CAST unveils AI-enhanced features in Imaging platform update

CAST, a global software intelligence provider, has announced a major update to its CAST Imaging platform. This latest release introduces a new generative AI-powered chatbot and enhanced visualisation functionalities, designed to simplify and accelerate the understanding and documentation of complex software systems.

Building on last year’s capabilities, which allowed users to click on any element of the auto-generated software blueprint and receive a full-text explanation, the latest update further expands its generative AI functionality. This enhancement aims to make it even easier for users to explore, comprehend, and document large software systems.

Among the key additions in this release is the CAST Imaging Assistant, a new generative AI-powered assistant. This feature allows users to query their applications using natural language and receive text-based answers that are visualised in graph format. According to CAST, this provides an intuitive and interactive experience, particularly beneficial for new users attempting to delve into the inner workings of their applications.

Another notable feature is the Transaction Summary. Users can now obtain an instant explanation of the elements that comprise an end-to-end transaction. Additionally, they can view the entire cross-technology call graph representing the transaction, from an interface layer element such as a webpage to the data storage layer, like a SQL table. This significantly accelerates and simplifies the understanding and documentation of complex software systems.

Luc Perard, Vice President of CAST Imaging, remarked, “This is a major step forward in our mission to help technologists navigate and master complex software applications. The enhanced generative AI capabilities and new features make it easier than ever for users to gain deep insights into their applications, speeding up discovery, maintenance, and modernisation efforts.”

The newest release also enhances the capability to view an application at different detail levels. Users can scrutinise individual code or data elements or observe higher-level aggregations of similar elements to facilitate application understanding. Furthermore, dependencies between aggregated elements are now represented as arrows of different widths and colours, visually indicating how tightly or loosely coupled they are.

CAST Imaging is often referred to as the "MRI for software" because of its ability to automatically decipher how a software application operates and visually map its myriad code elements and their interrelationships into a living knowledge base of internal architecture. By reverse-engineering the source code and data structures into detailed, interactive maps, CAST Imaging empowers technologists to uncover insights in minutes that would otherwise take months, enabling them to modernise and refactor twice as fast, ramp up newcomers 20-30% quicker and significantly boost Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) productivity.

CAST’s suite of software intelligence products is available for purchase directly from CAST or through technology partners such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. The company also offers flexible plans tailored to central departments utilising CAST Imaging to support multiple projects and teams.