About

Hi, I am Markus Harrer, a software consultant and trainer who helps organizations modernize and evolve their systems through AI-driven software analytics and strategic architecture evolution. I uncover bottlenecks in code, architecture, and processes to make systems more maintainable and teams more effective.

Core Expertise

My current focus is on agentic software modernization, exploring how AI-assisted developer tools can accelerate the understanding and transformation of complex legacy systems. I am passionate about turning technical insight into real enablement, helping teams build sustainable modernization practices, and bridging the gap between engineering and management.

  • Software Analytics & Modernization
  • AI-powered Developer Tooling
  • Software Architecture Enablement
  • Development Team Coaching & Mentorship
  • Architecture Assessment & Reviews
  • Knowledge Sharing & Community Building
Markus Harrer

Contributions

I contribute to the software architecture and AI communities through talks, open-source projects, and writing on software analytics, generative AI, and Wardley Maps. I'm an accredited trainer for the iSAQB Foundation Level and the Advanced Level Module IMPROVE, as well as iSAQB Foundation Level certified.

Markus Harrer
Articles
Modern Legacy (thanks to AI)
Why AI-driven modernization focusing solely on code can create technically advanced but strategically irrelevant systems, and why questioning business needs must come first.
Software Analytics going crAIzy!
How artificial intelligence enables software analytics to move beyond problem identification toward automated solutions, transforming insights into actionable code improvements.
LLM-assisted Abbreviation Mining for Legacy Systems
Using Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Python to automatically identify and expand abbreviations in a COBOL mainframe codebase to uncover its business and technical concepts.
The Evolutionist — Software Architecture Work on Existing Systems
Proposing the "evolutionist" as a specialized role for managing the evolution of legacy systems, recognizing that nearly 80% of software development involves maintaining existing systems.
Evolving software like an orchardist
Using apple tree pruning as an analogy to explain how developers can modernize complex systems by identifying valuable components and strategically removing unnecessary ones.
more on innoq.com →
Talks
Getting to Know Your Legacy (System) with AI-Driven Software Archeology
Learn how AI and data-driven analysis help you understand legacy systems, uncover hidden patterns, and confidently modernize complex codebases.
Software Modernization with GenAI – The Good, the Bad, the Unexpected
Discover how generative AI can be meaningfully used in software modernization today, where limitations exist, and what unexpected effects emerge when working with AI.
Evolutionary Software Quality
A thinking model combining ISO 25010 and Wardley mapping to guide software architects in achieving the right quality level at each stage of system evolution.
Architecture Governance: Finding the Right Balance Between Rules and Freedom (in German)
Learn how to balance constraints and freedom in software evolution, finding the right level of architecture governance that guides developers to success without pain.
Use of Generative AI in Architecture (internal company keynote)
Exploring how generative AI impacts architecture as a discipline, process, and artifact.
more on innoq.com →
Markus Harrer
Side Projects

Awesome Lists

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