Traditional software modernization efforts are often paralyzed by the "Big Bang" rewrite fallacy, where the loss of hardcoded business logic leads to operational failure 1. This whitepaper proposes the Agentic Strangler pattern — an evolution of the classic Strangler Fig strategy that utilizes autonomous AI agents and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to provide a dynamic, intelligence-driven façade for legacy systems 8. By wrapping monolithic cores in context-aware agentic layers, enterprises can realize immediate business value through "Application-Aware AI" while systematically decommissioning technical debt 8. This approach is further secured by the Citadel Protocol, providing the hardware-enforced governance necessary for high-stakes autonomous execution in regulated environments.
Theo Ezell (Sat,) studied this question.