Three Reasons Why the Cloud Did Not (and Will Not) Kill the Mainframe

Enterprises are repeating historical technology adoption mistakes with AI in the cloud, rushing to move everything without strategic consideration. Just as with PCs in 1986, cloud in 2012, and edge computing in 2021, companies are falling into the "everything to the extreme" trap. Many existing mainframe applications remain more economically viable and perform better for specific workloads like high-volume transactions and batch processing. Rather than wholesale migration to AI cloud solutions, organizations should adopt a balanced, hybrid approach. Success lies in careful evaluation of each workload's requirements, maintaining effective legacy systems, and implementing cloud AI only where it delivers clear business value.