Federal missions depend on continuity. When a critical financial application suddenly lost contractor support due to budget cuts, an agency found itself responsible for a system it could no longer operate, understand or maintain. All that remained to the agency was the source code, which was heavily redacted and undocumented.
Without clarity into the financial system, the agency faced the prospect of no longer being able to carry out essential financial processes.
Modernization could not begin—and day-to-day operations could not safely continue—without restoring visibility. The agency needed a way to understand the system’s purpose, how it behaved and how it supported the mission.
CGI stepped in to rebuild that understanding. Through an emergent, AI-assisted reverse-engineering approach, we reconstructed the application’s structure, recovered critical functionality and delivered a navigable build alongside a comprehensive documentation hub. This compressed months of analysis into hours.
This wasn’t just a technical recovery effort—it was the restoration of mission confidence.
Solution
Build readiness
We examined the redacted codebase, identified what was missing, and recreated the environment needed to actually run the application again. This allowed teams to move from guessing to observing.
Isolation and bridging
Where code had been heavily redacted or removed, our agentic AI digital workforce systemically filled those gaps and which allowed the system to operate in a controlled way. This approach accelerated discovery, reduced delays and ensured that information was quickly restored.
Route and API discovery
By observing how the application behaved when running, the digital workforce uncovered its internal pathways and touchpoints, thus revealing how users, data and processes truly moved through the system.
Documentation hub
The agentic digital workforce organized every system behavior, workflow, data pattern, architecture and more into a searchable, interactive knowledge base that provides a clear, shared understanding for all teams involved. Domain subject matter experts and analysts validated the findings.
Outcomes
As the team advanced through the legacy system, its first priorities were to reestablish clarity and remove vulnerability. By identifying which components of the codebase remained viable and documenting the areas where information had been lost, the team enabled the agency to regain a comprehensive understanding of how these system financial operations were being supported. This restored visibility, enabled mission stakeholders to continue their work with confidence and provided leadership with a stable, fact-based foundation for determining the system’s future direction.
Rebuilding and running the application in a local environment added another breakthrough. For the first time, the agency could observe firsthand how the system actually behaved. Technical staff, financial program teams and oversight groups were no longer working from fragments or assumptions—they were all seeing the same system, operating in the same way. That shared visibility reduced confusion, aligned conversations, and helped collaboration move more quickly and decisively.
As CGI traced the system’s key data structures and their relationships, the team reconstructed the agency’s understanding of its most critical financial data. This work re-established the accuracy needed for reliable reporting, compliance and audit readiness—capabilities essential to any federal financial environment. With this renewed understanding came a future-ready foundation for more thoughtful data modernization.
The effort also produced something tangible and immediately useful: a functioning local build that teams could explore. Instead of relying solely on lines of code or scattered notes, staff could click through screens, follow real workflows and experience the system from the inside. This hands-on access accelerated onboarding, shortened investigation cycles and removed the barriers that had previously slowed progress.
With these pieces in place, the agency could finally ground its modernization planning in facts rather than assumptions. Leaders now understood how people, data, and processes truly moved through the system—and how proposed changes would affect each of them. Planning became a collaborative, evidence-driven exercise across both IT and business teams.
Outcomes at a glance
Restored clarity for mission continuity
By achieving complete visibility into the usable portions of the code and documenting where information was missing, the agency regained a clear picture of how the system supports financial operations. This allowed mission owners to continue their work without fear of hidden failures and gave decision-makers confidence in planning for next steps.
A shared view of how the system actually works
Rebuilding and running the application locally created something the agency hadn’t had before: a firsthand, verifiable view of how the system behaves. IT teams, financial program staff and oversight groups could finally see the same information, reducing confusion and enabling faster, more confident collaboration.
Reconstructed understanding of critical financial data
By mapping key data structures and how they connect, CGI helped re-establish the foundation for accurate reporting, compliance and audit readiness. This clarity is essential for any system tied to federal financial accountability, and sets the stage for more strategic data modernization in the future.
A working build team can explore and learn from
With a minimally navigable local version of the application, teams can now click through screens, follow workflows and understand system behavior through experience, not just code inspection. This accelerates onboarding, shortens investigation cycles and removes the barriers that previously prevented progress.
Documentation everyone can use—not just IT
The consolidated documentation hub makes complex system knowledge accessible to developers, analysts, auditors and mission leaders. Instead of siloed insights or outdated notes, every team now shares a single, authoritative reference that reduces ramp-up time, clarifies decisions and is no longer vulnerable to knowledge loss or undocumented processes.
Modernization planning grounded in facts, not assumptions
For the first time, the agency can map how people, data, and processes move through the system—and how changes will affect them. This allows leaders to prioritize modernization steps based on impact, risk, and mission benefit, turning planning into a collaborative, evidence-driven exercise across IT and business teams.
Clear understanding of system size and complexity
By cataloging all major components—screens, services, rules, and interactions—the agency can now estimate the modernization effort, knowing the system's full blueprint. This enabled better sequencing of work, the identification of critical path items, and the evaluation of whether to enhance or replace a process. The end result? Transparency and insight for decisions on staffing and budgeting as well as aligning expectations across stakeholders.
CGI: bringing AI-driven clarity to mission transformation
CGI helps agencies regain understanding of their most complex systems and move modernization forward with confidence. By combining AI-assisted analysis with decades of mission expertise, CGI accelerates discovery, reduces risk, and creates the shared clarity that IT teams, program offices, and financial leaders all need to modernize together.
