Enterprises are turning to tech stack modernization as the next frontier of artificial intelligence adoption, pushing beyond pilots to measurable outcomes. By unifying data, strengthening governance and driving ROI, companies are building systems that simplify operations while empowering teams with intelligent automation.

TheCUBE Research’s Rob Strechay discusses tech stack modernization.

What makes this shift so significant is the pace and scale at which it’s happening. Organizations are no longer satisfied with experiments that stay locked in innovation labs; they want practical deployment across the business. Modernization isn’t just about cutting costs or layering APIs — it’s about creating platforms where AI agents can seamlessly connect systems, reduce complexity and enable people to focus on creative, strategic work, according to Rob Strechay (pictured, right), managing director and principal analyst at theCUBE Research, during a keynote analysis at the WOW: World of Workato event in Las Vegas.

“There’s a lot of energy about simplification and working with AI versus just building AI, and I think that was really a key that got me excited about what was going on,” Strechay said. “It definitely got the audience excited.”

Strechay spoke with Savannah Peterson (left), principal analyst at theCUBE Research, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how enterprises are embracing tech stack modernization to scale AI adoption, focusing on governance, ROI, human augmentation and cultural shifts around automation. (* Disclosure below.)

The future of tech stack modernization

One of the standout themes during the event keynote was the layering of AI agents into enterprise systems, showing how modernization works best when tied directly to key performance indicators. Instead of treating agents as isolated integrations, organizations are focusing on governance and context to ensure transformation happens across core systems, Strechay explained.

“What was really key was how they looked at layering of agents and how it really was about making it simple from the data all the way to the actual output and the actions that were taken by the agents,” he said. “A lot of what they were talking about is … transformation only happens in core systems, and those cut across hundreds of applications.”

This approach to modernization also highlighted how quickly innovation is happening, with 700 feature updates from Workato delivered in the past year. The keynote demos revealed how unified governance and platform integration can enable enterprises to deploy AI assistants — or “genies” — without disrupting human roles. Rather than reducing headcount, the focus is on augmenting staff with tools that drive efficiency and creativity.

“They really emphasized one runtime, one experience and unified governance,” Peterson said. “I think that’s one of the benefits of the platform players as we evolve into this next era of agentic.”

Another key takeaway was the cultural framing of AI adoption. At a time when some companies are openly tying job cuts to automation, others are emphasizing augmentation. By investing in AI to remove repetitive tasks while preserving and even elevating human creativity, organizations can ensure modernization aligns with employee empowerment rather than workforce reduction, according to Peterson.

“No one at Workato is going to lose their job as a result of agentic or as a result of these genies,” she added. “They’re trying to really augment and make them superheroes that can effectively do their jobs more creatively and strategically and help their customers — rather than having to worry about some of the mundane tasks that these genies can take over.”

The human-centered strategy extends to cost management. By using agents to optimize licensing and automate repetitive processes, organizations are saving money while reinvesting in employee creativity. This is a contrast to companies that see AI primarily as a path to layoffs, showing a different cultural vision of augmentation over replacement, Strechay emphasized.

“The agents were there to be assistive and not to be replacing and really understood what the people do to make them better with their work and how they went about things. That was key to me,” he added.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the WOW: World of Workato event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the WOW: World of Workato event. Neither Workato Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE