It’s peak holiday season. You arrive at the airport, bags packed, ready to go. You glance at the departure board, and your worst nightmare becomes reality: Flight Cancelled. Not due to weather or mechanical issues, but because the airline’s scheduling system crashed.
This is what technical debt feels like to customers. They don’t see outdated infrastructure or missed upgrades. They just feel the frustration when things break, especially when it matters most. In today’s digital-first world, those moments aren’t just inconvenient. They’re deal breakers.
Downtime destroys trust
The average cost of downtime is estimated at $14,000 per minute, but the real loss is customer confidence.
In the past two years, a major bank suffered 30+ outages, locking users out of their accounts and igniting social media firestorms. Retailers have faced Black Friday crashes, leaving carts abandoned and revenue unrecoverable.
According to McKinsey, companies in the bottom 20% of their Technical Debt Score (TDS) are 40% more likely to have incomplete or canceled IT modernization programs, leading to more frequent disruptions and failed customer experiences.
Technical debt blocks innovation and AI readiness
Technical debt doesn’t just cause outages, it slows you down.
McKinsey reports that 30% of CIOs believe more than 20% of their tech budget meant for innovation is diverted to resolving tech debt. In banking, up to 70% of IT budgets are spent maintaining legacy systems.
BCG’s 2024 Innovation Report reveals a troubling gap: while 83% of companies rank innovation as a top priority, only 3% are ready to deliver on it. Legacy systems are a key reason, they slow time-to-market, inflate costs, and block access to modern platforms like AI and automation.
Legacy systems create cybersecurity risks
At Schneider Electric, we know that exceptional customer experience starts with trust and security.
Outdated infrastructure is harder to patch and easier to exploit. BCG reports the median cost of a mega breach is $52 million, and breaches take an average of 258 days to contain.
Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue, it’s a board-level priority. Legacy systems increase exposure to attacks, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage. Customers expect their data to be safe. If technical debt leaves the door open to attackers, that trust is nearly impossible to win back.
Leaders must own the problem
Too often, technical debt is dismissed as a “back-office” issue. But in reality, it’s a strategic risk and a CX blocker.
What leaders can do
The good news? Tackling technical debt doesn’t require a massive overhaul. It requires focus, discipline, and leadership.
- Make it visible: Track technical debt in quarterly reviews alongside KPIs. If it’s invisible, it’s ignored.
- Balance the budget: Invest in both modernization and innovation. Debt reduction fuels growth.
- Link it to outcomes: Show how debt impacts resolution times, satisfaction scores, and churn.
- Prioritize security: Retire or modernize vulnerable systems before they become headlines.
- Support your teams: Give engineers time and space to fix foundations. Energized teams build better experiences.
In closing
Customers may never say “technical debt,” but they feel its effects when a transaction fails, a service lags, or a new feature never arrives.
If we care about customer experience, we must care about technical debt. Tackling it isn’t just about fixing old code, it’s about protecting trust, accelerating innovation, and building digital resilience.
Leaders who take this seriously aren’t just managing IT risk. Therefore, start building the foundation for growth, AI readiness, and customer experiences that set their brand apart.
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