From Black Box to Blueprint

A common enterprise problem: crucial legacy systems become “black boxes”—key to operations but opaque and risky to touch. Thiyagu Palanisamy and Chandirasekar Thiagarajan worked with a client to use AI-assisted reverse engineering to reconstruct functional specifications from UI elements, binaries, and data lineage to overcome analysis paralysis. They developed a methodical “multi-lens” approach—starting from visible artifacts, enriching incrementally, triangulating logic, and always preserving lineage. Human validation remains central to ensure accuracy and confidence in extracted functionality. This engagement revealed that turning a system from black box to blueprint empowers modernization decisions and accelerates migration efforts.

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