves your firewall during the extraction process. Because we record the workflow and not just the code, we can generate:

• •API Contracts: Automatically defining the inputs and outputs needed to replace a legacy backend.
• •E2E Tests: Generating Playwright or Cypress tests that mimic the recorded user behavior.
• •Technical Debt Audits: Identifying which parts of the legacy UI are actually used and which are "dead weight."

Bridging the Documentation Gap#

67% of legacy systems lack documentation. This is the "documentation archaeology" problem. When you use Replay, the recording is the documentation.

From Video to Technical Spec#

Replay’s AI Automation Suite takes the visual recording and generates a comprehensive technical specification. This includes:

• •Flow Diagrams: Visualizing the "Flows" within the application.
• •State Machine Definitions: Documenting how a user moves from "Pending" to "Approved."
• •Data Dictionaries: Mapping legacy field names (often cryptic, like
  text

  FLD_001_A
  ) to modern, semantic names (
  text

  customerBillingAddress
  ).

json
// Example: Generated API Contract from Replay Flow Extraction
{
  "endpoint": "/api/v1/claims/process",
  "method": "POST",
  "legacy_source": "COBOL_CLAIM_PROC_01",
  "request_schema": {
    "policy_id": "string (Pattern: XX-000000)",
    "amount": "decimal",
    "effective_date": "ISO-8601"
  },
  "inferred_logic": [
    "If amount > 10000, trigger manual_review_flag",
    "Effective_date must be within policy_term_range"
  ]
}

The 2025 Modernization Roadmap#

If you are an Enterprise Architect looking at an 18-month rewrite timeline, you need to pivot. The Role of computer vision allows you to compress that timeline into weeks. Here is how to execute a Replay-led modernization:

Step 1: Assessment and Inventory#

Use Replay to record the top 20% of workflows that handle 80% of your business value. This immediately identifies the core components needed in your new Design System.

Step 2: Design System Extraction#

Run the recordings through the Replay Library. The AI will identify recurring UI patterns (buttons, inputs, modals) and generate a standardized React component library that matches your legacy functionality but uses modern styling.

Step 3: Incremental Migration (The New Strangler)#

Instead of replacing the whole system, use the Replay-generated components to replace individual screens. Since Replay generates the API contracts, you can build the new frontend while the legacy backend is still running, ensuring zero downtime.

Step 4: Automated Testing and Validation#

Use the generated E2E tests to verify that the new React screen behaves exactly like the legacy screen. This "Visual Diff" approach to QA is the only way to guarantee 100% logic parity.

💡 Pro Tip: Don't try to modernize everything at once. Use Replay to identify "dead screens" that haven't been touched in years and exclude them from your scope.

Frequently Asked Questions#

How long does legacy extraction take with Replay?#

While a manual rewrite of a complex enterprise screen takes 40+ hours, Replay reduces this to approximately 4 hours. For a standard 50-screen application, you can move from "Black Box" to a "Documented React Codebase" in 2-4 weeks.

What about business logic preservation?#

Computer vision captures "observable logic." If a rule affects the UI (e.g., a field turns red, a button disables, a new section appears), Replay captures it. For deep backend calculations, Replay generates the API contracts and integration tests to ensure your new backend logic produces the same visual outcomes as the old one.

Does Replay work with mainframe or terminal-based systems?#

Yes. Because Replay uses computer vision, it is platform-agnostic. Whether it’s a 3270 terminal, a PowerBuilder desktop app, or an ancient IE6-only web portal, if you can see it on a screen, Replay can reverse engineer it.

How does this impact my existing developers?#

It makes them 10x more productive. Instead of spending their days reading old code and trying to guess what it does, they receive a clean React component, a documented API contract, and a suite of tests. They become builders again, not archaeologists.

The Future is Understanding, Not Rewriting#

The era of the "Big Bang" rewrite is over. The risks are too high, and the costs are too great. The Role of computer vision in 2025 is to provide the clarity that has been missing from enterprise IT for decades. By using Replay to visually reverse engineer your legacy systems, you aren't just modernizing your tech stack—you are finally understanding your own business.

Stop guessing. Start recording. Modernize without the archaeology.

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Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay - see your legacy screen extracted live during the call.