The future of architectural work

This slide deck tries to take a peak into the future of architectural work. To build the context, it starts with the foundations: why we are doing architectural work, and what we are doing. It then looks into the past and the present of architectural work – or at least, how we _should_ do architectural work today.

With these prerequisites, the presentation moves into the future of architectural work. It looks into the change drivers of IT and its change inhibitors. Based on these, it discusses several areas that we need to address differently than we usually do today. Of course, AI is one of the change drivers and therefore is discussed, too. Finally, the slide deck sums it all up and lists several references, mainly other presentations this slide deck builds upon.

As always, a voice track is missing (but there will be a recording of my presentation at code.talks 2026 on YouTube). I still hope, the slides will provide some ideas to ponder ...

Side note: This deck is about the future of architectural work, not about the future of software architectures and how we will implement them. This is a completely different topic and thus a different presentation ... ;)

Transcript

1. The future of architectural work A calm look ahead in troubled times Uwe Friedrichsen – codecentric AG – 2005-2026
3. Uwe Friedrichsen Works @ codecentric https://bsky.app/profile/ufried.bsky.social https://www.speakerdeck.com/ufried https://ufried.com/
4. AI will change everything!
5. Will it?
6. Let’s talk about architectural work
7. The foundations
8. Why do we need architecture?
9. The economical perspective
10. The economical perspective • With architecture we attempt • to minimize the cumulative costs of a system over its lifetime • while ensuring the correctness of behavior at runtime
11. The cognitive perspective
12. The cognitive perspective • With architecture we attempt to • condense and structure needs and demands • and provide guidance and orientation • to reduce cognitive load
13. The humane perspective
14. "Ultimately, design is a tool to enhance our humanity” -- Ilse Crawford
15. The humane perspective • With architecture we attempt to • improve the lives of the people affected
16. Why do we need architecture? • We need architecture to • to minimize the cumulative costs of a system over its lifetime • while ensuring the correctness of behavior at runtime • condense and structure needs and demands • and provide guidance and orientation • to reduce cognitive load • improve the lives of the people affected
17. What is architectural work?
18. Examine Explore Execute Evaluate
19. What is architectural work? • Architectural work consists of • understanding the problem holistically (Examine) • identifying suitable solution options (Explore) • assessing their trade-offs (Evaluate) • helping stakeholders to make the best decisions possible in their respective contexts (Execute)
20. The past
21. Architectural work in the past
22. Architectural work in the past (1/2) • Monolithic, isolated system thinking • Focus on applications/services, not data • Focus on static system structure, not dynamic behavior • Integration as byproduct • Often focus on backend • Effects of distribution handled by infrastructure • On-premises data center thinking • Network and infrastructure considered fixed • Availability, Scalability, Security, etc. left to Ops
23. Architectural work in the past (2/2) • Everything is a project • Design solution that satisfies project demands • Project cost efficiency as dominant design driver • Core area of tension • Solution maintainability and changeability • Project cost efficiency • Speed of change usually constrained by project lead times
24. Focus on structure Detached topic Maintainability Usability Minor design consideration Flexibility Changeability Project efficiency Dominant solution driver Performance Core area of tension Interoperability Minor design considerations Availability Scalability “Ops problem” Portability Reliability Security Confidentiality Integrity Amplifying goals Opposing goals
25. The present
26. Architectural work has become much more demanding
27. Architectural work today
28. New technologies • Public Cloud • Mobile devices • IoT, Edge & OT • Big data • Machine learning • Artificial intelligence
29. New paradigms • Everything is a distributed system • Near-realtime processing as default • Never-down systems (24x7 w/o maintenance windows) • Shift left security (and safety)
30. New parameters • Digital transformation makes IT indispensable • Post-industrial markets drive VUCA • Exploding system complexity puts business viability at risk • Ecological sustainability creates a counterforce
31. Focus on structure not sufficient anymore Technology evolution provides new options and changes what a feasible solution is Suitability Massively increased user expectations influence system design Maintainability Usability Communication flow Data flow Flexibility Changeability Project efficiency Adaptability Huge new challenges due to highly interconnected distributed system landscapes (“microservices”) System lifecycle Resilience Thinking in feedback loops Observability Integration as 1st class citizen Dependability Interoperability Availability System empathy Scalability Portability Versatility Reliability Security as 1st class citizen in design (“Shift left security”) Security Human needs Socio-technical systems Confidentiality Integrity Safety Opposing goals Economic perspective over lifecycle as 1st class citizen Economic efficiency Performance Unpredictable load patterns Amplifying goals Limited view on projects not sufficient anymore Enterprise software affects safety-critical systems more and more Simplicity Sustainability Novel drivers of future system design. Counterforces to many other design forces Prevalent complexity of IT system landscapes requires new design approaches Exploding number of device classes Holistic view required. Focus on software alone not sufficient anymore
32. This results in a completely different game .. … than we faced in the past
33. However, architectural work often still feels more like its past version than its contemporary version
34. The future
35. How will architectural work change in the upcoming years?
36. Questions for architects in IT • How does our work change? • How does our role change? • How does our tooling change? • How does the technology change?
37. The answer is not “AI” AI is an amplifier, not a solution. It works both ways. If you are good, it makes you better. If you are bad, it makes you worse.
