Executive Dinner
Mainframe Modernization: From Legacy Core to Competitive Advantage
June 24, 2026 at 5:30 pm | Remington's | Chicago
The mainframe powers the world’s most critical operations, but now the stakes of modernization have fundamentally changed. AI is accelerating innovation, reshaping how modernization happens, and introducing new, AI-driven threats that are redefining security expectations—highlighted by moments like Mythos. Leaders now face a dual mandate: modernize without disruption while strengthening resilience against increasingly sophisticated risk. Cost, compliance, talent, and agility remain on the line.
A Peer-to-Peer Dinner Roundtable
The most forward-looking organizations are responding by modernizing infrastructure and data with AI at the core—taking a coordinated, risk-driven approach that strengthens resilience against emerging, AI-driven threats. They are consolidating their technology stack, unlocking developer productivity, and repositioning the mainframe as a strategic, AI-ready asset that drives business growth. According to IDC, 47% identify AI infrastructure as a top 3 priority when it comes to boosting AI’s impact on the business.
Rocket Software and IDC are bringing together a select group of senior executives in Chicago for an exclusive roundtable to address these challenges head-on. Drawing on IDC’s latest research and the IDC Modernization Index, participants will benchmark their organization’s modernization maturity, exchange insights with peers facing similar decisions, and leave with a clear, actionable path forward.
What To Expect
An executive dinner led by a skilled moderator
An intimate gathering of senior IT leaders from diverse industries, grappling with similar issues
A secure, private conversation open only to a carefully vetted group
Agenda
Mainframe Modernization: From Legacy Core to Competitive Advantage
One Day Event
Networking Reception
A private reception bringing together senior executives and industry analysts to connect, exchange perspectives, and set context for the evening’s discussion.
Dinner & Discussion
A moderated, off‑the‑record discussion over dinner focused on real‑world execution challenges, emerging industry priorities, and their implications for enterprise leaders.
Event Concludes
The evening concludes with brief closing remarks and informal follow‑up conversations, reinforcing key takeaways and ongoing peer engagement.
Speakers
Mary Johnston Turner
Research Vice President, Global Lead, Digital and Datacenter Infrastructure and Services
IDC
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Mary Johnston Turner
Mary Johnston Turner is Research VP within IDC’s enterprise infrastructure global research domain. She is the global subdomain lead for Digital and Datacenter Infrastructure and Services. She and her team oversee IDC’s research on datacenter facilities, service provider and owner operators as well as tracking enterprise tech buyer sentiment and strategies related to using digital infrastructure to drive business outcomes. Mary collaborates closely with semiconductor, cloud services, and enterprise infrastructure and services teams produce a comprehensive view of the dynamics, competitive positions and market opportunities created by various IT and non-IT technologies influencing datacenter infrastructure and services.
Ms. Turner is a long-time industry veteran who has worked at a range of analyst and vendor firms. During her career she has covered the evolution of infrastructure, infrastructure software, and infrastructure operations vendors and enterprise priorities. Most recently, she helped lead infrastructure research supporting IDC’s AI Council research series, studied the impact of agentic AI on the transformation of infrastructure operating models, and analyzed enterprise digital infrastructure maturity and tech debt modernization priorities including mainframe infrastructure strategies.
Puneet Kohl
President, Application Modernization Business Unit
Rocket Software
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Puneet Kohl
Puneet joined Rocket Software in 2018 as the Vice President of Quality and DevOps and was promoted to the President of the Application Modernization Business Unit in 2023.
In his time at Rocket Software, Puneet has held multiple leadership roles leading the Quality and DevOps and Product engineering teams and has been instrumental in standardizing Rocket Software’s Quality and DevOps toolchain.
Along with having touched nearly every Rocket Software product at some point during his tenure at Rocket Software, he also helps drive initiatives like Rocket.Build, Community Connectors and acquisition integrations.
Before joining Rocket Software, Puneet held leadership roles at Dell EMC, RSA, and CA and spent over 10 years in the identity and access management space. Puneet serves as a president on the board of a nonprofit focusing on community and culture. Puneet’s love for community service keeps him busy outside of Rocket Software.
Puneet holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Northeastern University.
Partner
Sponsored By
Rocket Software
Rocket Software is a global technology leader in modernization and a partner of choice that empowers the world’s leading businesses on their modernization journeys, spanning core systems to the cloud. Trusted by over 12,500 customers and 750 partners, and with more than 3,200 global employees, Rocket Software enables customers to maximize their data, applications, and infrastructure to deliver critical services that power our modern world. Rocket Software is a privately held U.S. corporation headquartered in the Boston area with centers of excellence strategically located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Rocket Software is a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity.