Traditional customer journeys are becoming obsolete. The Intelligent Customer Interaction (ICI) system represents the future of personalized engagement—a sophisticated framework that targets content based on each customer's unique profile, history, and real-time objectives.

Marketing automation is evolving rapidly, and as Arjen Bonsing explains, businesses must adapt to customers' increasing expectations for personalized experiences across all touchpoints. The approach requires fundamental shifts in how organizations measure success, moving from aggregate metrics to individual-level scorecards that track engagement, lifetime value development, and interaction frequency. These metrics feed algorithms that deliver precisely targeted content at the optimal moment.

The implementation framework consists of six interconnected "gear wheels" starting with ID and privacy considerations, then expanding to content targeting, organizational orchestration, KPI frameworks, IT infrastructure, and ultimately transforming business models. What makes this approach particularly powerful is how it begins with the customer experience and works backward to define the necessary organizational changes. Rather than lengthy planning cycles, companies can start with collaborative "user stories" that involve all stakeholders—from marketing and IT to legal and compliance—creating shared ownership of the personalization strategy.

Technology plays a dual role in this transformation—not merely as an enabler but as an accelerator, with AI and large language models creating new possibilities for human-like interactions. This evolution inevitably impacts business models, as companies discover opportunities beyond their traditional offerings. For business architects, marketers, and customer experience professionals, mastering this framework represents both a significant challenge and a tremendous opportunity to differentiate in increasingly competitive markets.

Ready to transform your approach to customer engagement? Join Arjen Bonsing's comprehensive course on the Intelligent Customer Interaction framework. Register at https://netherlands.iasaglobal.org/ and be part of the personalization revolution that's already reshaping customer experiences worldwide.

Unlock the keys to preventing IT disasters and security breaches with insights from Charles Betts, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester. Charles shares his expertise on the vital role of architecture in modern enterprises, highlighting the crucial need for informed, strategic decision-making. Discover why more companies are rejuvenating their architecture units and how these roles are pivoting from outdated ivory tower practices to becoming pivotal in driving organizational success. This episode promises to equip you with a deeper understanding of the professionalization of architecture and its growing significance in engaging senior leaders in meaningful business conversations.

We also explore the revolutionary product-centric operating model through the lens of Haier's micro-enterprises. Learn about the balance between internal and external customer focus and the potential pitfalls of a governance-heavy mindset that stifles innovation. Our conversation underscores the indispensable role of architects in shaping organizational design and the practical application of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for aligning business outcomes with project deliverables. This engaging discussion is packed with actionable insights that every architect and business leader needs to hear.

Join forces with me, Paul Preiss, and the visionary program architect Stefano Bianchini, as we navigate the lesser-known seas of orchestrating monumental transformations within sprawling organizations. Unlock the secrets behind the title of a program architect, a role that's often cloaked in mystery, yet pivotal in steering projects that ripple through every business unit, shouldering immense budgets and expectations. Our dialogue ventures beyond the typical architect's blueprint, drawing from my tenure as a chief architect, and aligns with Stefano's astute observations on how these strategic roles are instrumental in charting the course for enterprise-wide evolution.

As we thread through the labyrinth of specialization in technology architecture, we illuminate the vital role of mediating between the tech gurus and the corporate chiefs. Hear firsthand how to cultivate a deep reservoir of technical wisdom, while mastering the art of shaping intricate tech jargon into narratives that resonate with those who sit at the head of the table. We'll share war stories of battling imposter syndrome and forging a path to become trusted advisors—valued for our ability to influence pivotal executive decisions and advocate technology as a cornerstone of business strategy. Stefano and I examine how the journey of a program architect, although not eternal, leaves indelible marks on the canvas of an organization, intertwining with the expertise of enterprise architects, domain specialists, and beyond.

Have you ever wondered how architecture can be made inclusive, or how artificial intelligence could assist an architect? Prepare to have your curiosity satiated as we chat with the esteemed Simon Field from RDoC, who leaves no stone unturned in the realm of architecture. He takes us on an intriguing journey through the SARM system, his association with Volkswagen in Germany, and the fascinating concept of architecture as a service that will change your perspective on how you view architectural design.

