In this rapidly evolving world where the pace of change is continuously accelerating, the need for effective decision-making leading to valued outcomes is paramount. Enterprise architects can greatly benefit from extending their skill set to include decision intelligence, decision contribute in a major way in such a context with the ongoing mastery of new and critical knowledge and skills.  Below are some such areas enterprise architects should expand their skill sets to be able to provide the essential value added for transformative initiatives:

1. Decision Intelligence and Decision Engineering: Decision intelligence and decision engineering provide enterprise architects with a structured and systematic approach to decision-making. By incorporating these disciplines, enterprise architects can better analyze complex decision chains, model decision processes, and design decisions that align with organizational goals. This extension allows enterprise architects to contribute to the improvement of decision-making practices within their organizations, addressing the challenges of complexity and uncertainty.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML): AI and ML technologies offer powerful tools for analyzing vast amounts of data, identifying patterns, and generating insights to support decision-making. By acquiring skills in AI and ML, enterprise architects can leverage these technologies to enhance their ability to make informed decisions based on data-driven insights. They can understand the potential applications of AI in various domains, assess the impact of AI on business processes and architectures, and guide the adoption of AI solutions within the organization.
3. Data Governance and Management: With the increasing reliance on data for decision-making, enterprise architects should develop skills in data governance and management. They should understand the principles of data quality, privacy, security, and ethics. This knowledge enables them to establish frameworks for data governance, ensure compliance with regulations, and promote responsible data-driven decision-making practices.
4. Integration of Decision Models and AI Solutions: Enterprise architects can play a crucial role in integrating decision models and AI solutions into the overall enterprise architecture. They can design architectures that support the integration and interoperability of decision models and AI algorithms with existing systems and processes. This includes considerations such as data integration, system scalability, performance optimization, and security.
5. Continuous Learning and Adaptability: In a rapidly changing environment, enterprise architects need to cultivate a mindset of continuous learning and adaptability. They should stay updated on the latest developments in decision intelligence, decision engineering, AI, and related fields. This includes actively seeking knowledge, participating in relevant communities of practice, attending industry conferences, and exploring new approaches and technologies that can enhance decision-making capabilities.
6. Strategic Thinking and Business Alignment: As enterprise architects extend their skill set to decision intelligence and AI, it becomes crucial to maintain a strategic focus and align decision-making practices with the overall business strategy. Enterprise architects should be able to identify high-value decision areas, prioritize initiatives, and ensure that decisions and AI solutions align with the organization’s goals, values, and desired outcomes.

By expanding their skill set to include decision intelligence, decision engineering, AI, and ML, enterprise architects can contribute to more effective decision-making, strategic planning, and value creation within their organizations. They become increasingly more visible and valuable partners in guiding digital transformation initiatives, enabling data-driven insights, and leveraging emerging technologies to achieve desired outcomes in an increasingly fast-paced and dynamic business landscape. Of course, tool vendors targeting enterprise architects will have a large role to play in supporting 2024 EA in providing the increasingly simple and ubiquitous toolkits for facilitating the integration of the above skills into the transformation workflows.

By Alex Wyka, EA Principals Senior Consultant and Principal