Business architects, who seamlessly blend deep technology expertise with business acumen, are emerging as the ideal professionals to lead organizations through the complex and rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence. In an era where AI agents are proliferating across enterprises, these hybrid roles are no longer optional—they are essential. Along with a unique combination of business and technical skills, professionals looking to thrive in today’s economy must also demonstrate what one senior executive describes as a tenacious spirit and a tenacious personality.
The advice comes from Andrew Allan, senior vice president of financial operations for the CIO’s office at Siemens, a global technology infrastructure conglomerate with more than 250,000 employees. Allan, speaking at the recent Salesforce AgentForce event in New York, noted that IT implementations are no longer once-and-done operations. “There’s a lot of trial and error in new technology,” he said. “What do you want it to do? How do you want to embrace it?” Yet, he also made it clear that he does not see AI replacing technology professionals’ skills anytime soon at his company. Instead, AI augments human capabilities, creating new opportunities for those who can bridge the gap between business needs and technical possibilities.
Solving Business Challenges
At Siemens, a sprawling organization that provides digital and automation solutions to heavy industries, the emphasis is on solving real business problems rather than implementing technology for its own sake. The company actively seeks business architects and like-minded professionals who possess deep knowledge of the complexities of the business and the challenges the firm is trying to solve. These professionals must be able to translate those challenges into technological solutions. “When you start looking at what agents can do, you need people who can translate and decipher that,” Allan explained. He stressed that before breaking ground on any AI initiative, organizations need a clear idea of what they are doing, including user stories, ethical considerations, return on investment, and a solid business case.
Allan recognized that adding agents across the organization significantly increases complexity, which in turn demands sophisticated management skills. “You have to figure out what you want—what’s your north star? What do you want the technology to do? What’s the business problem you’re trying to solve? If you can ground your use cases in a business opportunity or business problem, that really helps you in how you apply the technology,” he said. This grounding prevents teams from getting lost in technical novelty and keeps the focus on value creation.
The Role of the Business Architect
Business architecture is an up-and-coming role that differs from traditional enterprise architecture. An enterprise architect typically focuses on applications and infrastructure for a technology roadmap, ensuring systems align with long-term IT strategy. In contrast, a business architect engages directly with R&D segments, the chief revenue officer, and pricing and packaging specialists. They ask questions like: “What capabilities are you looking for? What are our go-to-market strategies? What are our products?” They then synthesize that information to determine how the business direction aligns with the architectural roadmap, identifying complementary areas and potential tensions that need resolution.
According to Allan, a business architect normally requires a minimum of ten years of planning and analysis experience. In addition to some systems background, the ideal candidate possesses a broad background across different business sectors, with in-depth experience in at least one domain such as engineering, manufacturing, or planning. This depth of domain knowledge is precisely what makes business architects invaluable in an AI-driven environment, where understanding the nuances of a business vertical is critical to designing effective AI agents and workflows.
New Skills for New Demands
Siemens recently embarked on what it calls a “One Tech Company” strategy, aiming to blend digital and real-world technologies by integrating software, hardware, AI, and digital twins—both for internal operations and for customers. Allan described this as a way to “strap a jetpack on what we’re doing and really accelerate the growth that we seek.” The strategy underscores the importance of professionals who can manage the intersection of physical and digital systems, a space where AI agents are increasingly active.
Allan is not concerned that AI will consume technology jobs across his company. He drew parallels to earlier technological disruptions: “I’m old enough to remember when the internet was going to put libraries out of business, or the Y2K bug, or blockchain, or the next shiny thing.” However, he cautioned that AI could prove challenging in areas with high-touch horizontal processes. The solution is to identify low-hanging fruit where repetitive tasks can be automated—what he calls “agentification.” Examples include validating sales leads, extracting metrics from systems, and handling routine operational tasks. Automating these frees up employees to focus on higher-value activities.
The good news is that business architects and similar roles elevate human skills rather than diminish them. At Siemens, the emphasis is on encouraging professionals to develop deep domain knowledge from a vertical perspective. “AI can really enhance what we do,” Allan said, enabling a range of vertical processes from product design and development to deployment and manufacturing. By offloading mundane repetitive tasks, staff can concentrate on the jobs of the future: strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and overseeing AI-driven workflows.
Demand for Oversight and Change Management
Beyond business architects, professionals who can oversee user acceptance testing (UAT) are in high demand, especially as AI agents accelerate software deployments. Allan noted that skills for delivering change management are also critical, particularly “having people who understand the psychology of change.” These individuals can answer key questions like “What’s in it for me? What’s in it for my organization?”—questions that are essential when introducing AI systems that alter daily workflows.
Allan characterized the current business environment as “never normal,” where technology is outstripping organizational design and structure. He observed that some of the biggest challenges organizations face today stem from the fact that technology can do almost anything you want it to do. “The question is, from a human perspective, what you want it to do? And then how do you actually scale up your workforce to take advantage of it?” He expressed concern that technology is sometimes used to repave existing cart paths rather than build a brand-new highway that leads to previously unreachable destinations. The business architect’s role is to guide the organization toward that highway.
As the corporate world embraces AI agents and agentic systems, the need for professionals who can bridge business and technology will only intensify. Business architects, with their hybrid skill sets and deep domain expertise, are uniquely positioned to lead this revolution. They ensure that AI investments are aligned with strategic goals, that ethical considerations are addressed, and that humans remain firmly in control of the technologies they deploy. Siemens’ experience shows that the future of work is not about humans versus machines but about humans empowered by machines—and the business architect is the conductor of this new symphony.
Source: ZDNET News