The enterprise architecture and business architecture professions face a disturbing paradox. With certifications surpassing 100,000 worldwide and the architecture market valued at $1.44 billion, we have never had more certified practitioners. Certified professionals commanding 25% higher salaries. There are more certified practitioners in the market than ever, and architecture certifications have grown substantially worldwide over the last decade. Yet stakeholder satisfaction with the relevance, usability, and impact of architecture recommendations remains weak, reinforcing a growing concern that credentials are increasing faster than practical competence. The certification industry has created a gold rush, but what are practitioners actually learning?

That is not a coincidence. It is the predictable result of a profession that has overinvested in exam performance and underinvested in actual skill development.

Enterprise Architecture (EA) and Business Architecture (BA) are at a similar crossroads. Most organizations are still using an architectural “assembly line”: long sequences of phases, hand‑offs, documents, and exams that were designed for a slower, more predictable world. These legacy, exam‑centric certifications, methodologies, and frameworks add steps and artifacts, but struggle to produce architectures executives actually use to run and change the business.

The Enterprise Architecture Center Of Excellence (EACOE) and The Business Architecture Center Of Excellence (BACOE) represent the modern alternative. They are not “another framework” running down the same line. They are the architecture equivalent of Ford’s assembly tree: a new way of producing outcomes, built around a small number of powerful, reusable components that can be combined quickly to solve real business problems.

That model is no longer good enough. The next era of Enterprise Architect and Business Architect certification must move away from exam-centric credentialing and toward practitioner-based professionalization grounded in evidence, judgment, and demonstrated delivery.

That is precisely the problem space Enterprise Augmented Intelligence (EAI™) was designed to address. And it is the space EACOE and BACOE have been working in for more than fifty years.

Now, there is truth in that. Years of fragmented systems, inconsistent definitions, and patchwork reports really are catching up with us. AI will expose every weakness you have buried in your data.

But if you take that message into the C‑suite or the boardroom, and you lead with “data debt” and “process standardization,” you will lose the audience that matters most.

Today, I want to reframe the issue. Your biggest AI problem is not data debt. Your biggest AI problem is executive relevance.

The real issue: multiple versions of the truth.

Not old thinking. Not wrong thinking. But thinking that was right - sometimes brilliantly right - and then calcified into doctrine.

Look up at the sky. Something remarkable just happened in space.

Blue Origin flew New Glenn - their massive, orbital-class rocket - for the third time.
And they flew it on a booster they already landed and refurbished. The same first stage. Flying again.

That is not a space story. That is a legacy story. And yes, there was a glitch on cargo release.

The exact same pattern is playing out in enterprise architecture and business architecture right now. The certification became the thing itself. Organizations stopped asking whether the certification and framework served the mission - and started asking whether the mission was being performed according to the certification and framework. Do not keep flying Atlas V missions in a New Glenn world.

The new paradigm is not coming. It has arrived.

The only question left is whether your organization will be the one catching up - or the one leading the way.

This is precisely why EACOE matters. The Enterprise Architecture Center Of Excellence provides the disciplined, practitioner-based framework required to turn scattered, inconsistent, under-governed enterprise data into an architecture that AI can trust, interpret, and scale against. The EACOE AI Data Modeling Master Class operationalizes that discipline by teaching organizations how to build the semantic, governance, and modeling foundation that production-grade AI now demands. This broadcast is based on the work of Joanne Carew titled How poor data foundations can undermine AI success, CIO – April 17, 2026

You roll out of bed, scroll through overnight emails, open at least six tabs of frameworks you will only partially read, warm up yesterday’s coffee because the meeting starts in five minutes, and think…Maybe today I will finally fix that capability model.

Because let us face it - every good architect knows their day does not really start until they have had that first cup of caffeine.

And speaking of coffee - let me share something interesting that caught my attention.

