Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve seen or heard headlines about the AI revolution with tools like ChatGPT and Bard, powerful and disruptive technologies already revolutionizing work today. You may even wonder how AI could disrupt architecture in years to come. But this transformation isn’t looming on some distant horizon; it’s here. Every enterprise architect should learn AI today. Here are five reasons why:

1. AI is already being integrated across every segment of IT. Today’s AI technologies are already disrupting the business processes and systems your business utilizes. It’s essential to embrace this change and be a part of the transformation or risk being left behind.
2. Architecture analysis is already changing. Decision sciences are converging with the architecture profession. Today architects are expected to keep up with and be able to use new technology to help the organization solve business problems.
3. There are about to be fewer architects. This year’s State of Architecture Survey shows that two-thirds of working architects are slated for retirement in the next ten years. As architects reach the end of their careers, there is not a large enough pool of new architects ready to take their place, and a shortage is predicted in years to come. Those left will be expected to do more with less and leverage AI technology to make their work more efficient.
4. There are near endless possibilities when you integrate AI with enterprise data analytics. You’re undoubtedly already hearing today about leveraging ChatGPT and the things it can do. But imagine what can happen when you tie that in with an enterprise data set, adding capabilities like advanced analytics, forecasting, simulation, and risk modeling. This integration will have the most significant impact on organizations. And if you’re not learning AI now, you won’t be ready for those capabilities when they arrive in the next couple of years.
5. Big data will need more robust tools. As our State of Enterprise Architecture revealed, architects are often limited by the toolset they are most comfortable working with, and, as a result, much of the architecture analysis is being done manually, either within architecture modeling tools or even Excel. These more than manual methods will not be able to handle the sheer size and complexity of the data the architects will be working on within the next few years.

Whether it’s transformations already occurring in IT, the size and complexity of data, or the need for robust tools to help fewer architects do more with less; the AI revolution will impact the practice of architecture soon. It’s essential that architects learn as much as they can about these technologies now to be better prepared for tomorrow’s disruption. To learn more about how architects are working today and how this shapes the future, download the results of our 2023  State of Enterprise Architecture Survey.