All through 2025, enterprise software program suppliers have launched and spoken of agentic AI, claiming it is going to revolutionise the working mannequin of organisations. With brokers out there in key enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) purposes, organisations require visibility, and a capability to plan for, defend and handle brokers successfully.
For enterprise architects, this poses a serious alternative and a problem for his or her position. Enterprise structure is adapting to map the brand new software program panorama, such because the interdependencies between techniques and brokers.
Nick Tzitzon, vice-chairman of ServiceNow, described enterprise structure as a clean display screen in his latest ServiceNow World Discussion board keynote in London, giving a transparent gross sales pitch to organisations that platform suppliers wish to be the foundations for the brand new structure, saying: “The extra flexibility and selection we may give you can be the way you see us as priceless.”
Femi Bamisaiye, COO and expertise chief for pensions supplier Nest, says: “The position of the enterprise architect is much more necessary now. That individual will have a look at agentic AI in partnership with the CIO or CDO, and be the individual that can articulate and translate its enterprise affect and alternative.”
He provides that the articulation abilities are of explicit significance: “A lot of my profession has been about simplifying expertise, chopping tech debt and lowering complexity, however now with agentic AI, all of the complexity is coming again, so I would like someone that may have a look at the enterprise holistically after which make it hold collectively and linked up.”
Due to its affiliation with structure within the constructed surroundings, it’s typically assumed that enterprise structure is inbuilt stone. These blueprints and sophisticated architectural drawings can’t be modified, or to redraw them is simply too tough and sure costly. As a task, some in enterprise structure have fostered this perception, however fashionable enterprise expertise and the character of recent enterprise require a much more versatile strategy to enterprise structure.
“In 2022, we realised the necessity to remodel, as clients had been getting extra demanding,” stated Mark Pearson, chief architect for defence producers BAE, on the 2025 Gartner Symposium. He defined how the core enterprise of BAE is altering, because it more and more develops unmanned plane, that are closely reliant on expertise, and is presently creating the brand new Tempest army plane.
With main conflicts raging in Europe and Africa, and a requirement for NATO nations to extend their army funding, the suppliers should ship ever extra fashionable army would possibly at a speedy tempo. “We should be agile and to vary the working mannequin to help that.”
We should be agile and to vary the working mannequin to help that Mark Pearson, BAE
Similar to a pure digital enterprise, Pearson and his colleagues in enterprise structure have a continuing have to ship enterprise outcomes quicker and cheaper. When clients want to vary course, the enterprise structure of BAE has to have the ability to change course simply as rapidly. Earlier than Pearson started re-architecting, this was not the case on the UK headquartered enterprise. Pearson provides that not solely should fashionable structure be versatile, “we have to do issues quick and first time proper, so they’re right by design”.
This strategy displays an ongoing development in enterprise structure referred to as the Lego bricks methodology. Because the arrival of service-oriented structure (SOA), then APIs and platforms, organisations have embraced a capability to attach in companies and applied sciences as and when wanted. Enterprise architects have, largely, embraced these developments. Agentic AI differs in that its tempo and ease of use is disruptive and – within the worst circumstances – a danger to the organisation.
Package Cox, CTO and founding father of Enate, a provider of course of orchestration software program for the companies sector, says organisations and enterprise architects might want to stability delivering on the wants of the shopper with financial savings and the enterprise advantages of standardisation. He believes enterprise architects might want to study from US espresso chain Starbucks, because it has components of standardisation, but in addition distinctions per geographic promote it operates in: “It’s the consistency that’s delivered.”
Curiously, within the second half of 2025, the foremost suppliers took a way more cautious and pragmatic strategy to agentic AI. Early within the yr, the hype prompt that agentic AI was going to quickly remodel the enterprise, however by the autumn suppliers had been specializing in their agent administration applied sciences, saying they needed to empower enterprise and expertise leaders.
Clear imaginative and prescient
With agentic AI probably making it simpler to create enterprise processes to alleviate workloads from workers, the enterprise architect has to offer readability for enterprise, its folks and its suppliers. At BAE, Pearson outlined the position of enterprise structure’s as digitising the enterprise via higher visibility of worth chains and capabilities throughout the enterprise.
