AI Transformation · Enterprise AI Integration
AI Integration & Legacy Modernization
AI is useful when it can reach the systems your business runs on. We connect it to your ERP, CRM and core systems through governed APIs, decide what it may read, draft or change in each, and modernize the older systems that block it, in steps.
Example: what AI may do, system by system
Integration layer
AI assistant or agent
ERP
ReadAct
CRM
ReadDraft
Ticketing
ReadDraft
Documents
Read
Data warehouse
Read
Legacy core system
Through a new API
Read
- ReadLooks up records
- DraftPrepares a change for a person
- ActChanges, once a person approves
How to get started
Three steps to a plan for AI Integration & Legacy Modernization
- 1Tell us what you needUse the project form or book a call. A few sentences about the goal is enough to start.
- 2Free technical consultationWe go through your goals, users, existing systems and constraints with you.
- 3Your planA detailed plan covering the right tech stack, architecture, timeline and budget. Then you decide.
Levels of access
Read, draft or act
What AI may do is decided for each system and each action, granted in steps, logged, and can be withdrawn.
Read
Looks up records to answer a question or inform a decision, with the user's own permissions or a read-only account.
For example: Checks an order's status in the ERP
Draft
Prepares a change for a person to review, edit and submit. Nothing changes until they do.
For example: Drafts a reply to a support case in the CRM
Act
Makes the change itself, within set limits, once a person approves it, until results justify more autonomy.
For example: Raises a purchase requisition after approval
Patterns
Five ways to connect, chosen per system
The interface each system offers decides the pattern. Choose one to see when it fits and what we control.
How it works
Requests and responses through the system's REST or SOAP APIs, managed behind an API gateway.
Use it when
The system has a supported API, and AI needs current data or must make an update as part of a task.
What we control
- Authentication for each user or service
- Rate limits and timeouts
- API versions, so upgrades don't break the integration
Modernization
Older systems replaced in steps, not in one go
Known as the strangler fig pattern: the old system keeps running behind an API while its functions move, one at a time, to new services.
- 1AssessMap the old system's functions, data and interfaces, and what the AI use cases need from it.
Old system handles everything
- 2WrapPut an API layer in front of it, so AI and new systems don't depend on its internals.API
Old system handles everything
- 3RouteSend new capabilities, then existing ones, to new services behind the same API.API
Old system still runningNew services
- 4MigrateMove data and functions across in increments, each tested and reversible.API
Old system still runningNew services
- 5RetireSwitch off the parts of the old system that no longer handle anything.API
Old system retiredNew services
The first step
Custom Integration Sprint
A focused engagement that connects one AI use case to the systems it needs, through governed interfaces, and proves the connection end to end.
Who takes part
- Use-case owner
- System owners
- Enterprise architecture
- Security
- Integration or platform team
- 1Integration assessmentThe systems the use case needs, their interfaces, their data and their access rules.
- 2Interface designThe pattern for each system, the permission for each action, and the approval points.
- 3Build and connectThe integration built in a non-production environment, with access control and logging.
- 4End-to-end test and readoutThe use case run against the connected systems, the results reviewed, and the route to production.
How it runs
You leave with
- A working integration for one use case
- An interface and permission design for each system
- Security and end-to-end test results
- A plan and estimate for production and the next systems
Deliverables
What you receive
- An integration map: systems, interfaces and data
- A permission design for every action AI may take
- APIs, event flows or tools for AI, built and documented
- Approval steps for consequential actions
- Audit logging of every read and write
- A modernization roadmap for blocking systems
- API layers in front of legacy systems
- Integration tests and monitoring
Once connected
Where the work goes next
- Enterprise AI IntegrationAI Governance & Risk ManagementRecord what each AI system may do in which system, and review it as access grows.
- AI Product EngineeringGenerative AI DevelopmentBuild the assistant or agent that uses the new connections.
- AI Product EngineeringIntelligent Process AutomationAutomate the process end to end, now that the systems can be reached.
Questions
Questions about
AI Integration & Legacy Modernization
Our core system has no API. Can AI still use it?
Yes. In the short term, through batch extracts or screen automation with tight controls. In the longer term, by putting an API layer in front of the system, which also makes it easier to modernize in steps.
Do we need to replace our legacy systems first?
No. Most systems can be wrapped with an API and modernized gradually, one function at a time, while they keep running. A full replacement is rarely the first step.
How do you stop AI from making changes it shouldn't?
Each assistant gets only the tools and permissions its task needs. Changes are drafted for a person, or made only after a person approves them, within set limits, and every read and write is logged.
Which systems do you integrate with?
ERP, CRM, service management, document management, data platforms and industry core systems, through whatever interface they offer: APIs, events, files or, as a last resort, their screens.
How is a project priced?
Well-defined scopes are delivered as fixed-price engagements; when requirements are still evolving, we provide a dedicated team instead. Either way, the free technical consultation ends with a plan covering tech stack, architecture, timeline and budget, so you know the cost before work starts.
Enterprise AI Integration
Other services in this line
- Data Foundations for AIPipelines, quality checks and access controls that make your data usable by AI systems.
- AI Governance & Risk ManagementPolicies, risk assessment, security and oversight for every AI system, organized by the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
Ready to talk about AI Integration & Legacy Modernization?
Start with a free technical consultation: a plan covering the right approach, architecture, timeline and budget for your AI work.
Start a project