Decision Systems & Architecture
The missing layer between data and action
Why enterprise architectures fail, why ERP and cloud migrations repeat the same gaps, and how to build systems of record for human judgment.
Foundational Reading · Start Here
Start Here 0113 Apr 2026
The 54-Centimetre Gap
McKinsey's April 2026 diagnosis is unusually honest. Operations functions are less prepared than they were in 2022. The prescription is the part worth talking about.
Read essayStart Here 027 Apr 2026
The Decision Layer Nobody Built
The largest study of chatbot use reveals that the most valuable AI conversations in enterprises are decision support. None of them are being captured.
Read essayStart Here 0320 Mar 2026
From Dashboards to Decision Traces: The Next Evolution in Enterprise Intelligence
Software engineering figured out that traces, not code, are the source of truth. The same shift is coming for enterprise decisions. Most leaders have not noticed.
Read essaySustained Arguments in this Theme
Architecture of Dissent
A series on decision infrastructure, organisational silence, and systems that make good decisions structurally likely.
Read the seriesThe Judgement Layer
On the missing layer of the enterprise AI stack: judgement graphs, decision support that actually supports decisions, and what happens when the layer starts thinking for itself.
Read the seriesExplore all 31 essays in Decision Systems(28 more)
28 Sept 2026Built for What Comes NextEvery company ages into an organisation built for its current advantage. Designing for what comes next means placing bets before their value is certain, keeping options that are cheap to preserve and expensive to recreate, and changing how capital, talent, data and authority move through the company. Agents make the last of these urgent.14 Sept 2026Harder to Catch Than a HallucinationAncient astrology was plausible because the sky really did shape daily life. The same slide from real pattern to confident story is happening now inside AI-assisted enterprise decisions, and a six-question discipline is the difference between organisational astronomy and organisational astrology.10 Jul 2026The Fuel You Design ForFrom an AMG V8 and octane ratings to India's ethanol mandate: what it actually means to design an engine for a fuel, and why a national fleet cannot be told that nothing changes.2 Jun 2026The Backdoor You Keep for Yourself"Better me than the alternative" is the whole case for trusting someone with a dangerous technology. It is also the one claim that can never be checked. On Hassabis, character, and why authorship beats authority.26 May 2026The Proof Gapjudgement-layerThree independent 2026 surveys converged on the same finding. The bottleneck is not the model. It is the institutional layer beneath it that an audit reads, and most organisations have not built one.23 Apr 2026The Math Under the AI BetUber's CTO told The Information that Claude Code blew through Uber's 2026 AI budget by April. The personal version of that math is already true for me. The macro version is the problem the industry has not priced in.16 Apr 2026The Difference BridgeIn December 2003, the Swiss site manager walked onto the half-built Laufenburg bridge and discovered it was going to miss its German half by fifty-four centimetres.3 Apr 2026When Trade Policy Moves Faster Than Your Decision ProcessTariff volatility is a decision problem, not a supply chain one. Organisations that compress signal-to-response time separate from those that absorb the cost.1 Apr 2026The Missing Layerjudgement-layerWhy the $6 Trillion AI Market Is Missing Its Most Valuable Layer27 Mar 2026S/4HANA Migrations Fail Before They StartA 2026 study of 200 SAP companies found the top causes are decision failures, not technical ones. Quality deficiencies are baked in months before cutover weekend.27 Mar 2026When S&OP Becomes Theater, and How to Turn It Back Into PlanningIf your plan can be ignored without consequence, you don't have a plan. You have a report.11 Mar 2026The Decision GapWhy deploying more AI into enterprises will make decisions worse, not better.3 Mar 2026When the Decision Record Thinks For Itselfjudgement-layerAfter enough years, a decision record holds more organisational cognition than any individual. That transition raises questions the field isn't ready for.17 Feb 2026Context Graphs Are About Judgementjudgement-layerThe trillion-dollar layer makes human decisions structurally better by capturing the reasoning behind them.12 Feb 2026Progressive Transparencyarchitecture-of-dissentHow to introduce decision intelligence without triggering the organisational immune response. The Trojan Horse model for structural change.10 Feb 2026Decision Coherencearchitecture-of-dissentThe real gap isn't analysis or data. It's alignment under uncertainty. On why continuous infrastructure beats episodic interventions.5 Feb 2026What if the System Could Dissent?architecture-of-dissentBuilding an infrastructure layer that amplifies the signals humans ignore. On designing systems for disconfirming evidence.30 Jan 2026How a Software Project Bankrupted a CityBirmingham's Oracle ERP failure wasn't about technology. It was about decisions no one can trace.29 Jan 2026The Silence Problemarchitecture-of-dissentWhy good people stay quiet in bad rooms. On pluralistic ignorance, asymmetric payoffs, and why culture alone can't fix structural misalignment.27 Jan 2026The Room Before the Roomarchitecture-of-dissentWhere decisions actually happen, and why the most important part of how organisations decide is completely undocumented.22 Jan 2026Thirty Years with The GoalHow a business novel from 1984 shaped a career and eventually became code.21 Jan 2026Enterprises Are ReadyThe 'we're not ready for AI' narrative is wrong. The real gap isn't capability. It's coherence.21 Jan 2026Strategy is an Operational VariableIf your strategy doesn't exist at the point of a micro-decision, you don't have a strategy. You have a wish list.20 Jan 2026Dashboards are Not DecisionsWhy visualization without decision infrastructure fails enterprises, and what we should build instead.2 Jan 2026Decision Quality in ChaosIn perfect conditions, the best-resourced team wins. In chaos, decision quality is the differentiator.4 Sept 2025ERPs Are Not Dying. They Are Evolving.Dismissing ERP overlooks its critical role in creating structured, contextual data. The future is ERP evolving into lighter backbones with adaptive agent layers on top.2 Sept 2025AI Adoption Is a Workflow ProblemThe companies succeeding with AI aren't the ones with better technology or bigger budgets. They're the ones willing to change how work gets done.20 Aug 2025AI and Supply Chain TransformationHow Agentic AI, Small Language Models, and Process Design will reshape digital supply chains. A three-part exploration.