We unravel how the power of graph models can make architecture accessible to everyone by visualizing data and giving us a shared picture. Simon also enlightens us on how AI can be our ally in identifying patterns, and how architectural thinking can be applied to IT systems, service design, and even business model design. This episode is a blend of innovation, creativity, and intelligence that emphasizes how technology has revolutionized the world of architecture.

This episode is a goldmine for:

• Architectural Design Thinking: How it's revolutionizing the industry.
• Vendor Tools: The gap between what's available and what architects truly need.
• Architecture as a Service: Simon's innovative vision of breaking down architectural processes.
• Machine Learning in Architecture: The untapped potential of AI and machine learning.
• Stakeholder Management: Navigating the complex world of stakeholder communication.
• Digital Transformation: The pivotal role of architectural thinking.

As we conclude, Simon shares his three golden rules for success in architecture: automating tasks to save time, harnessing the power of AI technologies, and engaging others in architectural thinking. We also discuss the battles many architects face with existing tools and the idea of creating a toolset exclusively for architects. 


Don't miss this unique opportunity to gain valuable insights from a revolutionary in the field and elevate your architectural thinking. Buckle up for an enlightening ride into the future of architecture with Simon Field.

Marc Lankhorst as a leader in architecture tools is an an expert on his customer needs. This episode of The Argument was filled with useful discussions about the future of Bizzdesign and the techniques finding the most success with architecture teams. Wonderfully detailed conversations on business capabilities, services, processes and how they relate to each other.

In this interview we dig into business and technology and the amazing work that Brian Cameron is doing at Penn State between the business and information technology schools to create a comprehensive framework for architecture. Building on his successes with FEAPO and the masters in architecture curriculum, Brian is forging new roads into both business and architecture. 

Digging into engineering and architecture again with Stephen Cohen, Chief Architect and CITA-D. Had a great conversation about the nature of engineering vs architecture including design, teams, scope management and communication.

Had another amazing interview with a top-tier architect from Microsoft. In this episode we focus on the nature of Cloud Native applications in both socio-technical and transactional systems. The interview covers topics in Cloud, Mult-cloud, Strategy, Quality Attributes and engineering principles. This is part 1 of a two part series. 

Customer engagement is one of the most important aspects of our current methods for understanding value in digital innovation and advantage. In this episode, we discuss what customer engagement means and how to get into your customer's heads using empathy and personas.

How do we know architects are architects? Why does the industry continue to have such collisions in definitions, direction, and roles if architecture is so important to continual outcomes? This two-part continuation of the architecture mashup series provides insight into a murky topic area in search of answers. 

Architect Tomorrow - https://youtube.com/ArchitectTomorrow/ 
Business Architecture Straight Talk https://bit.ly/st-podcasts / https://bizarchmastery.com/straighttalk 
Consultants Saying Things - https://www.consultantssayingthings.com 
The Argument by IASA - https://iasaglobal.org/Public/Connect...
Tech After Five - https://www.techafterfive.com/

Standardizing the Architecture profession is too big a topic for one episode or even one podcast (or one book author for that matter!), which is why this episode will be broken into two 25 min segments. 

Whilst Oliver Cronk leader of Architect Tomorrow hosted the first mashup episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Q5y2o6JWU) with Paul Preiss (CEO IASA), Chris Lockhart (CST), Whynde Kuehn (Straight Talk), Phil Yanov (Tech After Five and CST). 

Join me on the Argument where we find and fix things.

How do we know architects are architects? Why does the industry continue to have such collisions in definitions, direction, and roles if architecture is so important to continual outcomes? This two-part continuation of the architecture mashup series provides insight into a murky topic area in search of answers. 

Architect Tomorrow - https://youtube.com/ArchitectTomorrow/ 
Business Architecture Straight Talk https://bit.ly/st-podcasts / https://bizarchmastery.com/straighttalk 
Consultants Saying Things - https://www.consultantssayingthings.com 
The Argument by IASA - https://iasaglobal.org/Public/Connect...
Tech After Five - https://www.techafterfive.com/

Standardizing the Architecture profession is too big a topic for one episode or even one podcast (or one book author for that matter!), which is why this episode will be broken into two 25 min segments. 

