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# Confessions of a Software Archaeologist: What I Did Wrong in 10 Years of Restructuring Software


- **Date:** Friday, Jul 10, 2026
- **Time:** 11:00–11:30 (30 min)
- **Room:** Stage 12
- **Event:** World Congress 2026 Europe

## Recording

[Watch recording](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100239-confessions-of-a-software-archaeologist-what-i-did-wrong-in-10-years-of-restructuring-software)

## Description

While AI tools promise enormous efficiency gains, deploying them often reveals a hard truth: our legacy systems aren't ready. This pressure to modernize shines a harsh light on issues we have ignored for years.

It turns out that refactoring code is actually the easy part. The real bottlenecks are hidden in a tangled mess of stakeholder management, ossified organizational structures, and the "human factor." These are non-technical problems that no AI can fix for us.

With over 10 years of experience as a Lead Dev, Architect, and TPM, I’m looking at the big picture. Having navigated these exact traps in numerous restructuring projects, I will share actionable lessons to help you spot and overcome these barriers. We’ll look past the code to focus on building a project environment that allows modernization to succeed.

## Speaker

### [Hendrik Lösch](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@hendrik-losch)

Management Consultant and Architect at ZEISS Digital Innovation


## Related talks at this congress

- [Refactoring in the Age of AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1254-refactoring-in-the) — Dominik Srednicki, Elena Lucarelli
- [High Quality AI Development](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1459-high-quality-ai) — David Tielke
- [When Agents Meet Legacy: Never Change a Running System](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1364-when-agents-meet) — Michael Friedrich
- [Why your codebase lies to AI?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1306-why-your-codebase) — Zaak Chalal