Architect Tomorrow

Hosted by Oliver Cronk

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Jul 2026

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Architect Tomorrow is an independent, global network for enterprise, business and technology architects and tech-savvy leaders who believe architecture should actively shape a brighter future. Challenging hype, championing responsible innovation and holistic sustainability, and exploring how architecture and systems thinking can tackle the biggest challenges our organisations and society face. Independent by design. Honest, multidisciplinary and occasionally funny. Passionate about using architecture to make the world genuinely better, not just more automated? You're in the right place!

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July 16, 202657 min

The Recarbonisation of the Internet with Chris Adams

Chris Adams, Director of Technology and Policy at the Green Web Foundation, returns to Architect Tomorrow to unpack the first State of the Fossil-Free Internet report, subtitled The Dirty Data Centre Edition.We cover:00:00 Welcome and reintroduction02:00 The AMEE full-circle story: how Ollie and Chris first crossed paths in the late 2000s cleantech wave04:00 Why an annual report on the fossil-free internet, and why now06:00 Chris on "recarbonisation" as the real story of the last 18 months10:00 What actually counts as the "internet" for the report's boundary12:00 The hyperscale scale-up: from 25MW medium-sized to multi-gigawatt speculative projects15:00 Geopolitics, coal, and the Strait of Hormuz risk21:00 The biggest surprise in pulling the report together23:00 The Anthropic-Colossus deal: why moving fast means ignoring the laws26:00 "AI safety for whom?" and the sacrifice zone framing30:00 Brand safety as the practical route in for architects34:00 The SBTi scope 2 story, "May not Shall" lobbying, and the shift from zero-carbon to low-carbon43:00 "Surrender-based targets" and why gas lifecycle emissions matter46:00 The three levers: reduce demand, green the energy, democratise tech47:00 There is more than one way to architect AI: China, India, and the clock tower to wristwatch analogy52:00 Angry optimism, Wright's law, and why batteries are 45% cheaper year on year55:00 Data centre moratoria as meaningful policy56:00 CloseNote: This episode was recorded in May 2026, before the SBTi published the final Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 during June 2026. The "low-carbon electricity" framing Chris discusses did survive into the final standard, though with additional constraints on companies with rapidly growing electricity demand. Referenced in this episode:Green Web Foundation report: https://fossilfree.greenweb.org/2026/Green Web Foundation tools: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/green-web-check/ClimateAction.tech community: https://climateaction.tech/Green Software Foundation: https://greensoftware.foundation/Tech Carbon Standard: https://techcarbonstandard.org/Ollie's HM Treasury ID25 talk on balancing AI innovation and sustainability: https://blog.scottlogic.com/2025/11/12/balancing-ai-innovation-sustainability-hm-treasury-id25.htmlThere is more than one way to architect AI: https://blog.scottlogic.com/2025/02/21/there-is-more-than-one-way-to-architect-ai.htmlChris Adams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisadams-berlin/Oliver Cronk on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/cronkyNote that Oliver now works as a fractional chief architect and sustainable tech advisor at https://cronkadvisory.comArchitect Tomorrow is an independent, community-led podcast for enterprise, business, and technology architects. LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/architect-tomorrow-6864159042021949440/#GreenSoftware #FossilFreeInternet #EnterpriseArchitecture #SustainableAI #DataCentres #ClimateTech #ArchitectTomorrow