Whilst Oliver Cronk leader of Architect Tomorrow hosted the first mashup episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Q5y2o6JWU) with Paul Preiss (CEO IASA), Chris Lockhart (CST), Whynde Kuehn (Straight Talk), Phil Yanov (Tech After Five and CST). 

Join me on the Argument where we find and fix things.

I had the honor of talking with Len Bass in this episode of the Argument. Leonard Joel Bass is an American software engineer, Emeritus professor and former researcher at the Software Engineering Institute, particularly known for his contributions on software architecture in practice. His most famous title is a book almost all architects have read Software Architecture in Practice, and his other books are just as essential to the modern architect! 

In this session Len and I discussed modern architecture approaches with an eye towards design rigor and sustainability, but with a realistic view of similarities and differences in architecture complexity and design today. As one of the first authors I ever read as an architect this was a real pleasure for me! 

In this interview I met with Simon Brown, international speaker and trainer and author.  Simon is the author of Software Architecture for Developers; a developer-friendly guide to software architecture, technical leadership and the balance with agility. He is also the creator of the C4 software architecture model and the founder of Structurizr, a collection of tooling to help software teams visualise, document and explore their software architecture.

In this episode we dig into C4, domain driven design, software architecture methods and both little and big a agility. If you are hoping to design better software, you cant miss it. 

 I had a great time discussing Domain Driven Design and Architecture in Agile. We found a huge amount of commonality with solution principles and business value while diving deeper on bounding contexts, capabilities and strategy. Nick is an amazing writer, speaker and author and writes regularly on medium at https://medium.com/nick-tune-tech-strategy-blog. 

 In this version of the Argument we get into Agility, agile delivery, and agile architecture at scale. Scott Ambler is the co-founder of Disciplined Agile (DA), which was acquired by Project Management Institute (PMI) in August 2019. The DA tool kit is the world’s only comprehensive agile body of knowledge (BOK) that provides straightforward and practical guidance to help individuals, teams and enterprises choose their “way of working” in a context-specific way. Together, PMI and DA offer a unique and unparalleled value proposition to stakeholders who are committed to improving their personal, team and enterprise agility. In addition to his work on the DA tool kit, he is the creator of the Agile Modeling (AM) (AgileModeling.com) method and Agile Data (AD) (AgileData.org) methods. He have also (co-)authored several books, including Choose Your WoW!, An Executive's Guide to Disciplined Agile, Disciplined Agile Delivery, Refactoring Databases, Agile Modeling, and The Elements of UML 2.0 Style. 

The  software or solution architect often comes from an engineering background. In this episode Cormac Keogh and Paul Preiss speak about the relationship between engineers. In a true argument the case of engineers, teams and architects. Can or should an engineer be the architect for a product/project? The team? Is there a difference between a titled architect and engineer? How do they work together?

In our research over the years one of the most critical paradoxes is the continued confusion over the boundaries between architect, engineer and developer. I separate these into three even though there is no industry-wide adoption of particular boundaries. For the purpose of this argument think of developers as self-taught and focused on smaller problems (no I don't mean title I mean competency!), engineers as trained and mentored but focusing on systemic structural elements and architects as outcome driven, trained and mentored creative and innovation focused with strong overlaps in depth skills with their counterpoints at certain points but with a focus on breadth and rounded out competencies. 

This is a bit of a rough episode where the group committee is discussing the architecture of tomorrow for our upcoming BIL-T conference on Nov 11. “They say the best way to predict the future, is to create it.” 

The theme for our 11th of November event is The Architecture of Tomorrow. We have many hints at what the future will look like, but what will it mean with smartphones, IoT sensors and 5G everywhere? Can we truly exploit all of the data and technologies we are developing today? 

This conference will fast forward to envision what the future might hold for organizations and individuals, across different industries and technologies. We will then explore what it means to the workforce and the Architects of Tomorrow, as organizations look to these professionals to turn their visions into reality.  

Join us to explore how to deliver tomorrow’s world.  

In this episode I got to get into some really exciting discussions with two leaders in architecture transformation and leadership. This was an off the cuff discussion of how to create a true business impacting architecture practice, how to become a transformational chief architect and how to help organizations manage change in a dynamic business environment. We discuss the qualities of bringing architects together, shared interactions between business and solution architects and how to grow a practice that delivers on the promise of digital. Their will be lots more from these two amazing speakers and women in architecture. 

