70% of Mainframe Exits Fail in 2026. The 30% Playbook.
Gartner says 70%+ of 2026 mainframe-exit projects will fail. See why incremental mainframe modernization, one process at a time, is the safer path for CIOs.
TL;DR
Gartner now attaches a number to the fear every bank CTO already carried: most GenAI-driven mainframe exits started in 2026 will fail. The institutions that avoid the headline modernize one business process at a time while the core keeps running. Coexistence works as a durable operating model, one that lets a regulated business move at its own pace and reverse when reality bites. Used where it belongs, in discovery and dependency mapping, AI accelerates the work instead of gambling the estate on a guess. The safest place to begin is the smallest: prove one process in production before anything touches the core.