AI Assistant for Enterprise Architects

LeanIX has recently launched their AI assistant for Enterprise Architects in beta. I am excited that I already had the opportunity to play around with this promising piece of technology! I think the introduction of this AI assistant is indicative for a broader trend among EA tool providers, as they recognize the potential of AI. Ardoq , for example, has also contributed to this conversation with an insightful piece on AI's impact in enterprise architecture. I am sure others will follow!

AI examples for Enterprise Architects

I used the current beta version of LeanIX AI assistant for inspiration. In the image below you can see the current capabilities of the AI assistant.

I think these capabilities can be classified in (more or less) four categories:

1. Do boring tasks and improve productivity
2. Automated Architecture research
3. Check compliance to standards and guidelines
4. Architecture recommendations

1. Do boring tasks and improve productivity

AI is incredibly well-positioned to provide valuable insights into the Enterprise Architecture landscape. For instance, it can assist in creating descriptions. Typically, when I fill out the applications landscape, I find myself visiting the vendor's website in 9 out of 10 cases, copying their description, and pasting it into my architecture description. All of this can be easily automated with the help of an AI assistant. AI can provide the EA team with more space to focus on truly important tasks instead of being burdened by (boring, sorry) administrative tasks.

2. Automated Architecture research

An important part of Enterprise Architecture is to define the target architecture. On occasion, multiple scenarios need to be considered. In the case of LeanIX, their assistant offers suggestions, such as potential successors for your existing applications. For instance, if you aim to replace your ERP system, the assistant can provide insights on interesting players in the market. Of course, it is always crucial to maintain critical thinking, but AI can undoubtedly help to accelerate the process. It also gives you insights into the lifecycle of, for example, applications and technology components. The assistant also actively searches for security incidents involving vendors within your architecture landscape. This aspect is particularly interesting as it offers automated risk management capabilities.

3. Check compliance to standards and guidelines

Currently, the AI assistant of LeanIX is capable of verifying compliance with the ISO 27001 standard. However, I foresee a future where you can define your own architecture framework or standards and request the AI to show compliance with those specific standards and guidelines.

4. Architecture recommendations

Current architecture recommendations given by the AI assistant are a bit obvious. It is important to acknowledge that this might be a result of insufficient data gathered about the architecture. Below you can see a example of what the AI assistants outputs when asked about architecture recommendations for SAP ERP:

I firmly believe that AI has the potential to unveil patterns within the architecture that help us forward. But for that we need to make sure to gather the right data about the architecture.

Exploring infinite possibilities with AI

Of course, I can’t predict what lies ahead. The LeanIX AI assistant has provided us with some insights into the capabilities of AI in the context of Enterprise Architecture. However, why not indulge in a bit of dreaming? Let's think of the possibilities that could potentially unfold in the future.

ChatEA: Enterprise Architecture Chatbot

Why not talk to your architecture documentation? What are my most important applications, what risks do we have within the top-5 critical business processes, which business capabilities are the most important given our objectives, what technology is redundant or where do we comply or not comply to our architecture principles? How awesome would it be to have a ChatEA-bot replying to these questions?

Automated AI diagramming

Maybe write prompts to automatically create certain diagrams / views of the architecture. Hey ChatEA create an overview of all SAP applications, the interfaces and data exchanges between other systems! I mean AI can generate a fake pope or images of explosions within the pentagon so why not some interesting architecture diagrams? 😅

Automated Documentation Generation

AI could automate the process of generating architecture documentation by extracting relevant information, analysing relationships between components, and producing comprehensive and up-to-date documentation. Oh my, would this be helpful for the EA team! 🤓

Intelligent Architecture Recommendations

AI could go beyond the current basic suggestions and provide intelligent recommendations for architecture decisions. It could analyze patterns, dependencies, and other characteristics of the architecture landscape to offer optimized and intelligent architecture recommendations.

Data-driven Enterprise Architecture

Before you can leverage the power of AI, you first need the right data. I believe it is the perfect time for Enterprise Architects to prioritize data collection and ensure the data is of high quality to provide meaningful insights. Although we cannot predict the exact impact AI will have on us, we can be certain that it will be a pivotal technology and will transform the way enterprise architecture operates. One thing we do know is that AI heavily relies on accurate and relevant data. Therefore, even if you are not currently utilizing AI, it is crucial to gather the right data to be prepared for the future.

Start today to make your EA practice more data-driven and ready for the possibilities that lie ahead!