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

The Enterprise Alchemists

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.

Luvut

1. Welcome And Episode Setup (00:00:00)

2. What Composable Architecture Means (00:02:10)

3. Lessons From SOA And SOAP (00:05:30)

4. ESB Monoliths And Governance Debt (00:08:45)

5. API Rise: REST, Gateways, Discovery (00:11:20)

6. Reuse Mindset And Domain Boundaries (00:15:00)

7. DevOps, Heterogeneity, And IaC (00:18:20)

8. Avoiding API Sprawl With Product Ownership (00:21:10)

9. External APIs And Business Models (00:24:00)

10. AI Agents, Standards, And Contracts (00:26:10)

11. Trust, Security, And Zero Trust For AI (00:29:00)

12. Vibe Coding To Vibe Orchestration (00:31:10)

13. Autonomous Companies And Documentation (00:34:00)

14. Closing Thoughts (00:37:10)