Despite what your friend who refuses to drink anything, but single‑origin pour‑over might tell you, becoming a real coffee expert is not easy. And oddly enough, that is a problem for Wall Street.

Starbucks may be on every corner, but qualified coffee graders - the folks who certify bean quality for the commodities market - are in serious short supply.

According to the Wall Street Journal, these graders endure a brutal three‑stage competency program: a written exam, a three‑hour coffee grading session, and then a live tasting in front of proctors, identifying defects right down to the bean.
Miss one - and you start over.

Only five to eight percent pass. That is tougher than passing the California bar exam – or any EA or BA exam I have seen.

And it got me thinking: imagine if our industry had that kind of rigor.

In Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture, too many certifications promise instant expertise.

Take TOGAF®, for example - you memorize a framework, pass a multiple‑choice test, and suddenly you are called “certified.”

Or the Business Architecture Guild’s® CBA® certification - memorize definitions, answer questions, check a box.

It is like calling yourself a coffee grader because you can tell the difference between a cappuccino and a macchiato.

Look, learning theory matters. But real-world skill does not come from picking the right answer on a multiple-choice exam - it comes from building, evaluating, and adapting.

That is why I sometimes say: certifications that only test recall create “credentialed beginners.” You may have sixty percent of the vocabulary, but not the muscle memory.

And that is exactly where EACOE and BACOE take a different approach.

It shows up as overlapping platforms, programs that cannot finish, and “strategic” projects that quietly die after burning millions. The surprising culprit: ten everyday EA/BA words that your organization thinks it understands - but does not.

When these words are fuzzy, your architecture is fuzzy. And fuzzy architecture is expensive.

Today, that makes ontology not just a theoretical idea, but one of the most valuable, underused skills in the AI job market – and a critical success factor for serious Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture work.

What an Ontology Really Is: Kinds of Things Together and Their Relationships In information and computer science, an ontology is a formal description of knowledge in a domain – the kinds of things (concepts/classes) and the relationships between them. It is more than a glossary; it is a structured model of meaning that both humans and machines can use.

Today I want to talk about something touchy in the Business Architecture world: the difference between belonging to a club and practicing a discipline. Specifically, the world of the Business Architecture Guild® and its BIZBOK® Guide on one side… and BACOE, the Business Architecture Center Of Excellence, on the other.

You can create the most comprehensive model in the world, using the fanciest tools... But if stakeholders do not find it of value it will remain in the architects hands and remain shelfware.  Have a listen for the success keys

BUT?  What is the BUT?  These focused applications cost money – yes, it is not free.  Quite simply, real Best Practices cost money and are not on the internet.  Best Practices cost money in all areas of our activities, and the same is true for AI and its training data. This is a great development!

We discuss this and more in our podcast.

IT leaders are learning that running applications in the cloud costs more than doing so on-premises, & adds complexity & security concerns not fully appreciated in the “rush” to the cloud, leading them to rethink strategies, & bring applications back in-house.

We outline our EACOE Enterprise Architecture analysis approach on rationalizing cloud/in-house strategies.

Watch and see the presentation: https://www.architecturescoe.org/resourcesall/processvisualization-75sn8-lz977

Luke and his team are especially adept at creating product launch strategies at a wide variety of ecommerce sites.

We will get an understanding of Luke’s approaches to managing organizational change in his digital businesses.

Let's think about a library and library science. What makes libraries work? Three things: The Dewey Decimal System, the consistent state of facts in the library, and finally, the librarian.

Benefit from experience with organization changes leading to true advantages. Digital Transformation - the hard part is the human part. Not theory - hands on practice.

The "traditional" organization chart tells very little about how the organization actually functions. We describe innovative techniques to address Organizational Transformation.

