> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developer.watson-orchestrate.ibm.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# solution-architect skill

The `solution-architect` skill turns business problem statements and requirements into structured, modular solution architecture documentation. It bridges the gap between executive stakeholders and technical implementers by establishing clear component selection, integration patterns, and roadmaps.

**Source location:** [`skills/solution-architect/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/IBM/ibm-watsonx-orchestrate-adk/blob/main/skills/solution-architect/SKILL.md) in the ADK repository.

## Overview

When designing enterprise AI agent systems, starting with implementation details often leads to rework, misaligned architectures, or uncoordinated tool integrations. The `solution-architect` skill provides a structured methodology to analyze business needs before writing code.

**Best for:** Early-stage solution design, stakeholder alignment, and establishing the foundation for Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) development.

## Output documents

The skill produces three focused architecture deliverables:

1. **Executive Solution Overview** — High-level summary of the business problem, target outcomes, key user personas, and ROI drivers.
2. **Technical Architecture & Design** — System topology, agent vs. workflow decision rationale, component inventories (agents, tools, knowledge bases, integrations), and data flow specifications.
3. **Implementation Plan & Roadmap** — Phase-by-phase implementation milestones, risk mitigation strategies, and prerequisites ready for elaboration into detailed SOPs.

## Key capabilities

* **Requirement Analysis**: Ingests unstructured problem statements, transcripts, or RFP requirements and extracts functional and non-functional requirements.
* **Architectural Decisioning**: Evaluates whether capabilities belong in native agents, collaborator agents, agentic workflows, or external tools based on determinism and state requirements.
* **Component Mapping**: Identifies required data sources, API integrations, authentication mechanisms, and knowledge base backends (Milvus, AstraDB, Elasticsearch).
* **SOP-Ready Handoff**: Formats technical workflows into modular specifications optimized for consumption by the [`sop-builder`](/bob_skills/sop_builder) skill.

## Activation

In Bob, activate the skill by asking Bob to design a solution architecture or referencing the skill directly:

```text theme={null}
Help me design a solution architecture for an enterprise IT onboarding agent in watsonx Orchestrate.
```

Or explicitly:

```text theme={null}
Use the solution-architect skill to create an architecture for this customer support escalation process:
<paste process requirements here>
```

## Next steps

After establishing the solution architecture, pass the workflow components to the **[sop-builder](/bob_skills/sop_builder)** skill to elaborate technical steps into Standard Operating Procedures.