Autonoma: Making Modernizing Legacy Code Easy
Autonoma is a participant in Cohort 3 of Transform, a data science and AI startup accelerator powered by Deep Tech Ventures at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Innovation in collaboration with the Data Science Institute.
When Eugenio Scafati, Nicolas Marcantonio, Simon Faillace Mullen, and Tom Piaggio first met in the Buenos Aires offices of Google, the group of AI and infrastructure engineers bonded over a shared vision of finding a way to tackle one of the most pervasive problems plaguing the tech industry – technical debt.
Now, this team is working on a groundbreaking approach to detect, measure, and solve the challenge of reworking costs when engineers choose an easy but limited solution instead of a better approach that could take more time.
Unlike traditional methods, which often involve high consulting fees and working with big-name firms, Autonoma is revolutionizing the space through the use of generative AI.
Its platform continuously monitors for modernization opportunities and provides comprehensive documentation and diagramming of entire codebases, ensuring businesses can maintain their operational agility free from vendor lock-ins and knowledge gaps.
The application of AI to this problem is not just suitable; it is essential. Human analysis of sprawling and intricate codebases is a nearly impossible task. Autonoma leverages generative AI to navigate this complexity, changing the landscape of software maintenance and modernization.
Within the next year, the team aims to build its proprietary technology and bring on its first customers, as well as seek seed funding, assemble a foundational team, establish pivotal IT service partnerships, and introduce a freemium model to the market.
Looking further ahead, Autonoma has big plans to change software development as a whole.
“We hope to change how software is built,” said Scafati. “While everyone is trying to make things faster by providing code completion tools, we are tackling the whole software development life cycle and rebuilding it. In five years, we aim to allow users to be able to modernize legacy code with just one click.”
As part of Transform, the team wants to learn from experts how to continue building their business, as well as build a network in Chicago that could bring in clients, partners, employees, and investors.
// Powered by the Polsky Center’s Deep Tech Ventures, Transform provides full-spectrum support for the startups accepted into the accelerator, including access to business and technical training, industry mentorship, venture capital connections, and funding opportunities.