Golden Path Digital, a leader in enterprise modernization solutions, today announced the launch of AS/Forward, an advanced intelligence and automated transpilation platform engineered to solve the most critical challenge facing the IBM i community: the Workforce Cliff. By combining deep codebase forensics with automated RPG-to-modern-language migration, the platform provides a secure, high-speed bridge for organizations transitioning away from legacy dependencies without disrupting core business operations.
For decades, the IBM i platform, formerly known as the AS/400, has served as the backbone of global commerce, powering mission-critical operations in banking, logistics, and manufacturing. However, the ecosystem faces a systemic threat: the average age of an RPG developer is now 55 or older. As this veteran workforce reaches retirement age, companies lose the tribal knowledge required to maintain and evolve these complex systems. The urgency is driven by the fact that many systems have been modified thousands of times over thirty years, often without updated documentation, making them a black box for newer IT staff.
Unlike traditional lift-and-shift tools, AS/Forward emphasizes Codebase Clarity as the foundational phase. Before a single line of code is transpiled, it performs deep-tissue dependency mapping and impact analysis, uncovering hidden relationships within the codebase. By generating automated, natural-language documentation and audit-ready descriptions of business logic, the solution provides IT leadership with an X-ray view of their entire estate. This transparency ensures informed, data-driven decisions.
A hallmark of AS/Forward is its ability to convert legacy RPG into modern languages such as Python, Java, Node.js, JavaScript, C#, and .NET. This multi-language flexibility breaks reliance on dwindling RPG specialists, allowing organizations to integrate with modern DevOps, cloud-native architectures, and AI-driven workflows. The result is an agile IT environment capable of responding to market changes in days rather than months.
AS/Forward provides an incremental de-risking approach rather than Big Bang modernization failures. The framework enables program-by-program migration, allowing organizations to validate workflows in a production-like environment before decommissioning legacy components. This reduces risk of business interruption to near zero while providing a clear path to full modernization.
The financial benefits are transformative. Traditional consulting models cost between $5 million and $20 million per project, while AS/Forward delivers a cost reduction of 10x to 50x. Speed-to-market is also critical: manual rearchitecting requires 5 to 7 years, but AS/Forward achieves modernization goals within 12 to 24 months. This allows enterprises to realize ROI within the same budget cycles.
To meet stringent requirements of regulated industries, AS/Forward is provider-agnostic. Organizations can run the engine locally via Ollama or within secure private cloud environments like AWS Bedrock. This ensures sensitive logic and customer data never leave the client firewall, protecting intellectual property.
AS/Forward represents a paradigm shift, moving away from high-stakes multi-year gambles toward strategic control and operational clarity. As the window for controlled transition closes due to the aging workforce, this platform provides the tools and roadmap to secure the operational future of the enterprise.
