The DAF's legacy software estate, from Business Enterprise Systems to Space Force satellite ground control and C2 infrastructure, represents decades of accumulated technical debt and mission risk. Migrating these systems to cloud-native architectures is an imperative for readiness, but AI-driven modernization tools are only as effective as the guardrails around them. An AI coding agent that cannot see your full system environment, cannot enforce your security policies from the start, and cannot operate within your SDLC will accelerate the wrong outcomes.

This panel is facilitated by an IBM Solution Architect at Four Inc with over 20 years of IBM technology experience, bringing a practitioner's lens to a structured interview with two IBM domain experts. Jason Tyler, IBM technical specialist for IBM Bob, will walk through how agentic AI builds holistic understanding of interconnected legacy codebases, incorporates shift-left security practices to instantiate DAF policies across on-premises and cloud architectures, and supports full SDLC discipline, from planning and documentation through testing and change governance. IBM Technology Sales Leaders for IBM Federal, Bryan Eberhardt and Damanjit Padam, brings firsthand insight into the modernization challenges DAF programs face: air-gapped networks, compliance frameworks, workforce implications, and the operational imperative to keep DAF personnel firmly in control of every automated change.

Practitioners will leave with concrete criteria for assessing AI modernization tools and a framework for deploying them in ways that reduce risk while accelerating delivery for the DAF mission.