"Tech debt" in code that rarely changes isn't a problem a lot of the time. Tech teams brutally underestimate the impact of refactorings and other code changes.

If tech teams could communicate the ROI on paying tech debt, it would get paid. But they don't, either because they lack the communication skills to do it, or because the ROI just isn't there.

I have seen businesses willing to pay the tech debt, and 100% of the time it was because the tech team could prove the ROI.

The real issue at hand is that paying tech debt often isn't the big win it's portrayed as, it's high-risk for little payoff in many cases, and tech teams often refuse to learn the language of the people who make decisions and sign checks.

J.Ja