Right click - Render in Place

I'm afraid you might be right.
AE can be compared to a huge garage with piles of random tools. Some rusty wrench form 90s, depreciated, but still works. A whole wall of “i have no idea what that was meant to do”. Bunch of unfinished patched 3rd party projects like Mocha. Failed pipelines like Dynamic link. Brand new shiny plastic AI something on the front desk. 
Work can be done, but a cleanup, is long overdue. Time is ticking. Business still makes money, but the moment next big investor opens a venue across the street, this will be deserted.