May 20, 2026Episode 459 min

Eddie Obeng on navigating complexity and challenging assumptions

Eddie Obeng's work was a foundational inspiration for Architect Tomorrow . His concept of " the world after midnight ", where the pace of change overtook our ability to learn and adapt, was a spark that helped shape the launch of this podcast and community. In this wide-ranging and characteristically fast-paced conversation, Eddie challenges assumptions about governance, sustainability, organisational design, and what it actually means to solve problems in a complex world.A note on this conversation: Eddie is a provocateur in the best sense of the word. He deliberately takes positions to their logical extremes to force new thinking. Some of his views, particularly on governance and government intervention, are intentionally challenging and don't necessarily reflect the views of this podcast. That's rather the point. As regular listeners will know, Architect Tomorrow has consistently advocated for well-designed governance as an enabler of innovation. We've included Eddie's perspectives here because grappling with uncomfortable ideas is how we sharpen our own thinking.Key TakeawaysFocus on patterns, not events: Events evaporate. The underlying patterns and causes are where architects should direct their attention. There are rarely more than half a dozen things that truly matter.Design for dynamic stability: Stop aiming for static target states. Build systems that are resilient and adaptive, like a spinning top in a bowl, not a vase on a table.Watch out for the wildebeest: Organisational momentum will trample new ideas. Use techniques that work with human psychology (like Issue, Data, Question, Build) rather than head-on confrontation.Scale governance to transparency: If people can't see what's happening, the system is too large or too opaque. Transparency is the foundation of healthy self-organisation.Decide to contribute: The most important architectural decision is personal. If you've decided you're there to contribute and serve, the rest becomes navigable.Engage people, don't just present solutions: Questions trigger engagement in ways that statements never will. Let others own the ideas and you'll get far more done than trying to do it all yourself.You can find Eddie's PETs (Performance Enhancement Tools), books, and more by searching for Eddie Obeng online, or connect with him directly.More information about QUBE: https://home.qube.cc/Get started on QUBE: https://home.qube.cc/registerSee also previous episodes and articles on related themes:Futuring Architectures with Ron Kersic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbqDsbgnq3QArchitecting Human-Centered AI with Selena Evans and Darryl Carr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98TWHbUjV6sAre We Sleepwalking into Tomorrow's AI Challenges? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-sleepwalking-risks-v2-including-automation-fallacies-oliver-cronk-bf6ee/

May 6, 2026Episode 330 min

Whatever Next? Making Transformation More Human with Lisa Woodall and Whynde Kuehn

Oliver Cronk recorded a conversation at Chief Architect Network London 2026 with Lisa Woodall, Author of Whatever Next?, alongside Whynde Kuehn, Author of Strategy to Reality. Massive thanks to Grant Ecker and the CAN community for having us. In a conversation that came full circle, three years after we discussed Whynde's book with Lisa on the panel, the tables turned as Whynde joined to discuss Lisa's new book and the Five Lenses of Transformation.From Blog to BookLisa's journey to authorship grew from a decade of blogging, 156 posts, over 100,000 words:"I thought there is something in all this lived experience which I can bring together and maybe help everybody in the technology world of enterprise architecture think a bit differently, think about being more human and more honest. Because that was conversations I was hearing in the corridors but I wasn't hearing in the technical discussions."The Five Lenses of TransformationThe heart of the book is five lenses: Reflect, Reimagine, Reframe, Rewire and Reconnect. Lisa was emphatic these are not another framework:"It's not a framework. It's not a process. It's stepping back sometimes as architects. Stepping back from the technical diagrams, stepping back from the technical conversations and reflecting on why we are where we are."She identifies Rewire as the core lens but Reconnect as the most important: "Why are we doing all of this stuff? We're doing it for people."Whynde distilled it: "This book brings us back to two things: intent and human."Ecosystem Thinking Beyond the EnterpriseLisa connected transformation to the broader ecosystem: "It's not about designing for our organisation, it's about designing for the ecosystem that we sit within and being sure of the consequences not just for us but also for the organisations that are part of our supply chain. Because they're often thought of last."The 98/2 SplitOn AI investment, Lisa was characteristically direct: "1.5 trillion being spent on AI. How much is going into the technology side and how much is going into that human capability side? I would say it's probably 98% on the technology and 2% on the human side. I think we've got to correct that."Key TakeawaysStep back from the technical. The Five Lenses offer a way to see transformation differently, not as another framework but as a practice of honest reflection.Bring different people into the room. Behavioural researchers, business analysts and other disciplines belong in architecture discussions.Get out of the building. Observe what people actually experience. You will think about your challenges differently.Design for the ecosystem. The consequences of architectural decisions ripple through supply chains and communities. Those ecosystem stakeholders are often involved too late.Slow down to let humans catch up. With $1.5 trillion flowing into AI, architects have a role in rebalancing investment toward human capability.How change feels matters. Create authentic spaces for dialogue, not mechanical change management.Links and Resources:Whatever Next? book and Five Lenses: whatevernextbook.comStrategy to Reality: strategyintoreality.comS2E Transformation: s2etransformation.comBiz Arch Mastery: bizarchmastery.comCronk Advisory: cronkadvisory.comChief Architect Network: chiefarchitectnetwork.com

