Twenty years in IT, most of it in the financial sector – ING, HSBC, Vodeno. For over a decade (and still wanting more), he has been an Architect. Currently, at BNP, he combines “fire and water” by handling the roles of Chief Architect and Product Owner simultaneously. His main goal is to bring value to people from the “business side,” “hard IT,” and all other corners of the corporate world. Is it working? – Life will verify. He follows and utilizes new trends and technologies but still writes his bio personally, of course, after checking how ChatGPT handles it.

Architecture as a Product: is it possible for enterprise architects to be really agile?

Enterprise architects are the cornerstone of a company. Their decisions must be well thought out, all alternatives thoroughly described, and every recommendation will impact the company's foundations for many years to come. They must be the bastion ensuring that all units within the company move consistently in the right direction...

Yeah, sure – keep dreaming, enterprise architects, and don’t get in the way of others doing their job. 🙂

Unfortunately, in many places/companies, the conflict between Agile and Enterprise Architecture remains unresolved. It’s difficult (maybe even impossible) to reconcile fire with water—the independence and fast pace of Agile with the long planning and strict enterprise-wide governance from EA. But it's worth trying.

I will show how we approached the topic of agility in the architecture unit at BNP. Was it possible to reconcile quick and iterative action with small increments in a place where, by definition, every task is long and every step requires numerous discussions and deliberations?

How do we influence the organization as a whole while respecting the independence and accountability of each product and product owner?

And what have we, as enterprise architects, managed to adopt from Agile tools and methods, and where did we experience a false start?