Modernizing Legacy Systems in Regulated Industries: Compliance, Security, and Risk Management with Sapient Slingshot
In highly regulated industries—such as financial services, healthcare, and insurance—modernizing legacy systems is not just a technical upgrade; it’s a mission-critical transformation. The stakes are high: organizations must balance the need for agility and innovation with stringent compliance mandates, robust security requirements, and rigorous risk management. Publicis Sapient’s Sapient Slingshot platform is purpose-built to address these unique challenges, enabling organizations to modernize confidently, efficiently, and with measurable results.
The Challenge: Modernization in a Regulated World
Legacy systems in regulated sectors are often deeply entrenched, supporting mission-critical processes and storing sensitive data. Modernization efforts are complicated by:
- Complex compliance mandates (e.g., HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOX, GDPR)
- Stringent security and privacy requirements
- Risk of business disruption during migration
- Shortage of talent with expertise in both legacy and modern technologies
- Budgetary and time constraints
Traditional approaches—manual code migration, documentation, and testing—are slow, error-prone, and costly. They often fail to keep pace with regulatory changes and evolving cyber threats, making it difficult to maintain compliance and security throughout the transformation journey.
Sapient Slingshot: Purpose-Built for Regulated Industries
Sapient Slingshot is engineered to meet the demands of regulated industries. Unlike generic AI development tools, Slingshot integrates deep industry expertise, proprietary AI agents, and context-aware workflows to ensure that compliance, security, and risk management are foundational—not afterthoughts.
Key Features for Compliance, Security, and Risk Management
- On-Premises Deployment & Customizable Security Controls:
- Deploy Slingshot within your organization’s infrastructure, ensuring sensitive data never leaves your environment. Host AI models yourself to maintain full control over data residency and access.
- Security controls are fully customizable, allowing alignment with specific regulatory and policy requirements.
- Context-Aware Workflows & Compliance Modules:
- AI agents are trained on industry-specific regulations and best practices. Context stores retain hierarchical knowledge across the SDLC, ensuring every code change, test, and deployment is informed by relevant compliance requirements.
- Automated compliance modules subject AI-generated outputs to brand safety checks, bias detection, and human-in-the-loop oversight. Metadata is attached to AI-generated content, providing full transparency and traceability.
- Automated Documentation & Audit Trails:
- Comprehensive documentation—including requirements, architecture diagrams, and test cases—is generated automatically. Every change is fully documented and auditable, supporting regulatory reporting and internal reviews.
- Security Best Practices Embedded:
- Security prompts and templates ensure authentication, encryption, and data protection are built into every application. Automated checks validate that code meets industry standards before deployment.
- Context-aware security filters AI-generated code based on company policies and regional regulations, preventing accidental inclusion of sensitive information.
- Integrated Testing and Quality Assurance:
- Slingshot automates the generation and execution of functional, non-functional, and specialized tests. Built-in quality engineering reduces defects by up to 50%, with automated regulatory and compliance checks ensuring applications meet industry standards before going live.
- Human-in-the-Loop Oversight:
- While AI accelerates and automates, domain experts review, enhance, and sign off on requirements, designs, and code, ensuring every modernization effort meets both business and regulatory expectations.
Real-World Impact: Measurable Outcomes in Regulated Sectors
Sapient Slingshot’s approach is proven across financial services, healthcare, and insurance:
- Financial Services:
- A leading financial institution used Sapient Slingshot to build a payment platform that meets international banking standards. The platform’s Backlog AI outlined core requirements—including payment initiation, orchestration, and settlement—while ensuring compliance with payment regulations. Slingshot generated detailed architecture diagrams, API specifications, and microservices, all with security and compliance embedded. Automated testing and regulatory checks validated functionality and adherence to standards before launch.
- Healthcare:
- A major benefits provider leveraged Slingshot to accelerate the modernization of legacy mainframe applications. By using private AI models to deconstruct legacy programs and generate functional specifications, the organization achieved a threefold increase in migration speed and significantly reduced effort. Automated documentation and traceability improved compliance, while the new architecture made code easier to maintain and enhance in a modern tech stack.
Measurable Outcomes
- Over 50% reduction in modernization costs
- 50–70% increase in migration speed
- 50% fewer defects, with expanded test coverage
- 3x faster migration for legacy systems
These results are achieved without compromising on compliance or security. By automating documentation, embedding security best practices, and providing full auditability, Slingshot enables organizations to modernize confidently—even in the most regulated environments.
Why Publicis Sapient?
Publicis Sapient brings decades of digital transformation and application modernization expertise, with a proven track record in regulated sectors. Our AI-driven approach combines strategy, engineering, and deep industry knowledge to deliver practical, secure, and compliant solutions. With Sapient Slingshot, organizations can:
- Move legacy systems to modern architectures with human-assisted AI
- Ensure compliance and security at every stage of the SDLC
- Free up engineering resources for innovation, not just maintenance
- Achieve faster, more predictable, and higher-quality outcomes
Ready to Modernize with Confidence?
Modernization in regulated industries doesn’t have to be slow, risky, or uncertain. With Sapient Slingshot, compliance, security, and risk management are built in from day one—empowering your organization to accelerate transformation and unlock new value, safely and securely.
Contact Publicis Sapient to see how Sapient Slingshot can help you modernize with confidence.