How different frameworks handle architect roles

There is no architect role in Agile software development methodologies such as Scrum. These frameworks fundamentally reiterate the principle of the Agile Manifesto where the best architectures emerge from self-organizing teams. However, when product development scales across multiple teams, the architect role becomes essential for technical leadership and alignment. Therefore, most of the Agile scaling frameworks explicitly reference Agile architect roles.

Scaled Agile Framework

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) treats architecture as one of the major disciplines. There are three architect roles defined in SAFe – enterprise architect, solution architect, and system architect. However, architects are positioned outside teams, which is a significant deviation from the principles of the manifesto for Agile software development.

Enterprise architects operate on the portfolio, responsible for shaping up the technology strategy...