He shares why he chose the EACOE Workshop and Certification over other alternatives, how he went from completing the EACOE Workshop to real implementation by Monday morning, and the concrete business results that followed: faster, cleaner decision-making, a clear three-year roadmap the business actually understood, and stakeholders who finally felt like architecture was working with them, not to them.  Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/74lfKxzP8lw ABOUT: The Enterprise Architecture Center Of Excellence™ (EACOE) and the Business Architecture Center Of Excellence™ (BACOE) provide a universal understanding and competence forum on Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture for General Management, Technologists, Academicians, and Practitioners interested in implementing Enterprise Architecture or Business Architecture. We are practitioner-based firms advancing the Enterprise Architect and Business Architect profession, discipline, and base of understanding - since 1972.

- More on Enterprise Architecture: www.EACOE.org

- More on Business Architecture: www.BACOE.org

We define what artificial intelligence is, then summarize both positive & negative developments in this field. We suggest there is madness that needs to be addressed, and with not much difficulty.

We have decades of learning about artificial intelligence. But can machines really learn, & who & what are they learning from?

We can't forget the phrase “garbage in, garbage out”? Can we move to “good stuff in, better stuff out”? Yes!

Customer data is the most valuable asset a company has. Customers use reviews as a way of deciding which company to do business with. Data & customer information allow companies to hyper-target their marketing message. Of course, underlying all of this is a concern with privacy.

The path is clear. The path is logical. It is really not complicated. Yes, it is probably a bit different than what you are doing now. Organizations are embarking on this approach and change. It will not be done “next Monday morning”. Fundamentally, what is the “change”? Stop writing computer software and start assembling software. Why would there be resistance? Change – change is hard. We will lay out the path.

We have all been there - staring at an opportunity that feels just out of reach. Maybe it is the next career move, a new certification, launching that business idea, or stepping up into leadership. The first thought that comes to mind? “Can I afford this?

But here is the truth most people never calculate: staying where you are, has a cost too - it is just hidden.

We review what Strategy is – we focus on this word, & what it actually means. It's more than implementing a new technology! We look at this approach enabling an organization’s strategy, especially in this age of continuous change & the hypercompetitive environment we're in.

My thoughts quickly moved to thinking about complexity and those that revel in it. Is there such a thing as “complexity bias”? Is it, for some, a measure of progress?

In this episode, we will explore complexity and complex. They are different!

People are passing multiple-choice exams… or cramming through a sixteen-hundred-page framework manual, and then being told, Now, go modify it. Customize it for your organization.

Modify it? Before you have ever used it? Based on what? That is not mastery. That is madness.

To make them real, convert each principle into a SMART goal plus 1–3 hard metrics. 

Now you can wire that into governance (architecture reviews, portfolio decisions, roadmaps) and report progress quarterly. At that point, it stops being a poster on the wall and becomes a scoreboard the business can hold EA accountable to.  Let us explain why Architecture Principles faded away in the 1990's - let us not go backwards in time.

No one wants a series of endless “sprints” not knowing where the goal line is. You want to know what your end-state objective is, how to get there, & how to identify capabilities. No one really wants a set of intellectually entertaining models but to analyze potential mergers or acquisitions of a competitor & determine the degree of “fit”.

That is a Business Outcome Driven Enterprise Architecture.

All facets – the business, associated technologists & solution developers, as well as human resources in & out of the enterprise are affected.

We explore the phrase itself, & underlying meaning well beyond taking shortcuts in writing & implementing software & computer applications. Technical debt is less visible & often easy to ignore.

We provide an understanding of what is actually required to move from strategic intent to measurable actions and roadmaps.

Greenspan’s words warned of a human tendency - collective overconfidence - when belief outpaces evidence. It describes markets, but really, it describes us. Fast-forward nearly three decades, and you will hear the same energy around artificial intelligence: limitless potential, intense speculation, and a sense that this is the future.

How do you have the unique meanings when you essentially have a running database?

Good Data comes before Big Data - we will explore how to get there. It requires Enterprise Architecture.

This emerging reality does not begin with new technology. Technology enables a series of business and mission-aligned initiatives to move the organization to its next state.