April 8, 2026Episode 248 min

Governance Is Your Innovation Engine (If You're Doing It Right) with Grant Ecker

In a world where architecture teams are either feared gatekeepers or invisible bystanders, Oliver brings together a brilliant panel to ask a genuinely awkward question: is your governance framework actually helping anyone?Joined by returning regular guests Selena Evans (attorney and certified business architect, USA) and Darryl Carr (enterprise architecture leader, Australia), plus Grant Ecker, founder of the Chief Architect Network and currently leading architecture at Ecolab; this conversation cuts through the mythology around governance to find what actually works, and why so many organisations are getting it badly wrong.What we cover:Governance has a reputation problem. It's been cast as the process of no, the place where careers go to stall and innovation goes to die. But as Selena puts it, that reputation belongs to bad governance; and bad governance is unfortunately abundant. Good governance, by contrast, is a learning function, a memory function, and ultimately an alignment mechanism that lets organisations move with confidence rather than chaos.Grant brings the Chief Architect Network's five themes into sharp focus: principles-based over rules-based; enablement not gatekeeping; AI governance and risk controls; a holistic operating model; and versioned reference architectures with a sustainable baseline. The key insight? Governance should be tailored to where the organisation actually needs agility and where it needs control; and those are rarely the same place.Darryl cuts to the chase on the purpose of governance: it's decision support. Not making decisions for people, but equipping the right people with the right information to make better ones. The moment governance forgets that, it becomes the obstacle rather than the enabler.Then there's AI. Does it fundamentally change the governance game, or is it just the latest technology that review boards need to interrogate carefully? The answer, as ever, is both. The basics remain the same; understand the value, understand the consequences, align to strategy. But AI introduces a probabilistic dimension that rules-based governance simply wasn't built for. When a system might take unpredicted action, you need to think in what Grant calls "3D chess": governing not just what the system does, but how it learns to think and act.The group also tackles something rarely discussed honestly: how generative AI might actually improve the governance process itself. From using AI as a sparring partner before an architecture review board, to automating boilerplate documentation so architects can focus on the decisions that matter, the tools that governance boards are scrutinising may also be the tools that make governance more effective.Darryl closes with a reminder that cuts through all the complexity: "Architecture isn't really about the architecture. It's about people, relationships, and communication." If AI can free up time for more of that, we're probably heading in the right direction.Key themes:Why bad governance abounds and what good governance actually looks likeGovernance as a learning and memory function, not a compliance checklistThe Chief Architect Network's five themes for effective architecture governanceHow AI changes the nature of governance — and what stays exactly the sameFeedback loops, and why closing them is harder than it soundsUsing AI to improve the governance process itselfThe case for "AI in the loop" rather than "human in the loop"Connect with our guests:Grant Ecker and the Chief Architect Network: chiefarchitectnetwork.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/grantecker/Selena Evans: https://linkedin.com/in/selenaevansDarryl Carr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrylcarr/Oliver Cronk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cronky/

