Mainframe Gains New Life as AI Adoption Accelerates Among Enterprise Users

Survey Highlights

• Mainframe practitioners and decision-makers maintain strong confidence in the platform as AI capabilities expand, with 94% anticipating long-term funding commitments, per findings from a BMC study released Tuesday that polled 1,300 mainframe professionals.
• Artificial intelligence adoption for mainframe upkeep is growing rapidly, with 45% of survey participants identifying AI tool implementation as a critical objective. More than a third of respondents indicated plans to develop custom agents for mainframe management, while 32% intend to purchase external agents.
• The findings demonstrate "an industry moving beyond AI experimentation toward trusted, operational adoption," according to John McKenny, SVP and general manager of Intelligent Z Optimization and Transformation at BMC.

Modernization Without Replacement

When enterprises began rolling out AI across their operations, technology leaders faced difficult questions about where applications, processes and workflows should operate—and whether aging systems warranted continued support. For most organizations, however, abandoning mainframes is simply not feasible, as these systems remain deeply woven into their operational fabric.

Rather than displacing mainframe investments with AI solutions, companies are choosing to enhance the platform itself, incorporating it into their broader AI infrastructure, according to the BMC research. Growing apprehension surrounding data privacy and security in cloud-based generative AI systems has reinforced the mainframe's standing in the marketplace recently.

Shifting Workforce and Security Focus

The mainframe continues to serve as the backbone for high-value transactions, data protection and customer-facing services across enterprises. Mainframe specialists previously worried about workforce depletion as experienced practitioners neared retirement, but the demographic composition is now trending younger. In BMC's 2025 survey, more than half of respondents identified as millennials.

Mainframe teams are leveraging AI to strengthen security for both user and application connections, the latest survey indicates. The majority of respondents rely on internally developed automated systems or managed services to oversee digital certificates, though some continue to handle certificate administration manually.

From Survival to Leadership

What I am seeing now is a shift where the platform is not just surviving but is being architected to lead in the era of AI. I see AI as a tailwind for the mainframe, not the opposite.

Steven Dickens, CEO and principal analyst of HyperFRAME Research

Among mainframe specialists, the strategic approach to AI has evolved from exploratory initiatives toward production-grade implementations centered on reliability, oversight and concrete business results. According to BMC's 2026 report, the mainframe is transitioning from a mission-critical system into an intelligent enterprise platform that drives digital business operations.

It's becoming clear that the path to greater AI autonomy on the mainframe will be earned through trust, with the option of humans remaining in the loop to oversee and implement AI recommendations.

John McKenny, SVP and general manager of Intelligent Z Optimization and Transformation at BMC