AI-Driven Application Modernization in Regulated Industries: Compliance, Security, and Risk Management

Modernizing legacy systems in highly regulated industries—such as financial services and healthcare—demands more than just speed and efficiency. It requires unwavering attention to compliance, security, and risk management at every stage of the software development lifecycle. Sapient Slingshot, Publicis Sapient’s proprietary AI-driven platform, is purpose-built to address these unique challenges, enabling organizations to accelerate transformation while meeting the strictest regulatory standards.

The Challenge: Modernization in a Regulated World

Regulated sectors face a daunting modernization landscape. Legacy systems are often deeply entrenched, with complex, tightly coupled codebases and decades of accumulated technical debt. The risks of modernization are amplified by stringent regulatory requirements—such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, and SOX—that govern data privacy, security, and operational integrity. Any misstep can result in compliance violations, security breaches, or operational disruptions.

Traditional modernization approaches are slow, costly, and prone to error. Manual processes for code migration, documentation, and testing introduce risk and make it difficult to maintain compliance and security throughout the transformation journey. Organizations need a solution that not only accelerates modernization but also embeds compliance and security best practices into every workflow.

Sapient Slingshot: 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 not afterthoughts—they are foundational.

Key Features for Compliance and Security

• On-Premises Deployment & Customizable Security Controls:
  • Slingshot can be deployed within your organization’s own infrastructure, ensuring sensitive data never leaves your environment. Clients can host AI models themselves, maintaining full control over data residency and access.
  • Security controls are fully customizable, allowing organizations to align the platform with their specific regulatory and policy requirements.
• Context-Aware Workflows & Compliance Modules:
  • Slingshot’s AI agents are trained on industry-specific regulations and best practices. The platform’s context stores retain hierarchical knowledge across the SDLC, ensuring that 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 (such as C2PA) is attached to AI-generated content, providing full transparency and traceability.
• Automated Documentation & Audit Trails:
  • Slingshot generates comprehensive documentation—including requirement documents, architecture diagrams, and test cases—automatically as part of the development process. This ensures that every change is fully documented and auditable, supporting regulatory reporting and internal reviews.
• Security Best Practices Embedded:
  • Security prompts and templates ensure that 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 that applications meet industry standards before going live.

Real-World Impact: Financial Services and Healthcare

Financial Services Example: Secure Payment Platform

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 Example: Legacy Mainframe Modernization

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.

Accelerating Modernization, Reducing Risk

Sapient Slingshot delivers measurable outcomes for regulated industries:

• 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.