Various groups approach the concept & practice of Business & Enterprise Architecture from differing value points. We emphasize a documented, human consumable, prioritized, architecture which is evergreen, ever-robust, & evolves.

Business & technology advantages arise, as solutions through these methodologies & approaches are developed & deployed. We outline additional advantages of Solutions driven by Architecture.

A BTP is different from business analysis, technologists, or business/enterprise architects. They can rationally balance short & long term business & technology needs & goals. They can balance between human communications & technology awareness.

We outline our approach to Process Visualization. We review the benefits & challenges surrounding process understanding, & outline field-proven approaches to obtaining these benefits. We also outline the methodology we use in practice, to guide these efforts.

We outline the eight phase process we use to guide these efforts. The savings from this effort are real & straightforward.

Sam Holcman, who started his career in 1972 when it was all called “Data Processing” (spoiler: we are still just processing data), shares the hard lessons from 50+ years of watching silver bullets come and go.

The pattern is brutal and consistent: every one of these darlings was proposed, hyped, taught, certified, and implemented - only to be displaced by approaches that were more understandable, more human-consumable, and actually usable by decision-makers.

If your favorite framework, tool, or “AI-powered” platform vanished tomorrow… would your strategy still stand?

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: Your objective is enabling enterprise and business strategy. Everything else - every methodology, modeling tool, or framework - is a means to an end, never the end itself.

This is a manufacturing concept called Mass Customization.

We must realize in information technology solutions, that no matter how quickly we write software, it is handcrafting. We will never be able to meet individual requirements.

Watch the original presentation on this link: https://www.architecturescoe.org/resourcesall/cyber-security-root-cause-analysis-the-state-of-the-practice

Root Cause Analysis has been a component of Total Quality Management (TQM) for some time. We bring this long-effective and tried approach to one of the biggest concerns to organizations – Cyber Security. This broadcast will outline the suggested approach to this analysis process and then provide insight into what we have found to be (at least one important) the root cause of the continually growing cyber threats. Tune in to this vitally important broadcast.

There is no known, as of this broadcast date, list of data sources that any of the AI engines are being trained on.  What does that mean to the AI “consumer”?  Maybe we need a different approach to how to train these AI engines.

We will bring some method to right-source without madness! We will use the EACOE Enterprise Architecture Methodology to outline a logical process to bring clarity and logic to these crucial decisions. The focus of any of these decisions should be to enable the Business or Mission Strategy, in the most cost effective, and prudent manner.

But, the reaction of most organizations is reactive & crisis driven. We must look at approaches for developing resilient organizations to anticipate the next disruptive event.

We bring understanding to the more common ill defined, or not defined consistently, terms you may read about or deal with, in your day to day activities.

Ken outlines a perspective that is unique & logical - one half the economy can be characterized as stable and one half the economy characterized as variable – each requiring move-ahead approaches in their own way.

How do you address both short & long term issues & opportunities? In the short term, identify areas for optimization, while understanding the effects in future operations.

We outline a two-week Enterprise Architecture Immersion approach that identifies short-term prioritized opportunities for cost optimization, & sets the stage for the eventual return to normalcy.

Enterprise Architecture 5.0 is here now. See more on Enterprise Architecture 5.0: https://www.eacoe.org/enterprise-architecture-5-0

ABOUT:

The Enterprise Architecture Center Of Excellence™ (EACOE) and the Business Architecture Center Of Excellence™ (BACOE) provide a universal understanding and competence forum on Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture for General Management, Technologists, Academicians, and Practitioners interested in implementing Enterprise Architecture or Business Architecture. We are practitioner-based firms advancing the Enterprise Architect and Business Architect profession, discipline, and base of understanding - since 1972.

- More on Enterprise Architecture: www.EACOE.org

- More on Business Architecture: www.BACOE.org

In this broadcast, I want to challenge the status quo: It is not “AI-powered strategy” that drives transformation. It is strategy-powered architecture - built through proven Enterprise Architecture (EACOE) and Business Architecture (BACOE).