Whynde Kuehn is the Founder and Managing Director of S2E Transformation, helping organizations bridge the gap between strategy and execution. Whynde has extensive experience in enterprise transformation and planning and is a passionate advocate for using business architecture to enable effective strategy execution and digital transformation.  

Eva Kammerfors is an experienced enterprise and business architecture practitioner specialized in architecture management and governance, change leadership and business and IT transformation. Eva is a Senior Advisor and owner of network organization Teama AB, where she acts as a mentor and leader in companies and organizations using architecture as a tool for digital transformation. Eva is an engaged speaker in the chief architect community, trainer in business and IT architecture and certifies Chief Architects at the Computer Society. 

I have been fortunate enough to know Grady Booch for almost 20 years and I have always remained a fan. Without his advice Im not sure how far Iasa would have come. This interview was as great a conversation as always. In it we cover a lot of territory. We start out with understanding architecture, software and engineering. And in a very candid way get to know what it is like to be an industry leader at the top of his game in 'A day in the life of Grady', we dicuss AI and ethics, and what Grady calls embodied AI which is a term I think will catch on as we edge nearer and nearer to general AI. We also discuss engineering techniques, and Grady's coming book on Software Architecture. Pattern languages applied to all sorts of scenarios. This is a MUST listen episode for anyone wanting to be a modern architect. 

Grady Booch is an American software engineer, best known for developing the Unified Modeling Language with Ivar Jacobson and James Rumbaugh. He is recognized internationally for his innovative work in software architecture, software engineering, and collaborative development environments.

I have been fortunate enough to know Grady Booch for almost 20 years and I have always remained a fan. Without his advice Im not sure how far Iasa would have come. This interview was as great a conversation as always. In it we cover a lot of territory. We start out with understanding architecture, software and engineering. And in a very candid way get to know what it is like to be an industry leader at the top of his game in 'A day in the life of Grady', we dicuss AI and ethics, and what Grady calls embodied AI which is a term I think will catch on as we edge nearer and nearer to general AI. We also discuss engineering techniques, and Grady's coming book on Software Architecture. Pattern languages applied to all sorts of scenarios. This is a MUST listen episode for anyone wanting to be a modern architect. 

Grady Booch is an American software engineer, best known for developing the Unified Modeling Language with Ivar Jacobson and James Rumbaugh. He is recognized internationally for his innovative work in software architecture, software engineering, and collaborative development environments.

In this episode Gabriel Gomane covers agile scaling with just in time architecture. He covers large corporate environments and the difficulties in making agile and architecture work together. 

In this episode I caught up with Ted Neward, an old friend and the first speaker at an Iasa conference many many years ago! We discuss agility and architecture as well as dig into what makes effective engineering teams, devops and much more.

Ted Neward is sometimes referred to as "The Dude of Software", owing to both his remarkable (some say frightening) resemblance to the Jeff Bridges character from "The Big Lebowski", and his ordination as a Dudeist Minister of the Church of the Latter-Day Dude, but he's also been called the "Dr. Gregory House of Software", owing to his tendency to pull no punches when talking about software and how to deliver it successfully. He's comfortable answering to either title, as well as a few others. He's familiar with more programming languages than most people knew existed, and hasn't found one yet that he couldn't turn into a 'mission-critical' application when asked. He is currently the director of technology at Quicken Loans. 

In this episode I caught up with Ted Neward, an old friend and the first speaker at an Iasa conference many many years ago! We discuss agility and architecture as well as dig into what makes effective engineering teams, devops and much more.


Ted Neward is sometimes referred to as "The Dude of Software", owing to both his remarkable (some say frightening) resemblance to the Jeff Bridges character from "The Big Lebowski", and his ordination as a Dudeist Minister of the Church of the Latter-Day Dude, but he's also been called the "Dr. Gregory House of Software", owing to his tendency to pull no punches when talking about software and how to deliver it successfully. He's comfortable answering to either title, as well as a few others. He's familiar with more programming languages than most people knew existed, and hasn't found one yet that he couldn't turn into a 'mission-critical' application when asked. He is currently the director of technology at Quicken Loans.