February 24, 2026Episode 127 min

Green IO London 2025 Conference Interviews and Highlights

We've created another special edition of Architect Tomorrow this time covering the 2025 Green IO conference in London. Whilst we couldn't capture everything, this episode gives you a taster of what was shared on the day - with interviews with some of the speakers and of course, Gael Duez! Massive thanks to Gael and the Green IO speakers for working with me on this episode - the main parts of this episode are as follows: 0:00 Gael Introduces Green IO and the London Conference 7:14 Amael Parreaux-Ey - CEO @ Resilio 8:22 Magali Saúl @ Sopht 10:00 Anne Currie - Keynote on AI 11:40 Mark Buss @ Ovo and Charlie Beharrell @ heata 13:49 Dryden Williams CEO @ CarbonRunner 17:17 Hannah Smith Director of Ops @GreenWebFoundation 19:36 Oli Winks @ Root and Branch 21:52 Ian Brooks @ UWE 23:37 Oliver Cronk - Recap of the networking panel 25:43 Gael closes the conference Links: https://greenio.tech/conference/15/london-2025-september Carbon.txt: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/tools/carbon-txt/ Tech Carbon Standard: https://www.techcarbonstandard.org/ Do check out https://greenio.tech/ for more details of the talks and upcoming podcasts and conferences by Green IO.

December 4, 2025Episode 657 min

Human centric AI architecture with Darryl Carr and Selena Evans

In a world drowning in AI announcements and breathless proclamations about technological transformation, Oliver brought together Selena Evans (attorney and certified business architect based in the USA) and Darryl Carr (enterprise architecture leader based in Australia) for an honest conversation about technology adoption (of course majoring on AI and its promises), human-centred design, and the role of architects in shaping a more sustainable future. Oliver also talks a little about what he sees as the future of enterprise AI architecture / adoption which aligns with his other recent content.The conversation included:- AI bubble concerns and economic unsustainability- LLM limitations- Business case challenges- Data management issues- Governance and regulation- Human-centered design- Future scenarios and planning- Architectural grafting- Polarization and politics- Hope and principlesKey Takeaways:- Challenge the narrative - The economics of current AI investments don't add up. Ask hard questions about ROI and business cases before committing resources.- Understand the limitations - LLMs are excellent at pattern matching and decision support, but they break down with complexity and drift over time. They're not a replacement for human judgment in complex scenarios.- Fix the foundations first - Data quality, system integration, and organisational structure matter more than ever. AI amplifies what you have—for better or worse.- Think ecosystem, not just enterprise - Look beyond your organisational boundaries to understand market dynamics, partnerships, and how transformation will ripple through your industry.- Embrace governance as an enabler - Well-designed governance unlocks innovation rather than constraining it. Build it into the architecture from day one.- Practice architectural grafting - Build on existing foundations incrementally rather than attempting wholesale replacement. Society and organisations need time to digest change.- Keep humans central - No technology can replace the hard work of building shared meaning across disciplines and worldviews. This is where architects add irreplaceable value.- Define clear principles - Architects provide decision support by bringing holistic awareness to conversations. Establish and apply principles consistently.- Take a breath - The pressure to act immediately is real, but timing matters. Sometimes waiting for maturity is the right call.- Maintain hope through action - The situation is complex, but people across disciplines are coming together in new ways. Your work matters.

September 8, 2025Episode 539 min

Zoology to Systems Thinking with Jenny Wilson, Chief Architect at Kingfisher

In this episode of Architect Tomorrow, Jenny Wilson, Chief Architect at Kingfisher PLC (the group includes brands such as B&Q, Screwfix, Castorama), discusses her journey from zoology and evolutionary anthropology to enterprise architecture. Jenny explains how her scientific background shapes her approach to technology ecosystems and covers: - Diverse backgrounds in architecture teams - Overcoming imposter syndrome in architecture careers - AI's environmental impact versus its benefits - Architecture as enablement rather than gatekeeping - Applying evolutionary thinking to technology strategy - Using Tech Carbon Standard at Kingfisher This conversation (recorded in May 2025) shows how ecological principles can inform better technology decision-making. #ArchitectTomorrow #SystemsThinking #TechArchitecture #TechCarbonStandard

