Original Gangsters of Strategy Execution with Vernon Smith (Episode 5)
- Ben Chamberlain
- Dec 26, 2025
- 3 min read
The latest episode in the Original Gangsters of Strategy Execution series just dropped!
In this series on the Strategy eXecution Unlocked podcast, Ben Chamberlain sits down with the true pioneers who've shaped the strategy execution space—industry analysts, authors, founders of management consultancies and software companies, and of course seasoned practitioners.
In episode 5 of the OGs of Strategy Execution Ben Chamberlain interviews Vernon Smith, a veteran Business & Enterprise Architecture leader, former global bank architecture head, and founder of Gartner-recognized EA tool vendor FIOS Insight. Vernon is currently CIO & Co-Founder of GlobeArc Software a next-generation SaaS platform that unifies Business Process Management and Enterprise Architecture to deliver strategic clarity and operational alignment.
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Vernon traces his decades-long journey from early data and information roles in oil & gas and defense, through pioneering large-scale operating model and transformation programs, to building commercial BA & EA tooling that bridged the gap between Business Architecture and traditional IT-centric Enterprise Architecture.
Key themes and takeaways:
Business Architecture and Enterprise Architecture are two sides of the same coin: both describe the current and target state of the organization, but from different starting points (capability/value-stream vs. application/technology).
In an ideal world, Business Architecture should lead Enterprise Architecture because capabilities, processes, and people drive technology requirements. In reality, many organizations (especially tech-heavy ones like banks) still start with an IT-first lens.
Architecture (Business + Enterprise) provides the essential “bookends” for Strategy Execution: a clear current-state baseline and a well-defined target operating model. Without these, execution lacks direction and measurable impact.
True mastery of Strategy Execution requires deep integration across multiple disciplines: Business/Enterprise Architecture, Strategic Portfolio Management, Project/Program Execution, and Change Management. These functions currently operate too independently, causing value leakage and duplicated effort.
Executives often don’t yet feel the pain of poor Strategy Execution or even recognize it as a distinct, optimizable enterprise capability — it is still seen as “something that happens on the side” rather than part of the core production line.
The future: Architecture must become more process-centric, tightly coupled with portfolio and execution tools, and capable of automatically generating actionable initiatives from architectural decisions. Only when architecture, planning, and execution are symbiotic will organizations stop treating these functions as overhead and start seeing them as direct value drivers.
Vernon and Ben agree: Strategy Execution is not the domain of any single discipline. Business and Enterprise Architecture are foundational — they define “what” the organization is and “what” it needs to become — but their full power is only unlocked when they are seamlessly integrated with the other critical processes that actually move the organization from current to target state.
A compelling call for architects, PMO leaders, portfolio managers, and change professionals to stop working in silos and start building the unified, enterprise-wide Strategy Execution engine that most organizations still lack.
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The Strategy eXecution Forum (StrategyXF) is an invite-only, no-fee professional community built by and for the practitioners who know firsthand how hard it is to close the persistent gap between strategy and results. We believe it takes a village to master strategy execution — which is why StrategyXF brings together senior leaders from across the enterprise: C-suite executives, Strategy & Operations leaders, Transformation Offices, Finance, HR, IT, PMO, Enterprise Risk, Change Management, Portfolio Management, Business Architecture, and more.
Together, members collaborate on real-world challenges, share battle-tested approaches, and shape the future of how organizations execute with discipline and impact. This isn't a passive network — it's a practitioner-led community where your experience adds real value, and where every discussion is designed to deliver practical ideas you can apply right away. If you're serious about elevating strategy execution as a mission-critical discipline, we invite you to apply to become a member and help us build something the profession has long needed.
