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Legacy Liability

Canonical definition (Arco Lexicon)

The structural condition of a business that has grown too dependent on human-centric coordination to rebuild itself without dismantling the organisation — the accumulated cost of every architectural decision made for human execution rather than agentic execution.

Extended Definition​

Legacy Liability is not a technology problem. It is an organisational one. A large incumbent did not arrive at its current state through poor decisions — it arrived through decades of rational ones, each optimised for the operating environment at the time. The middle-management layer was added because coordination required it. The approval chain was built because accountability required it. The reporting structure was designed because visibility required it. Each layer made sense when it was added. Collectively, they form a structure that cannot be made autonomous without first being dismantled — and most organisations will not authorise that dismantlement.

In the Log​

First used: 2026-03-19

Part of the Arco Lexicon Ecosystem — maintained by Arco Venture Studio