June 16, 2025Episode 412 min

Green Software Engineering with Wilco at Voxxed Days Amsterdam

A conversation with Wilco Burggraaf, Principal Lead Green Software Engineering at High-Tech Innovators, exploring the practical side of green software engineering.In this episode, we discuss:How Wilco transitioned into sustainability after 20+ years in ITBuilding a 700-member Green Software Foundation meetup community in the Netherlands in just 8 monthsThe complex relationship between energy efficiency and compute efficiencyCreating tools to measure CPU utilization at millisecond resolutionWhy idle time and underutilization are the "forgotten things" in sustainabilityThe embodied carbon impact of development practicesHow AI is changing how companies think about software materialization in sustainability reportingPractical approaches to integrating green software tools into CI/CD pipelinesKey Points:- Not all code lines have equal environmental impact- The challenge of attributional vs consequential carbon accounting in serverless- Why "build to last" should be a core principle of sustainable software- How temperature impact on devices affects battery life and overall sustainabilityRecorded at VoxxDays Amsterdam, this conversation bridges theory and practice, showing how green software engineering is moving from research to real-world implementation.Links:https://www.hightechinnovators.nl/ (Dutch)https://www.meetup.com/green-software-the-netherlands/

May 30, 2025Episode 328 min

Why Data Centres Belong in Nursing Homes (Not Isolated Warehouses) with David from Leafcloud

In this episode, Oliver speaks with David Kohnstamm from Leafcloud about a fundamental shift in how we think about data centre locations. Forget remote warehouses - the future of sustainable computing lies in nursing homes, apartment complexes, and anywhere with constant heat demand.David reveals why traditional data centres waste enormous amounts of energy cooling servers, while distributed computing can turn that "waste" heat into free heating for communities. The key insight? It's all about matching your infrastructure to locations with 24/7 heat requirements.- Why nursing homes are perfect data centre locations (constant heat demand, 24/7 operations)- The fatal flaw with office-based edge computing (weekends, evenings, seasonal gaps)- How Leaf Cloud delivers servers that literally pay their rent with waste heat- Why PUE metrics actually reward throwing heat away- The difference between heat recovery that works vs. heat recovery that fails- Why hot water heating beats space heating for consistent demand- How distributed computing can scale to meet 50% of residential heating needsThe Bottom Line: Location strategy for data centres should follow heat demand patterns, not just connectivity or land costs. When you place servers where constant heat is needed, you solve both sustainability and cost challenges simultaneously.#SustainableTech #DataCentres #GreenComputing #HeatRecovery #DistributedComputing

May 26, 2025Episode 29 min

Using waste heat from data centres: Deep Green - Mark Bjornsgaard

Please note: We apologise for the audio and video quality in this episode - as Oliver mentions, "we're a bit hesitant here because we're kind of squatting in part of Tech Show London trying to record a conversation" - but we couldn't miss the opportunity to capture this discussion!In this episode of Architect Tomorrow, we catch up with Mark from Deep Green at Tech Show London to discuss their groundbreaking approach to data centre sustainability.Deep Green operates data centres with a crucial difference - they capture all the waste heat from computing and provide it free to industry and district heating systems. As Mark explains: "97% of the electrons that go into a computer come out as heat" - turning data centres into efficient electric heaters that serve dual purposes.Key topics covered:- How heat recovery makes data centres 20% cheaper to cool and operate- The role of AI and high-density computing in creating more waste heat- Why this model becomes economically attractive above 20kW per rack- The potential to heat 80% of the UK through district heating systems- The intersection of climate emergency and digital infrastructureMark shares insights on market adoption, explaining: "we're unfathomably cheap if you do this you just make yourself richer" and discusses how sustainability credentials combined with superior economics are driving customer interest.This conversation offers a fascinating perspective on how the AI revolution's power demands could actually accelerate decarbonisation efforts across Europe. 🔗 Learn more: https://deepgreen.energy🎯 Part of our ongoing series on sustainable technology and digital transformation#SustainableTech #DataCentres #GreenIT #AI #DistrictHeating #Sustainability #ArchitectTomorrow