Business architects, who blend technology expertise with business acumen, are emerging as the ideal professionals to lead organizations through the complex world of artificial intelligence. Along with hybrid business and tech skills, professionals seeking to advance in today's and tomorrow's economy need to demonstrate a tenacious spirit and a persistent personality. This advice comes from a senior executive at one of the world's leading technology infrastructure organizations, who says that IT implementations are no longer once-and-done operations.
Andrew Allan, senior vice president of financial operations for the CIO's office at Siemens, shared his perspective at the recent Salesforce AgentForce event in New York. He emphasized that there is a lot of trial and error in new technology. Organizations must ask: What do we want it to do? How do we want to embrace it? Yet, at the same time, Allan stated that he does not see AI replacing technology professionals' skills anytime soon at his company.
Solving business challenges
Combined technology and business skills are in high demand at Siemens, a sprawling conglomerate that produces and sells digital and automation solutions to a range of heavy industries. The company seeks business architects and like-minded professionals who have deep knowledge of the complexities of the business and the problems they are trying to solve, and can translate that back into a technological solution. When you start looking at what agents can do, you need people who can translate and decipher that, Allan explained.
It also means before breaking ground, you need a good idea of what you are doing, which includes user stories, ethics, ROI, and the business case. Allan recognized that adding agents across the organization means greater complexity, which requires management skills. Organizations must figure out what they want—their north star—and what business problem they are trying to solve. Grounding use cases in a business opportunity or problem helps in applying the technology effectively.
Business architects typically require a minimum of 10 years of planning and analysis experience. In addition to some systems background, they possess a broad background in different business sectors, with in-depth experience and knowledge in at least one aspect of the business, such as engineering, manufacturing, or planning. The role of a business architect differs from that of an enterprise architect. An enterprise architect considers applications and infrastructure for a technology roadmap, while a business architect speaks with R&D segments, the chief revenue officer, and pricing and packaging specialists.
They ask business leaders what capabilities they are looking for, what the go-to-market strategies are, and what products are being developed. They then bring that information back to align with the architectural roadmap, identifying complementary areas and potential conflicts that need to be reasoned over.
New skills for new demands
Siemens recently embarked on what it calls a One Tech Company strategy, seeking to blend digital and real-world technologies in an approach that integrates software, hardware, AI, and digital twins, both for internal operations and for customers. Allan described it as a way to strap a jetpack on what the company is doing and accelerate the growth it seeks. He does not see AI consuming technology jobs across his company, recalling how the internet was supposed to put libraries out of business, and how similar predictions were made about the Y2K bug, blockchain, and other shiny new things.
At the same time, he cautioned that AI could prove to be quite a challenge in areas where there is a high-touch horizontal process. That process involves identifying low-hanging fruit where tasks that are very repetitive in nature can be automated. Examples of areas ripe for what he calls agentification include operational tasks such as validating sales leads or extracting metrics from systems. The good news is that business architects and like-minded roles elevate human skills by encouraging professionals to develop deep domain knowledge from a vertical perspective. AI can really enhance what they do.
Such professionals help enable and oversee a range of vertical processes, including product design, development, deployment, production, and manufacturing. Allan noted that new technologies free up staff from mundane repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks for the jobs of the future. Organizations need business architects who can better understand where the business is driving. Also in great demand are professionals who can oversee user acceptance testing (UAT), especially as AI agents speed up software deployments.
Skills for delivering change management are also in demand, as well as having people who understand the psychology of change. They can answer the questions: What's in it for me, and what's in it for my organization? Allan suggested that our current times can be viewed as never normal, in which technology is outstripping organizational design and organizational structure. Some of the biggest challenges for organizations right now are that technology can do anything they want it to do. The question is, from a human perspective, what do we want it to do, and then how do we actually scale up the workforce to take advantage of it?
Allan concluded by sharing his fear with some technology: that it is used to repave existing cart paths, rather than build a brand-new highway that will take you somewhere you have never been before. The emphasis at Siemens is on human guidance of AI, and the business architect role is crucial in navigating this new landscape. Firms need professionals who can manage sprawling agent networks and ensure that AI adoption aligns with overall business strategy and ethical considerations.
As organizations across industries race to implement AI, the demand for business architects is expected to grow significantly. These professionals act as bridges between technical teams and business leaders, ensuring that AI initiatives are grounded in real-world problems and deliver measurable value. Their ability to combine deep domain knowledge with systems thinking makes them uniquely qualified to lead the corporate AI revolution.
In addition to the skills mentioned, business architects must also stay abreast of emerging AI technologies and their potential impact on business models. They need to continuously update their knowledge and adapt to the rapidly evolving landscape. This includes understanding the limitations of AI, such as bias in algorithms and the need for human oversight, and incorporating these considerations into their recommendations. As AI agents become more autonomous, the role of the business architect in setting guardrails and ensuring ethical use becomes even more critical.
Ultimately, the successful adoption of AI in the enterprise depends on having the right people in place to guide the process. Business architects, with their unique blend of business and technology expertise, are well-suited to take on this challenge. By focusing on solving real business problems and elevating human skills, they can help organizations harness the full potential of AI while avoiding common pitfalls. As Allan pointed out, the key is not to let technology dictate the path, but to let human vision and strategy lead the way.
Source: ZDNET News