The Enterprise Alchemists

Dominic Wellington & Guy Murphy — SnapLogic

The Enterprise Alchemists is a new podcast for Enterprise Architects to have honest and in-depth conversations about what is relevant to our world. Expert guests provide additional context on the topics of the day in Enterprise IT.Your hosts, Guy Murphy and Dominic Wellington, are Enterprise Architects at SnapLogic, with more decades of experience between them than they care to admit to, and the stories that go with it.

  1. 10/21/2025

    From SOA To Composability: Why Now Is The Time For Composable Architecture

    Composable architecture isn’t a buzzword; it’s the overdue upgrade to lessons we learned the hard way in the SOA era. We share a pragmatic path from heavyweight standards and ESB monocultures to API-first, domain-driven systems that actually deliver reuse, speed, and resilience across cloud and on-prem. With guest Brad Drysdale, we map the shift from monoliths to distributed services, the rise of REST and gateways, and why a discovery-led mindset matters more than any protocol. We dig into the techniques that make composability real: treat API contracts as products in their own right, with owners, roadmaps, and strong versioning; build a living catalogue that developers can trust; and use domain-driven design to create bounded contexts that align services to business language. We talk openly about governance debt, API sprawl, and the trap of point-to-point integrations disguised as microservices. Then we connect the dots to modern DevOps — Kubernetes, Terraform, and infrastructure as code — showing how to run heterogeneous, multi-cloud estates without drowning in complexity. Now AI raises the stakes. Agents need secure, reliable access to knowledge and tools; contracts machines can interpret; and guardrails that earn trust. We compare REST and OpenAPI to emerging agent-to-agent standards like MCP, and explain why the future likely builds on today’s contracts rather than replacing them. Finally, we explore vibe coding’s next act: vibe orchestration, mapping intent to capabilities letting AI assemble outcomes from a curated service catalogue. The takeaway is simple: composability scales when you fund shared capabilities, measure adoption, and make reuse the default. If this sparked ideas for your stack or strategy, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and get in touch with your questions and suggestions. Your stories and challenges shape what we explore next.

    39 min
  2. 01/20/2025

    Legacy System Integration: Modernization with AI Innovations

    Can outdated systems silently threaten the very core of your business? This episode, Guy and Dominic welcome the expert insights of Simona Todoroska from IWConnect to discuss the pressing issues surrounding legacy system integration and migration. Simona sheds light on how the historical reluctance to engage with legacy systems has created significant challenges for modern enterprises. We dive into the critical need for businesses to reevaluate their existing technologies to ensure they are future-ready, scalable, and secure. The conversation also delves into the risks of neglecting modernization, emphasizing how catastrophic failures in outdated systems could lead to dire consequences. The discussion dives into the complexities of migrating from legacy systems to modern integration platforms, highlighting the challenges enterprises face when clinging to outdated technologies. Through real-world examples and a discussion on the importance of automation and AI in the migration process, we present practical strategies for successful transformation. • Exploring the tension around updating legacy systems  • Understanding the risks of relying on outdated technology  • Discussing the role of automation in migrations  • Demonstrating the significance of the analysis phase  • Introducing AI agents Pete and Alex for improving documentation  • Highlighting the NL2SQL functionality for user empowerment  • Emphasising the importance of upfront analysis for success Pete: https://iwconnect.com/virtual-assistant-pete/ Alex: https://iwconnect.com/alex-virtual-storytelling-agent/  NL to SQL: https://iwconnect.com/natural-language-to-sql-generator/

    32 min
  3. 01/13/2025

    Transforming Integration with Creative User Experiences

    Matthew Holloway, Head of Global Design at SnapLogic, joins Guy and Dominic to unravel the complexities of designing user-centered enterprise integration platforms. Matthew shares strategies for presenting complex data to diverse user expertise levels, and some of what he has learned from how SnapLogic's groundbreaking tools, Iris and SnapGPT, are redefining data pipeline creation. In design as in tech, it turns out to be critical to pinpoint the right problems before rushing to “solutioneering.” With the buzz around generative AI and its often-misaligned expectations, the discussion sheds light on managing these through the design hypercycle. Matthew emphasizes fostering collaboration through rapid prototyping, involving key stakeholders to ensure solutions are not only creative but also viable and aligned with organizational objectives. Here are some of the topics discussed in the episode: • User-centric information architecture and its complexities  • The challenge of designing for varied expertise levels among users  • SnapLogic’s proactive design approach and its unique tools  • Insights on co-innovation and collaborative problem-solving  • The journey through the generative AI hype cycle  • Transition from prototypes to fully realised products  • Emphasis on personalisation and user agency in design decisions  • Understanding the importance of making critical information accessible  • The future of design through generative AI personalization Resources that were mentioned: Generative UX: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/generative-ux-matthew-holloway-2rvyc/Cognitive Architecture: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cognitive-architecture-matthew-holloway-zfpleFind more details and a full transcript on SnapLogic's Integration Nation community site.

    32 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

The Enterprise Alchemists is a new podcast for Enterprise Architects to have honest and in-depth conversations about what is relevant to our world. Expert guests provide additional context on the topics of the day in Enterprise IT.Your hosts, Guy Murphy and Dominic Wellington, are Enterprise Architects at SnapLogic, with more decades of experience between them than they care to admit to, and the stories that go with it.