This Broadcast provides some valuable insight and questions you need to ask, as you take this rollercoaster ride.  Fasten your seat belt and be sure you also have a tight harness.

The field appears so irregular because academia, publications, consultants, and practitioners, present IT practices with disparate voices advancing a multitude of approaches, meanings, and sets of expectations—some based on internet writings, some based on conjecture, some based on opinion and yes, some based on sound practices.

Watch the original presentation: https://www.architecturescoe.org/resourcesall/optimizing-and-streamlining-it-for-business-agility

This presentation includes fact-based descriptions and approaches for "digital transformation" and "agility," which are grounded in sound practices and principles based on decades of field engagements and experience.

"Digital Transformation" is the investment and alignment of optimized or new business models with technologies that best engage customers. This places additional demands on the business technology organization.

Couple this with the recognition that these transformations may involve process (both business and technology) transformations, changes in the business model itself, "cultural"/value realignments, and organization transformations, and the "IT business model" will at least need a review!

The pressure on IT to deliver technology-enabled change to the business can be looked at negatively or as an opportunity to really bring agility to the business through agility in technology delivery. How can IT leaders actually bring this about?

This broadcast will bring some insights into both business agility and technology agility – tune in to see how.

Questions include, education topics, food, housing, money, learning access, feedback, social interactions, & the “new” academic life. We will gain insights “from the trenches” on what works, & what needs improvement.

Pressures are coming from a number of directions, & focus is easily lost and replaced by motions & actions that substitute for planned actions and strategies. Focus, consistency, coordinated actions, & efficiencies are more important “in the now”, yet we need explicit representations we can view & act on.

Yes, unfortunately, a short-term focus is a necessity at this hour- how to succeed in the here & now.

We apply out-of-the-medical-box thinking to this crisis situation. Let us take a brief time-out from the media driven hype & hysteria-focused analysis & see if we can provide another frame of reference for those professionals working to help us through the crisis.

Your Enterprise Architecture is a strategic asset, and must offer strategic value in several aspects. Assess your existing information to determine how well your EA is positioned to provide these values. A thorough, fair & objective assessment will get you there.

Underlying maturity level three requires two concepts and underlying technologies. Change, displacement, new learnings, and reward systems are all part of the equation, which makes people uncomfortable – and resistant to change.

We outline what is required & the skill-sets required to bring Business Outcome Driven Enterprise Architecture to your organization. Join the movement to Business Outcome Driven Enterprise Architecture.

Studies show the low self-reported beliefs on how good the data actually is. Millions of dollars are spent each year on technologies to “clean up” the data organizations are using. It's time to step back & realize that data issue doesn't require technological magic.

To remove some confusion, some are calling REAL EA, Business Driven Enterprise Architecture.

What do we really have to understand about software? What should business expectations be about engaging in developing software? Do we need to describe their needs, that are 'transformed' into their described requirements?

We describe 10 things that demystify software development, the business' role in the software development lifecycle, & how to build a true business-technology relationship.

We define the methodology for developing a REAL Business Architecture (BA) – one that is “human consumable”. Identify the Business Capabilities you need to move your organization to its desired state, through analysis rather than declarations!

REAL Business Architecture is the enabler of Business Capabilities. Business Capabilities are the true result of REAL Business Architecture driving business to its desired state.

We define a four-phase methodology of developing a REAL Enterprise Architecture – one that is “human consumable.” This methodology has been practiced, taught, & implemented in organizations large & small. Get the essence of developing REAL Enterprise Architecture in this episode.

We bring method to this madness. REAL EA is the enabler of Business Strategy. Building computer systems – Enterprise Information Technology Architecture – is different!

