Executive summary · One page

The digital backbone, on a page

For leaders who need the decision, not the detail. The full paper is a ten-minute read; this is the one-minute version.

The problem

Decades of point solutions have left a data estate that is expensive to run, slow to change and hard to trust. Every new question needs new plumbing.

The move

Stop buying tools. Build a backbone: one governed foundation that systems plug into once, and that analytics and AI build on safely.

The payoff

Lower run cost, faster answers, and a platform that is AI ready by design, not retrofitted later.

The architecture

Source systems
SAP, MES, apps, IoT
Middleware
event and API led
Databricks lakehouse
bronze, silver, gold
Data & AI
governed, agentic
Observability
Grafana

Two priorities

SAP to lakehouse

Free the data trapped in the core. Make SAP a governed source on the backbone while it keeps running the transactions.

Agentic AI

Once data is governed and live, the prize is software that can reason and act on the business, with guardrails and people in control.

The roadmap

AssessMap the estate and the value
EstablishStand up the backbone
MigrateOne domain at a time
DecommissionRetire legacy, bank the saving
RunOperate as a managed service

Want the detail behind the decision?

The full paper covers the architecture, the SAP path, agentic AI, observability and the pitfalls to avoid.

Read the full paper