I am Jean-Christophe Cornil. I work as an independent solution and enterprise architect with Black Cloud SRL, based in Nivelles, Belgium.
I started out designing applications. I spent nine years with a major food retailer in Belgium, first as a .NET analyst-developer, then on HR interface architecture and on projects across stores and distribution centres: CCTV over more than 250 HD streams, digital signage on more than 220 screens. I ended up coordinating BI operations for the company data warehouse, with a team of up to 14 internal and external staff and a budget of about €3M including licences.
In 2017 I became a full-time architect at a global biopharmaceutical group. I designed patient-facing solutions there (support-programme websites, medical devices, mobile apps, clinical trials) on public platforms subject to GDPR and GxP rules. I standardised the cloud hosting platform, which became the baseline for new projects, and led a team of four architects.
In 2021 I went independent with Black Cloud SRL. My first assignments took me into energy, with an electricity and gas distribution operator and then a gas infrastructure operator: mobile apps and identity management, machine-learning forecasts of power production and consumption, electric-vehicle smart charging, and a redesign of an HR integration model.
Since 2024, at a car importer, I have added enterprise architecture to solution design: an EA repository, an architecture review board, application-portfolio decisions. It interests me when it serves a concrete decision: what to rationalise, what to protect, where to invest.
I use AI every day, with tools I build myself and one simple rule: the machine may write the document, but I am the one who signs it. So I review it that way.
How I work
I cost before we build
When there are several options, I compare them on real cost (build, run, exit) before the first line of code is written. My study on the right to be forgotten covered five costed options.
I write the decision down
An architecture decision that is not written down gets reopened at every meeting. I record every choice (SAD, ADR, EA repository) so it outlives the project and the people who made it.
I stay close to the teams who build
An architect who no longer understands what the team is building quickly stops being relevant. I work through code structure, libraries and integration patterns with developers, and coach them on those topics.
I lead through influence
On assignments, I lead through influence rather than reporting lines. In a team, I want everyone to be able to say “I don’t know” without risk.
I use AI and I sign what it produces
My tools speed up the writing. The review and the accountability stay with me.
Career
| Period | Industry | Role | In short |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 → present | Belgian car importer | Domain & Enterprise Architect: HR, Finance, Supply Chain, After-Sales | Integrated target architectures (MDM, Azure, IBM service bus, partners), EA repository, architecture review board |
| 2022 → 2024 | Regulated gas infrastructure operator | Application Architect | Azure direction, HR integration redesign, LLM evaluation |
| 2021 → 2022 | Regulated electricity and gas distribution operator | Solution Architect, Innovation & Mobility | Mobile apps and IAM, machine learning, EV smart charging, new website |
| 2017 → 2021 | Global biopharmaceutical group | IT Lead Solution & Software Architect | Patient solutions in a GxP environment, standard AKS platform, team of four architects |
| 2008 → 2017 | Food retail | From .NET analyst-developer to BI Operations Coordinator | HR and SAP architecture, BI operations (14 people, about €3M), in-store projects |
Certifications and languages
- TOGAF 10 Practitioner, The Open Group, 2023
- PRINCE2 Practitioner, APMG, 2016
- French (native), English (full professional proficiency), Dutch (working proficiency)
Skills and technologies
- Solution & software architecture: application and software architecture, cloud-native design, platform engineering, microservices, API design, legacy modernisation, architecture reviews, ADR, SAD.
- Cloud, platforms & DevOps: Microsoft Azure (Functions, Durable Functions, Data Factory, AKS, API Management), Entra ID / Azure AD & B2C, OpenShift, Kubernetes, .NET, DevSecOps, GitOps, Azure DevOps, Terraform, Docker, Podman, Power Platform.
- Integration & data: integration architecture, REST and SOAP APIs, IBM ESB (IIB, DataPower, MQ), API Connect, Apache Kafka, Informatica MDM, Dynamics 365 F&O, SAP integration, ETL and data warehousing.
- Enterprise architecture: governance, Architecture Review Board, reference architectures, standards, roadmaps, application portfolio rationalisation, capability mapping, TOGAF 10, Orbus iServer 365.
- Modelling: BPMN 2.0, UML, ArchiMate, C4.
- Security & compliance: IAM, OAuth, mTLS, OWASP, zero trust, GDPR and privacy by design, BCP/DR, NIS2, GxP.
- AI: LLM evaluation, architecture-documentation automation, generative AI, Claude Code.
- Leadership & delivery: team leadership, coaching, stakeholder management, cost-benefit analysis, Agile / Scrum, software development lifecycle, PRINCE2.