By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Cookie Policy for more information.
Modernization isn’t just “keeping up”, it’s how organizations ship features faster, reduce risk, and unlock cloud economics. Microsoft recently noted that over 37% of enterprise application portfolios require modernization today, a level expected to remain high for the next three years which delays translate into stalled innovation and higher costs.
Common blockers include:
Legacy dependencies and frameworks that create breaking changes during upgrades.
Security vulnerabilities surfacing across transitive dependencies and aged code paths.
Manual upgrade complexity across multi‑repo, multi‑project solutions that break builds and tests.
Impact: Teams struggle with long upgrade cycles, higher operational risk, and opportunity costs from not adopting modern runtimes and cloud-native architectures.
What’s New in GitHub Copilot for App Modernization
Availability and scope
General availability (GA): GitHub Copilot app modernization is GA for Java and .NET, bringing end‑to‑end capabilities: assessment, automated code transformations, build patching, dependency updates, and containerization for cloud deployment. (Announced September 23, 2025.)
Earlier in May 2025, Upgrade for .NET entered public preview with Agent Mode in Visual Studio; many organizations piloted it to accelerate .NET 6 → .NET 8 upgrades.
Why this matters: Your team can standardize on one AI‑assisted approach across Java and .NET portfolios while preserving developer control, traceability (git commits), and security gates.
Core capabilities
AI‑driven code analysis & upgrade planning: Copilot scans your solution structure, dependencies, and runtime/framework targets, then produces a dependency‑aware upgrade plan you can review and customize.
Automated dependency updates & CVE scanning: Copilot applies safe version bumps and runs post‑upgrade checks for known vulnerabilities (Dependabot alerts), with guidance and Copilot Autofix for code scanning findings.
Build fixes and iterative testing: Agent Mode loops through fix‑and‑test cycles until the solution compiles and tests pass, logging changes and results for review.
Containerization for cloud deployment: Modernization workflows can generate container artifacts and prepare services for Azure targets.
Real‑world impact
Microsoft Teams: “Instead of spending weeks upgrading and testing several projects from .NET 6 to .NET 8, we got it done within a few hours with GitHub Copilot.”
Ford China: Modernized middleware apps with ~70% reduction in time and effort using Copilot’s app modernization approach.
How GitHub Copilot Agent Mode Powers Modernization
Agent Mode turns Copilot from an autocomplete helper into an autonomous coding collaborator that understands high‑level intents, plans a multi‑step path, edits files, runs tests, and responds to failures, all with human‑in‑the‑loop control in your IDE.
What it can do
Understand high‑level prompts, make decisions in context, and orchestrate tools (e.g., run commands, edit files).
Execute analyze → plan → apply → validate loops with real‑time feedback and traceability.
Modernization workflow (Agent Mode)
Analyze the codebase (runtimes, build system, frameworks, vulnerable packages).
Generate an upgrade plan that sequences project upgrades based on dependencies.
Apply changes, rewrite code with tools like OpenRewrite (Java), resolve build errors iteratively.
Validate by running tests; learn from manual fixes and apply patterns across the solution.
Scan for vulnerabilities and propose secure replacements; produce a summary report.
The End‑to‑End Modernization Journey (Step‑by‑Step)
Below is a reference path your teams can replicate across portfolios.
Step 1: Start an Agent Mode session (VS Code or Visual Studio)
In Visual Studio Code, open Copilot Chat, select Agent, and enable the GitHub Copilot app modernization - upgrade for Java extension for Java projects.
In Visual Studio for .NET, install the GitHub Copilot app modernization. Upgrade for .NET extension and turn on Agent Mode.
Starter prompts (Java):
"Using the Java upgrade tools, upgrade this project to Java 21."
"Analyze deprecated APIs, update Maven/Gradle dependencies, and propose a safe, testable migration plan."
Step 2: Analyze & plan (e.g., Java 21, .NET 8)
Copilot assesses JDK/SDK usage, build files (pom.xml/build.gradle or .NET project files), dependency health, and framework constraints, then proposes an editable plan (e.g., plan.md).
Copilot performs code transforms (leveraging OpenRewrite for Java), upgrades frameworks (e.g., Spring Boot 2.7 → 3.x), and bumps dependencies to secure, compatible versions.
Step 4: Validate builds & run tests
Agent Mode compiles your solution and iterates through fix‑and‑test loops, running unit tests where present; it tracks commits and surfaces a final summary for review.
Step 5: Containerize & prepare for Azure
Copilot’s app modernization includes containerization for cloud deployment, smoothing the path to AKS, Azure App Service, or Azure Container Apps.
Step 6: Review security & compliance
After upgrades, run CVE checks and code scanning; use Dependabot alerts and Copilot Autofix to harden the codebase.
Why Microsoft Azure Completes the Picture
After you modernize the code, Azure provides the operational foundation to run it at scale.
High availability & global reach: Multi‑region patterns and global load balancing on AKS deliver resilience and uptime; Azure Front Door/Traffic Manager distribute traffic across regions.
Integrated monitoring: Azure Monitor gives end‑to‑end visibility (metrics, logs, traces) with curated Insights for containers and infrastructure.
Enterprise‑grade security: Services integrate with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory), Microsoft Defender for Cloud, and supply chain scanning; App Service benefits from built‑in platform protections and Defender for App Service analytics.
Cost efficiency & elasticity: Azure Container Apps autoscaling (including scale‑to‑zero) and App Service autoscale/automatic scaling help right‑size spend while meeting SLOs.
Deployment targets
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for full Kubernetes control and multi‑region resilience.
Azure App Service for managed web apps and APIs with autoscale and integrated security.
Azure Container Apps for serverless containers with built‑in autoscaling and observability.
Key Takeaways
Modernization, automated: Copilot analyzes your repo, generates an upgrade plan, applies code transformations (including with OpenRewrite for Java), iterates through build/test fixes, and produces a full audit trail.
Security built‑in: Automated Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) checks and guided remediation using GitHub security features and Copilot Autofix keep upgrades safe.
Cloud‑ready outcomes: Containerization and Azure‑ready assessments accelerate landing zones for AKS, Azure App Service, and Azure Container Apps.
Real results: Microsoft Teams upgraded multiple projects to .NET 8 in hours, while Ford China reported ~70% reduction in modernization time.
Business Impact & ROI
Time savings: Move from months‑long upgrades to days or hours with Agent Mode’s plan‑apply‑validate loops. (Teams example; Ford China case study.)
Developer productivity: Research and field reports show Copilot helps teams ship faster and conserve cognitive load, especially on repetitive and upgrade‑related tasks.
Security posture: CVE detection and code scanning/autofix reduce risk during and after upgrades.
Anti‑patterns to Avoid
Upgrading in isolation (ignoring transitive dependencies and cross‑project order) rather than using Copilot’s dependency‑aware plan.
Skipping tests: Agent Mode can run tests and learn from your fixes; use it.
“Lift & shift” without containerization: You’ll miss Azure scale and resiliency advantages.
Why Invest Now?
Agentic modernization is not a silver bullet, but it changes the cost/benefit math. If your estate has many Java and .NET services with version drift, security exposure, or cloud-readiness gaps, running a focused PoC with GitHub Copilot app modernization can deliver immediate ROI (hours-to-days vs months-to-years), reduce technical debt, and accelerate your organization’s move to cloud-native practices on Azure. Start with a small, measurable PoC and bake the human review, testing, and security checks into the process.
.webp)
