Golden Path Digital, a provider of enterprise modernization solutions, today launched AS/Forward, an advanced intelligence and automated transpilation platform designed to address the critical challenge of the aging IBM i workforce. The platform combines deep codebase forensics with automated migration from RPG to modern programming languages, offering organizations a secure and high-speed path away from legacy dependencies without disrupting core business operations.
For decades, the IBM i platform has underpinned mission-critical operations in banking, logistics, and manufacturing. However, the average age of an RPG developer now exceeds 55, and as these experts retire, companies face the loss of institutional knowledge needed to maintain and evolve these complex systems. "The Workforce Cliff is not a future risk; it is a present-day reality," said the CEO of Golden Path Digital. "AS/Forward was built to ensure that decades of institutional logic are not lost." The platform aims to preserve business intelligence by generating automated documentation and mapping hidden dependencies within codebases that have been modified thousands of times over thirty years without updated documentation.
Unlike traditional lift-and-shift tools, AS/Forward emphasizes codebase clarity before any migration begins. It performs deep-tissue dependency mapping and impact analysis, uncovering relationships that may have been forgotten. By generating natural-language documentation and audit-ready descriptions, the platform provides IT leadership with an X-ray view of their entire estate, enabling informed decision-making. This intelligence-first approach translates legacy code into plain English that business leaders can understand.
The platform automates transpilation of legacy RPG into modern languages such as Python, Java, Node.js, JavaScript, C#, and .NET. This multi-language flexibility allows organizations to break reliance on a dwindling supply of RPG specialists and tap into a global talent pool. By moving core business logic into widely used languages, companies can integrate with modern DevOps, cloud-native architectures, and AI-driven workflows, achieving an agile IT environment that responds to market changes rapidly.
AS/Forward also de-risks modernization through an incremental, program-by-program migration strategy. Rather than a high-risk Big Bang replacement, the platform enables organizations to migrate at their own pace, validating each workflow in a production-like environment before decommissioning legacy components. This reduces the risk of business interruption while providing a clear path to full modernization.
The economic benefits are significant. Traditional consulting models cost between $5 million and $20 million per project, but AS/Forward delivers cost reductions of 10x to 50x through high-fidelity automation. Additionally, while manual rearchitecting often requires 5 to 7 years, the platform enables modernization within 12 to 24 months, allowing enterprises to realize ROI within the same budget cycles. For regulated industries, the architecture supports complete data sovereignty, with options to run the engine locally via Ollama or within secure private clouds like AWS Bedrock, ensuring sensitive logic never leaves the client firewall.
AS/Forward represents a paradigm shift in enterprise legacy modernization, moving away from high-stakes, multi-year gambles toward strategic control and operational clarity. As the window for controlled transition narrows due to workforce retirements, Golden Path Digital provides the tools and roadmap to secure the operational future of enterprises. The company is committed to ensuring that the systems that built the modern world thrive in the digital future.