38. The answer contains “AI” Start from the change drivers. Address them. Then use AI as a lever.
39. Change drivers • Indispensability of IT • Post-industrial markets • Increasing uncertainty (VUCA) • Unsustainable complexity explosion • Artificial intelligence (AI)
40. Change inhibitors • Company culture • Industrial thinking • Efficiency obsession • Not understanding software
41. Areas to explore
42. Areas to explore • Sustainability • Driven by indispensability of IT • Needed to ensure mid- and long-term business viability
43. Sustainability • Foster all 4 pillars of sustainability • Economical • Ecological • Social/Human • Technological • How to keep systems and the system landscape topical? • How to make IT for all parties affected sustainable? • How not to waste resources? • How not to waste money, now and in the future?
44. Areas to explore • Sustainability • Resilience • Driven by increasing uncertainty • Needed to ensure business viability
45. Resilience • Foster dependability, observability and automation • Enable fast feedback loops at all levels • Adaptability trumps cost efficiency • How to make systems fault-tolerant? • How to support the socio-technical system detect, understand and handle adverse surprises? • How to support the business move and learn fast in a highly competitive and uncertain market?
46. Areas to explore • Sustainability • Resilience • Simplification • Driven by complexity explosion • Needed to ensure mid- and long-term business viability
47. Simplification • Resist FOMO • Foster understandability (become egoless) • Aim for powerful abstractions • Accept architecture without an end state • Support easy integration and removal of systems • Understand distributed systems • Mind the complexity bias!
48. Areas to explore • Sustainability • Resilience • Simplification • Effectiveness • Driven by post-industrial markets • Needed to ensure business viability
49. Effectiveness • Support hypothesis-driven development • Enable fast feedback and learning loops • Push automation • Foster observability • Mind the user experience • How to foster business value and impact? • How to support distinguishing value from waste fast? • How to maximize likelihood of user satisfaction?
50. Mind the change inhibitors Trying to take too big a bite of the cake at once can make you choke
51. Areas to explore • Sustainability • Resilience • Simplification • Effectiveness • Use AI as an amplifier
52. AI amplifying architectural work • LLMs recombine existing knowledge (from their corpus) • They do not know about sustainability • They do not know about resilience • They do not know about simplification • They do not know about effectiveness • AI cannot cover these areas • We need to do the required architectural work • But leverage AI as an amplifier for your work • As analyst, option generator, critic, prototyper, documenter, ...
53. Areas to explore • Sustainability • Resilience • Simplification • Effectiveness • Use AI as an amplifier • Use AI to extend your options
54. AI extending the solution options • Software and AI are different tools for a job • Does it always need to be software? • Software is "stupid" and makes things cumbersome • How about a solution that interacts more human-like? • How much accuracy is needed? • If a certain error rate is acceptable, we may build an AI-centric solution instead of a software-centric solution • First look at the desired properties of a solution, then decide about the tool to build it
55. But AI already creates architectures successfully!
56. Does it?
57. The reinventing the wheel trap
58. The reinventing the wheel trap • Most of the time, companies re-solve solved problems • E-Commerce, ERP, SCM, CRM, ... • Known solutions with a few custom bells and whistles • LLMs have many such solutions in their corpus • Can easily take over big chunks of the existing architectures • Creates an “architectural work is solved” fallacy • Re-solving solved problems is not architectural work • This is a librarian’s work, i.e., find the right blueprint • LLMs are extremely good librarians
59. Reinventing the wheel is not genuine architectural work Reinventing the wheel does not require architectural work
60. Focus your work on the change drivers, not on reinventing the wheel
61. Moving on
62. Uncertainty prevails
63. Uncertainty prevails • The future role and impact of AI is unclear • It is unclear if/when companies will overcome their inertia • Future geo-economic developments are unclear • The next technological megatrend is unclear
64. What does it mean for us?
65. Consequences for IT architects • We need to navigate uncertainty at multiple levels • We need to tackle the change drivers • We need to work towards better architectures • We need to go beyond satisfying quality attributes
66. We need to be bold and humble!
67. Further reading
68. Further reading Essential architectural thinking https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/essential-architectural-thinking Tell me why https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/tell-me-why-about-the-purpose-of-architectural-work Beyond "it depends" https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/beyond-it-depends-how-much-architectural-work-do-we-need Where do we go from here? https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/where-do-we-go-from-here-mastering-the-changed-needs-ofarchitectural-work
69. Further reading The future is already here https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/the-future-is-already-here-mastering-the-challenges-of-the-coming-years From here to resilience https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/from-here-to-resilience-a-travel-guide Simplify! https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/simplify-10-ways-to-reduce-complexity-in-software-development Forget efficiency https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/forget-efficiency-become-more-productive-without-the-stress Patterns of sustainability https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/patterns-of-sustainability-going-green-in-it
70. Further reading Road-movie architectures https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/road-movie-architectures Beyond Agile https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/beyond-agile-doing-the-right-thing-in-a-post-agile-world Pondering change https://speakerdeck.com/ufried/pondering-change Blog posts https://www.ufried.com
71. Uwe Friedrichsen Works @ codecentric https://bsky.app/profile/ufried.bsky.social https://www.speakerdeck.com/ufried https://ufried.com/