All courses / Architecture as Code / Module 7 / Chapter 25
Learning objectives
After the lesson the participant can:
- Describe the technology drivers the chapter identifies and their implications for architecture definitions.
- Name the three post-quantum standards published by NIST and the purpose of each.
- Explain carbon-aware scheduling and how it can be expressed in infrastructure provisioning decisions.
- Assess an organisation's future readiness in terms of adaptive capabilities.
Key concepts
- Predictive scaling
- The use of historical datasets and machine learning models to anticipate capacity requirements and scale resources before demand spikes occur, one of the ways AI turns reactive infrastructure into proactive ecosystems.
- Post-quantum cryptography standards
- The first three NIST standards: ML-KEM (FIPS 203) for key encapsulation and key establishment, ML-DSA (FIPS 204) for digital signatures, and SLH-DSA (FIPS 205), a hash-based signature scheme that gives diversity against advances in lattice-based attacks.
- Carbon-aware scheduling
- Shifting compute-intensive workloads to time periods and regions with cleaner energy mixes, using real-time carbon intensity data from electricity grids to guide infrastructure provisioning decisions.
- Digital sovereignty
- Control over data residency, privacy and supply-chain risk. The chapter asks teams to codify residency rules and approved EU providers, and points to initiatives such as Gaia-X that provide federated infrastructure frameworks.
- Adaptive capabilities
- Flexible architectures, modular codebases and automated testing that create a foundation able to absorb new paradigms with minimal disruption. The chapter recommends investing in these instead of relying on individual technologies.
Interactive exercises
Do them here and get feedback at once. Choose a card and then where it belongs, or drag it.
Interactive exercise 1 · Match
European initiatives and bodies
Match each European initiative or body to the role the chapter describes for it.
Interactive exercise 2 · Scenario
Planning the move to post-quantum cryptography
Read the situation and choose what the chapter's reasoning leads to. Each choice gives feedback.
Teaching plan
| 15 min | Teacher presents the four emerging technology drivers: AI and machine learning, quantum computing, edge computing and sustainability. |
| 15 min | Group work on one driver each: what would have to change in an architecture repository today to be ready for it. Short reports. |
| 10 min | Teacher covers platform engineering, FinOps and GitOps evolution, sovereignty, and the two implementation strategies for future readiness. |
| 25 min | Exercise: a future-readiness assessment with a hybrid cryptography and a carbon-aware element. |
| 10 min | Plenary on balance: experimentation with governance, automation without neglecting ethics. |
Discussion
- The chapter says AI services may propose or execute configuration changes. Where would you draw the line between proposing and executing in your own estate, and who decides where it lies?
- Why does the chapter recommend hybrid patterns that combine classical and post-quantum algorithms during the transition?
- What would it take for carbon accounting to become an operational concern in your organisation and not an annual report?
Written exercise
Exercise · 25 minutes
A future-readiness assessment
Assess your own organisation's architecture practice against four drivers from the chapter: AI-assisted automation, post-quantum cryptography, sustainability and digital sovereignty. For each driver write what the organisation does today, what an architecture definition would need to express to be ready, and one adaptive capability (modularity, automated testing, observability) that would make the change cheap. For cryptography, list where algorithms are fixed in your definitions and how they could be made exchangeable. For sustainability, describe one workload that could be scheduled by carbon intensity and the data it would need. Rank the four drivers by urgency and give one reason for each rank.
Deliverable: A four-row readiness table with current state, required expression in code and enabling capability, plus a ranked list of the drivers with reasons.
Self-test
Choose an answer to see whether it is right, or open the answer below each question.
Which NIST standard does the chapter name as the primary algorithm for key encapsulation and key establishment?
Show the answer
A. ML-KEM, standardised as FIPS 203
ML-KEM (FIPS 203) is the primary algorithm for key encapsulation and key establishment. ML-DSA (FIPS 204) and SLH-DSA (FIPS 205) are signature algorithms.What does the chapter recommend investing in to prepare for the future?
Show the answer
C. Adaptive capabilities: flexible architectures, modular codebases and automated testing
Preparing for the future requires investment in adaptive capabilities rather than reliance on individual technologies, so that new paradigms can be absorbed with minimal disruption.What does carbon-aware scheduling do, as the chapter describes it?
Show the answer
D. It shifts compute-intensive workloads to times and regions with cleaner energy mixes
Carbon-aware scheduling shifts compute-intensive workloads to time periods and regions with cleaner energy mixes, using real-time carbon intensity data.