Welcome to Software Architecture Insights!

Software Architecture Insights is your go-to resource for empowering software architects and aspiring professionals with the knowledge and tools required to navigate the complex landscape of modern software design. SAI provides invaluable insights into crucial aspects of software architecture, including cloud computing, application security, scalability, availability, and more.

Whether you're a seasoned architect looking to stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends or a prospective software architect eager to build a strong foundation in this dynamic field, our platform is here to guide you in making informed decisions that will shape the success of your software projects. Join us on a journey of discovery, learning, and mastery as we delve deep into the architectural principles that drive innovation and excellence in the world of software.

The New Reality of Software Development: AI's Impact on Code Quality

By Lee Atchison | September 17, 2025 | Artificial Intelligence, Complexity, Software Development

Welcome to the first episode of the Software Architecture Insights new podcast! The landscape of software development has notably transformed in 2024, with 62% of developers now leveraging AI in their workflows. While this integration has significantly boosted productivity, it has also raised concerns regarding code quality and complexity. The discussion reflects on findings from the recent 2025 GitClear AI Code Quality Research report, which analyzed over 211 million lines of code and reveale…

Read more >

AI Hype vs Application Reality: How Architects Can Keep Their Products on Track in 2025

By Lee Atchison | August 13, 2025 | App Architecture, Artificial Intelligence, Tech Trends

It's 2025. AI is no longer a novelty. It’s a fact of life. Generative AI models have matured, multimodal systems can process text, images, and speech relatively seamlessly, and AI-powered copilots have found their way into developer tools, office suites, and even design platforms. And yet… the hype hasn’t gone away. If anything, the AI hype is getting louder. Every product launch announcement now must include a phrase like “Now with AI!” Investors want to know what your “AI strategy” is. Com…

Read more >

Get Rid of Your Users — The Role of Transactional vs Experiential Applications

By Lee Atchison | June 30, 2025 | App Architecture, Best Practices, Software Development

Not all applications are created equal. Some are built to process transactions and maintain state, while others focus on delivering content, data, or experiences to users. For software architects and engineering leaders, distinguishing between these core application types is critical for making sound decisions about scalability, infrastructure, security, and data management. Why? Because how you design, build, construct, and operate your application is different based on your customer use pat…

Read more >

Less is More: The Principle of Least Privilege

By Lee Atchison | June 03, 2025 | App Architecture, Best Practices, Security

Another critical principle in maintaining a safe and secure application running in the cloud is understanding the Principle of Least Privilege. The Principle of Least Privilege is an industry-standard security principle widely known to reduce the impact of bad actor attacks. The idea behind the principle of least privilege is to: 1. Grant an entity the minimum permission it absolutely needs to perform its operations. 2. Grant no more permissions than that. This principle applies to cloud infra…

Read more >

Architecting AI Prompts: A New Skill for Modern Developers

By Lee Atchison | May 15, 2025 | App Architecture, Artificial Intelligence, Best Practices, Tech Trends

If you’ve ever spoken out to your iPhone and said “Hey Siri, what’s the weather in Seattle, WA”, or spoke to an Amazon Echo device and said “Alexa, turn on the bedroom lights”, you’ve given an AI a set of instructions for it to execute. You’ve given an AI a prompt. In the Alexa case, the phrase is converted from an audio snippet into text, and that text is sent to an AI system — Amazon Alexa in this case — for it to determine the desired actions. The output of that process is a set of actions …

Read more >

Fortress in the Cloud

By Lee Atchison | April 16, 2025 | Best Practices, Cloud Adoption, Security

As modern applications grow more complex and valuable, their security becomes increasingly critical. Yet many organizations still operate with a flat security model—one breach and attackers gain access to everything. This approach is like building a house with a reinforced front door but paper-thin walls. How can you improve your application security to reduce your risk of attack? Use isolation zones. Isolation zones aren’t just a best practice—it’s the difference between a minor security incid…

Read more >

Who’s Responsible? Understanding the Principle of Shared Responsibility

By Lee Atchison | March 24, 2025 | Best Practices, Security

Both you and your cloud provider have a critical role in keeping your application safe. It’s a principle of security known as the Principle of Shared Responsibility. It describes a model for assigning ownership of various security aspects between the cloud provider and you. It’s a principle that has been championed heavily by AWS, but it applies to all cloud providers in all situations. The key to the principle is an agreed-upon set of responsibilities for keeping the application safe for eac…

Read more >

Beyond the Tab Key: The True Value of Human Developers in an AI World

By Lee Atchison | March 10, 2025 | Artificial Intelligence, Complexity, Software Development

The software development landscape has shifted dramatically. In 2024, a whopping 62% of professional developers use AI in their development process. This has done wonders for the productivity of an average software developer, and has led many people to assume this means that either we need fewer software developers or, more likely, we can get more and better software developed with existing staff. However, there are issues with this shift. Last year, I read and loved the 2024 GitClear AI repo…

Read more >