How can financial services firms modernise cores without full replacement?

Modernise legacy systems without a risky rip-and-replace. An ‘agility layer’ connects old and new, unifying data and accelerating innovation.

David Tomkins is a seasoned leader in the financial services sector, currently serving as the Regional Vice President (RVP) for Financial Services at Appian Corporation.

Legacy systems are hindering innovation and compliance for financial services firms, but a full rip-and-replace overhaul is fraught with risk. Many core platforms are outdated and expensive to maintain, making it harder to meet rising customer expectations and real-time regulatory demands. In this article, David Tomki, outlines how a more targeted, incremental approach using an “agility layer” can help firms modernise their core systems without the disruption of a full replacement, unifying data and accelerating innovation.

Financial services firms are facing a modernisation dilemma. Their core IT systems, often built for narrow functions like payments or lending, were never designed for today’s world of AI-powered automation and seamless digital experiences. These legacy platforms rarely integrate with newer technologies, creating isolated pockets of data that hinder collaboration, increase risk, and lead to fragmented customer journeys and inaccurate compliance reporting.

While the need to modernise is clear, the path is risky. A traditional “rip-and-replace” of mission-critical systems can cause operational outages, lost revenue, and complex data migrations that take years to complete. At the same time, short-term fixes and customisations lead to mounting technical debt, creating rigid solutions that are expensive to maintain.

The Agility Layer: Bridging Old and New

Rather than a full-scale overhaul, forward-thinking firms are adopting a more targeted transformation. By implementing an AI-powered orchestration framework – an “agility layer” – firms can extend and connect existing legacy platforms instead of replacing them. This approach minimises risk while accelerating innovation.

An agility layer acts as a flexible framework that sits on top of core infrastructure without disrupting it. It allows businesses to connect legacy systems with modern applications and workflows, enabling them to innovate new products and services in months, not years.

A key component of this layer is a data fabric, which is the fastest way to unify data from separate systems without moving it from its source. By connecting to multiple back-end systems, a data fabric creates a single, trusted data model. This eliminates manual data gathering, reduces errors, and provides fast, secure access to enterprise data for compliance, operations, and customer service teams.

The Path to Agile Modernisation

An incremental approach is key to a successful modernisation strategy. The journey starts with mapping current systems and identifying the workflows causing the greatest inefficiencies. Using tools like process mining can quickly reveal bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement, delivering measurable benefits in weeks.

By addressing one critical workflow at a time, firms can unlock efficiencies and lay the groundwork for broader transformation. This phased approach—targeting high-impact areas like payments, lending, or onboarding—delivers rapid ROI while building the foundation for a sustainable, modern core.

For forward-looking firms, an agility layer is the fastest path to a composable architecture that supports embedded regulatory controls, end-to-end AI-powered automation, and real-time decisioning—all critical for gaining a competitive edge in today’s rapidly evolving market.

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