In this interview series, we take an inside look at how enterprise technology leaders build systems that drive some of the largest and most complex business environments in the world. We meet the individual, understand their challenges, and learn about their vision of the future.

The Technology Leaders in this interview series have a considerable range of experience and backgrounds to draw upon, and provide some fantastic insights into the harsh realities of how we build truly digital enterprises of the future. From Startups, to Global Enterprises, from End Users to Consultancies, and within industries such as Finance, Media, Retail, Logistics, Automotive, Defence, Technology, even Public Sector.

There are some surprisingly consistent threads across all the interviews — showing that there is much we share despite the industry or type of organisation each of us may work in; yet each interview provides a wonderfully unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities we face, with insights and ideas that will expand your thinking of what it means to really solve the challenges that becoming a truly Digital Enterprise entails.

You’ve probably heard that creating extensive designs of your system upfront is a waste of time and effort. This idea is borne from the theory that in a world of agile iteration, you can develop your designs as you go and evolve an emergent architecture based on real-world feedback. I’m here to tell you: this thinking is naive and will do considerable harm to your delivery of enterprise systems.

The “Mastering Digital: Software Engineering Report” provides analysis of detailed feedback from Architects and Engineers about their work on software projects for organisations of all types and sizes.

Too often we can get transfixed on technology when we talk about architecture, agility, service orientation and platforms. But this is not what enterprises of the future do. They think of architecting their entire enterprise, not just technology, and they think of agility at every single level — what good is agile software development if the business operations are rigid?, and they think of building business systems around services that are realised by technology, people, process, and information. It is only when we truly think of the enterprise as a complete system like this do we make the future of enterprise possible.

Paul Schwefer is a highly experienced strategic thinker in the ways to create enterprise systems and deliver real change in highly complicated enterprises, and has been a top technology executive at several very large global organisations. His forward thinking has been refined over decades of implementing ideas based on what we now call Digital, Agile and Service Orientation. Ahead of his time in this thinking, and with many insights on getting enterprise transformations to really work, this is an interview you’re not going to want to miss.