It’s clear that because the enterprise has skills and abilities which might be each human and agentic code, there’s a want for an individual or division to map, monitor and utilise these. With out a position that categorises and understands all of the capabilities of the organisation, duplication of effort will run rife. CEOs are hoping that agentic AI will improve productiveness and finally the underside line, due to this fact duplication is the enemy of productiveness.
Pearson additionally sees enterprise structure as central to fostering collaboration and cross-functional working within the organisation. Once more, if an organisation has a robust tradition of cross-functional working, AI brokers might be deployed safely, with the correct questions requested of its position by a (hopefully) various vary of workers.
Pearson says the much-desired calls for to be data-driven and agile as an organisation stem from the talents and outputs of the enterprise architect. That is delivered, he says, although among the traditions of the position – in his personal organisation, it’s the enterprise architects who’ve a holistic view of the expertise stack that features SAP, ServiceNow, JIRA, Apptio and others.
Nonetheless, earlier complaints that enterprise architects are too inflexible and use doctrines reminiscent of The Open Group Structure Framework as blueprints that can’t be challenged nonetheless exist.
“All too typically, we discover ourselves on a name with numerous folks that decision themselves enterprise architects they usually don’t add any worth,” Cox says. In his expertise, the enterprise architect is now chargeable for managing legacy expertise property and making that “AI pleasant”.
At BAE, Pearson invested in upskilling the enterprise architects to make sure this was not the issue. As new and extra dynamic applied sciences and methodologies had been launched, the funding in abilities improvement paid off with excessive ranges of adoption.
Cox provides that enterprise architects trying to be on the forefront of agentic AI adoption additionally want to speculate time and power in getting near the enterprise operations: “It’s very easy to get centered on processes, however folks get too hypothetical – whenever you discuss to folks in regards to the work they’re doing, you get a a lot crisper dialog. It’s a frustration that enterprise architects are a part of the issue, not the answer, and that could be a brush that IT will get painted with.”
Simply earlier than the worldwide monetary disaster in 2007-2009, IT departments had been accused of not being aligned to the enterprise outcomes and for being the division that stated no. Agentic AI presents organisations an excessive amount of potential, however there are dangers, particularly in info administration. Cyber assaults, such because the one on Tata-owned automotive producer Jaguar Land Rover leading to a lack of £485m within the quarter ending 30 September 2025, showcase the chance. The necessity to adjust to legal guidelines reminiscent of GDPR imply the adoption of agentic AI must be well-planned and executed.
Safer with architects
However some want for change, the position of enterprise architect stays very important if organisations are to navigate the adoption of agentic AI.
Bamisaiye says that an enterprise architect is “actually necessary for operating end-to-end expertise”. At his organisation, a 3rd of staff work in expertise, knowledge and operations, indicating the significance of tech to the operations of the enterprise and companies to clients. Alongside this, there’s a important outsourced partnership.
“Which means I would like somebody that appears on the complete panorama, outsourced or not, and at our IT and operations, so that they perceive the entire enterprise capabilities and enterprise processes,” he says, including that the enterprise architect isn’t just a planner, however is chargeable for ensuring that the expertise options ship on the expectations of the enterprise strains.
Agentic AI will not be the one power reshaping enterprise processes. Oganisations are working in a interval of dramatic market adjustments as tariffs and geopolitics change provide chains on a weekly foundation. Agentic AI will due to this fact allow organisations to function processes for each lengthy and quick durations of time. Workers will probably be freed to make use of their expertise in serving to the enterprise navigate this altering panorama.
The enterprise architect in an agentic AI period may, the truth is, turn into the enterprise gardener, choosing agentic AI vegetation that swimsuit the climate of that yr – for instance, a chilly yr formed by tariffs or a heat yr benefiting from the nice and cozy winds of development. A backyard adjustments in accordance with the seasons or from shade from the surroundings simply past the hedgerow. Crafting the backyard beds, crops and shows to ship one thing for everybody that makes use of the backyard is a type of architecting for change.
