“Digitized isn’t modernized,” noted new Federal CIO Greg Barbaccia in a recent LinkedIn post. Here he advocates for an upgrade to the U.S. government’s approach to modernization. He argues that while agencies have replaced paper processes, they have largely replicated legacy processes in a new medium without re-engineering workflows. Thus, he calls for shifting from substitution to transformation.

Introducing the Product Mindset for Digital Transformation

That’s a process that goes beyond automating repetitive tasks. In the AI era, it means making data actionable, enabling collaboration and accelerating decision-making, changing behaviors alongside tools. That’s why Karsun uses a product mindset throughout the modernization process. Our teams consider not only project requirements but how users will interact with the modernized system. In fact, with 15+ years delivering software, cloud, and data solutions we have identified several key ways using this mindset enables digital transformation at a level expected by government decision makers.

The benefits of using a product mindset for digital transformation.

  • Uses human-centered design (HCD) principles from the beginning. This ensures teams build using functional requirements that consider not only system structure, but user behavior and experience.
  • Cloud native solutions, such as those built on microservices, enable secure, adaptable architecture empowering teams to adjust to changing requirements meeting future demands. 
  • Applying HCD principles, a product mindset considers the experience of the teams seeking advanced analytics and business intelligence solutions to generate insights and make data driven decisions. This brings fresh data streaming and self-service enhancements, reducing the time to insights from weeks and months to hours and days.

Moreover, each of these benefits not only improves system performance, it limits future rework by addressing potential challenges early while providing the flexibility to adapt to future needs.

AI-Accelerated Digital Transformation

The AI era demands this approach. To be prepared for the agility gains from AI, government agencies and other large enterprises may need to consider using AI to accelerate the transformation to the new systems and processes available as a result of this revolutionary technology.  

We continuously enhance our ReDuX AI-powered modernization platform to accelerate this process. Unlike platforms that automate business rule extraction and transformation, ReDuX AI agents analyze system structure and behavior. After generating a comprehensive blueprint of the legacy system, we generate requirements that address user behavior. With the flexibility that comes from AI instead of automation, agile teams can reimagine their legacy system functionality, adding enhancements. Its transformation agents take inputs from human design teams and solution architects, generating modern, production ready code that satisfies these new functional requirements.

And these agents learn as they complete each functional slice of the modernized application. As the agile team engages in continuous, ongoing feedback with system stakeholders, improving both agents and human team members’ understanding of user needs improve together. Its AI-powered digital transformation that enhances rather than hinders human-centered design.

That’s not all, we found we can actually use AI for process improvement. In fact, our experts spoke on this topic at the annual CMMI conference in Phoenix, Arizona in 2024. For one customer that netted 4 times faster project delivery with double the improvement in code quality. This success is shared in a recent AWS Case Study. This data-driven approach, built on mature, intelligent AI solutions, is in part why Karsun was appraised at CMMI Level 5 (DEV) for a third time. 

At Karsun we know the power of a mindful approach to digital transformation. This product mindset, now supercharged by AI, is integrated into every aspect of our modernization process.
For more on our approach, discover why our Head of Experience told the Federal Tech Podcast modernization teams need to move on from “checking the box” on customer experience to creating processes that result in true transformation. If you’re ready to start your digital transformation journey today, connect with our team.