The 2020’s & beyond businesses & enterprises require a full capacity to take on new & novel actions in response to new & changed circumstances. It's the ability of the business and its enabling technologies to deal with variance.

Have you asked technology execs how they plan to address increases in competition, increases in the speed of change, & the ease of which customers can change their loyalty?

NASCIO provides state CIOs and state members with products and services designed to support the challenging role of the state CIO, stimulate the exchange of information and promote the adoption of IT best practices and innovations.

Our philosophy is to provide the audience with insights that can provide true value to organizations and individuals that face today’s and tomorrow’s competitive pressures, and provide a usable takeaway from each broadcast.

School closures led educational institutions to scramble to move instruction to an online format. We get insights from real students on this new reality.

Topics include basic education topics, food, housing, money, learning access, feedback, social interactions, and the “new” academic life.

Since 1980, they approached Federal Government contracting in a different way, and are not the stereotypical beltway bandits! RG combines leading-edge capabilities in management and technology with a seasoned understanding of clients’ missions.

Starting with this objective is key. In the physical world, look at the Ring doorbell – warn me before someone enters the house, rather than telling me someone is in the house. This comes from REAL Enterprise Architecture. Security is a Business Strategy first - not only an implementation technology concern.

We will cover the good stuff & gotchas - some obvious & some hidden. The upsides of the cloud are pretty well discussed, documented, debated, and advertised. The gotchas, not so much!

We will provide you with a framework to think about both sides of the equation, to allow you to possibly make more informed decisions.

Groups approach the concept & practice of these from differing value points. We emphasize a documented, human consumable, prioritized, architecture which is evergreen, ever-robust, & evolves.

Business & technology advantages arise, as solutions through these methodologies & approaches are developed & deployed.

Your brain was not designed to drink from this firehose.

Critical Ignoring means fighting the instinct to “consume everything” and instead curating a very small set of sources.

This article is based on an outstanding article titled “Why Software Fails” by Robert N. Charette, in IEEE Spectrum, December 2025.

You have probably heard the old saying “software is eating the world.” But what happens when software eats itself?

In this episode, Sam Holcman breaks down 39 distinct online personas that dominate LinkedIn, Twitter, and professional communities - from the signal-boosting trusted advisor to the humblebrag hero and the engagement farmer. This is not about shaming individuals; it is about sharpening your discernment in a noisy, performative digital landscape.

The challenge is simple: look at who you follow and ask, “Is this person helping me think more clearly, act more wisely, and deliver more value?” Time is precious. Aim it at high-integrity, trusted advisors - not at the loudest voices in the feed.

In this episode of Real Talk, Sam Holcman unpacks why LLMs are fundamentally flawed as a foundation for serious enterprise decision-making - and walks through a live example of confident, credible, and completely wrong AI output.

The takeaway is simple and uncomfortable: the answer is not “more prompts” or “more tokens.” The answer is to stop blindly feeding the generic LLM machine and start building your own Enterprise Augmented Information™ (EAI) - an architected, governed data backbone that combines processing power with actual context and understanding, on your terms, for your enterprise.

Clark Keller, of Data Driven Marketing, gives us unique insights into marketing in the digital age.

This paradigm shift, from crafting each solution from the ground up to assembling from a menu of well-defined options, underpins modern approaches to both dining and enterprise technology.

Realize that it is larger than just China – today’s place to finger point.

It is time to point to Artificial Intelligence Vendors as the greatest Intellectual Property Terrorist threat in the United States.

We outline our approach to understanding processes – Process Mining that leads to a Business Process Warehouse. We review benefits & challenges, & outline field-proven approaches to obtaining benefits. We will also outline the methodology used to guide efforts.

• In: Practitioner-based paths that validate portfolios, scenarios, workshops, and demonstrable outcomes - certifying that you can architect, not just that you can pass an exam.
• Out: Credentials earned solely by scoring above a cutoff on multiple-choice exams, which increasingly fail to differentiate between memorization and actual capability.