The market
The New Zealand architecture market, measured
We keep a live map of every enterprise, solution, integration, data, cloud, security and network architect working in New Zealand. Here is what it currently says. It is drawn from public information, our own records and many years of conversations, and we keep it current because we are talking to these people anyway. It describes who exists in this market, not who is available.
IT architects working in New Zealand
Half this market uses one label. On the evidence, fewer than a fifth of them work that way.
2,167 people here call themselves solution architects. Judged on what they actually work on, 700 are. That is not anyone being wrong about themselves — solution architect is simply what this market calls the job, and most of the rest are application, integration or data architects using the default label.
Application, data and integration sit within a whisker of each other. Read them as one cluster rather than a ranking. Counts are floors: they count people whose skills name a capability, so anyone doing the work who describes it another way will not appear in their column.
What they actually are
Of 3,890 people with enough detail to place. A further 494 do not have enough to judge.
What they call themselves, for comparison
People in this country holding an architecture leadership title
Everything above solution level is a quarter of the market.
Principals are 453. Architecture leaders are 328. Put those together with the 333 at enterprise level and the whole senior end of this market is about one architect in four.
That is the number worth knowing before you start a search for a Head of Architecture. It is not a big pool, and you have probably already met some of it.
What grade they are
of the country’s architects work in Auckland
Wellington is the enterprise capital. Christchurch has the leaders.
Auckland holds 1,798 architects and Wellington 1,079, but the two cities are graded differently. Enterprise level is 10% of Wellington against 6% of Auckland, which is what a public sector full of capability models and target operating models looks like.
Christchurch is small at 308, and has the highest share of architecture leaders anywhere at 11%. If you want someone who has run a practice rather than worked in one, that is a better place to look than its size suggests.
Grade by city
| Grade | Auckland 1,798 | Wellington 1,079 | Christchurch 308 | Hamilton 103 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solution | 1,200 (67%) | 704 (65%) | 213 (69%) | 64 (62%) |
| Principal | 205 (11%) | 123 (11%) | 21 (7%) | 11 (11%) |
| Enterprise | 113 (6%) | 110 (10%) | 17 (6%) | 10 (10%) |
| Architecture leader | 142 (8%) | 80 (7%) | 33 (11%) | 9 (9%) |
| Technical | 135 (8%) | 62 (6%) | 23 (7%) | 9 (9%) |
Median years in the current architecture role
Half of this market has been in the same seat for three years or less.
More than a fifth changed role inside the last year, and another fifteen per cent are two years in. That is a market that moves, and it is why a name that was unavailable last time you asked is often available now. At the other end, one in nine has been in the same role a decade or more.
Median years of total professional experience
Half of New Zealand’s architects have been working more than twenty-one years.
Architecture here is not an early-career destination, it is where experienced technologists arrive. Two consequences worth planning around. The pipeline underneath is thin, because almost nobody enters the profession directly. And a meaningful share of this population is closer to the end of their career than the middle, which is a succession problem the market has not started talking about.
Changed role in the past twelve months
More than one architect in five moved in the last year.
Government took the most: the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment gained more architects than anyone. Spark is the most interesting name on the list, because it sits at the top of both columns, taking on twenty-one and losing twenty-four. Datacom, Kiwibank and the Ministry of Social Development all lost more than they gained.
Organisations with twenty or more architects
The market is broad but the depth sits in about a dozen places.
IT services and consulting accounts for 779 of the architects we map, then software at 308, telecommunications at 258, government administration at 247 and banking at 179. Below those twenty-seven the tail is long and thin: most places here have a handful of architects, or one, and sixty-five work for themselves.
The largest concentrations are consultancies rather than end-user organisations, which matters when you are hiring: Datacom, AWS, Microsoft and DXC together hold more architects than the four major banks, but those people are billable delivery capacity, not an in-house practice you can poach a whole team from.
Collada · Market map of the New Zealand architecture community · Compiled 9 September 2026
Writing
Twenty-five pieces published since 2023, under Ben’s name. Four lines of argument, on repeat.
The market, counted
Architecture in 2025 Demand for enterprise solution architects The return of the generalist architect Data architecture: the poor younger brother, now the rising star Architecture market pulse update Data architecture and the rise of modelling State of the Union, part two Architecture State of the UnionWhat good looks like
Architects’ admissions: why owning up to mistakes is key Business engagement: an architect’s most important role in low maturity organisations The enterprise architecture gap Architecture is learnt through experience, not certifications What is the best approach when an architecture function doesn’t have executive backing? How recoverable is your EA practice? Building a solution architecture team when permanent architects aren’t an optionThe uncomfortable one
Why short-sighted C-suite remuneration can spell trouble for architecture practices Architects beware: reporting to the CFO could hinder your success The solution architecture conundrum The new CIO: boom or bust for architecture Thought time for an architect shouldn’t be undervalued Becoming TOGAF certified doesn’t make you an architect