Make Mechanical Advantage YOUR Advantage: How to Modernize and Futureproof Your Code with OpenRewrite

So-called simple solutions are usually the most elegant. Experts make difficult tasks look easy. The smartest people make complex concepts easily understood. These truisms are validated in comparison. For example, brute-force "kludges" aren't simple in the context of lifecycle, while the smartest people understand the problem, the solution, AND the audience.

Our tool belts now include AI, which is a wonderful addition. But not every challenge is best shaped—or solved—by AI alone. Many are faster, safer, or cheaper to address with other proven techniques, or through a combination of methods.

This is where the concept of Mechanical Advantage applies, the use of "simple machines" to create a force multiplier and accomplish great feats with little effort. Just as levers, pulleys, axles, and inclined planes multiply force in the physical world, software has its own equivalents—patterns, idempotency, repeatability, and consistency.

These multipliers allow small, precise inputs to deliver outsized results, with the promise of improving software quality and freeing scarce engineering resources to focus on higher-value work. Yet many organizations are burdened by mountains of outdated code and unfolding security vulnerabilities. Left unchecked, these slow innovation or bring it to a halt.

The question is: how do we bring Mechanical Advantage to the problem of large-scale code modernization?

In this session, we’ll show how OpenRewrite, the open-source framework for automated code remediation, delivers Mechanical Advantage to modernization. You'll see how OpenRewrite's compiler-accurate data model and deterministic recipes enable precise, auditable, and scalable transformations. This determinism is also what can make AI effective for modernization—providing the solid foundation needed to move from probabilistic guesswork to guaranteed transformation.

Drawing from real-world experience with OpenRewrite and Moderne’s AI agent, Moddy, we’ll outline a practical approach that combines AI’s flexibility with rules-based refactoring. The result: organizations can safely upgrade frameworks, patch CVEs, and remove deprecated code—quickly, consistently, and at scale.

Come to this session to learn how to put Mechanical Advantage to work for maximum payoff with minimum effort.