Extending the Experiment
I saw this TechRadar article and thought—what would ChatGPT say about “EA”?
Spoiler: ChatGPT first assumed I meant Executive Assistant—and honestly, it nailed it. They’re the understated powerhouse behind the scenes.
The TechRadar piece that sparked this reads beautifully simple: a Senior Data Analytics Consultant becomes “someone who counts toys and tells people which toys are played with the most.” A journalist turns into a curious storyteller, a management consultant is a fixer of lemonade stands, a CTO is a ship’s technology captain steering through storms. It’s equal parts hilarious and enlightening—stripping away jargon to reveal the human heart of a job.
Read it here
Step 1: ChatGPT Thinks “EA = Executive Assistant”
“An Executive Assistant is like the smart grown-up who keeps everything running. Imagine if your family has a big party—someone needs to make sure Mum knows when the cake arrives, Dad doesn’t miss the bus, and Gran can find the loo easily. That’s the EA. They’re small, quiet heroes making sure things don’t fall apart.”
And you know what? It’s true. Executive Assistants are the unsung logistical ninjas—which is why I let ChatGPT have that moment. It’s an honest day’s work, and it’s funny how nobody expects that kind of precision from “EA.” ChatGPT nailed the tone: respectful, fun, accurate.
Step 2: Clarifying “EA = Enterprise Architect”
Okay—that’s not quite the EA I meant. So I clarifed: “No, I’m talking about Enterprise Architect.”
Here’s what ChatGPT replied—to a five-year-old, no less:
“An Enterprise Architect is like the person who draws the treasure map for a big pirate town. Imagine lots of little pirate huts, the ship docks, the treasure vault, and the town gate. Someone needs to draw how all the paths go, how the boats get in, where the treasure is buried, and how the guards can walk between huts without bumping into each other. That’s what an Enterprise Architect does—but with computers, teams, data, and rules. They make a map so the whole town runs safely and smoothly.”
And since this is a true experiment, I asked it to create an image of this explanation. Here’s what came back:
Reflection from an EA’s Perspective
(Cue the EA persona—arms folded, wry smile, coffee in hand.)
“Look, I’ll admit it—that pirate-town metaphor is surprisingly poetic. Sure, there are no parrots involved, and treasure vaults don’t literally exist in enterprise IT (unless you mean secured data repositories). But the essence is there: I do draw maps. Blueprints. In fact, I’m currently in the middle of drafting an AI blueprint for my org—trying to make sense of all the moving parts before we all drown in half-baked proof-of-concepts.”
It’s true: the job is a constant swirl of roadmaps, patterns, principles, frameworks, policies, designs, reviews, and the occasional proof-of-concept or tool dabble to keep us honest. It’s part librarian, part fortune-teller, part referee. And yes, it often feels like policing—but with our hands tied behind our backs, and only a few of the wise ones actually listening. Wink.
And historically, some of our breed really did go overboard on the policing. We scared entire departments off with our thunderous “You Shall Not Pass!” energy. But the agile wave softened us. These days it’s more about guiding, not scaring. Balancing, not bulldozing.
Which brings us to the real fun: what we’re balancing isn’t impossible—it’s just hilariously awkward. Picture carrying a stack of teacups, a watermelon, and a live cat across a tightrope in a Wellington southerly. Tricky? Absolutely. But also exhilarating when you actually make it to the other side with only a few scratches. That’s EA life: juggling the unjuggleable, laughing through the wobble, and secretly enjoying the chaos we pretend to tame.
(I even wrote about this EA balancing act in world of AI recently.)
Bonus: More ‘Explain-to-a-Kid’ Gold from Reddit
Because this kind of storytelling is contagious, here are a couple of real gems from the wilds of Reddit where people saw ChatGPT roast—or reveal—their roles:
“I’ve never felt so professionally attacked by such an accurate description.”
- The Senior Data Analytics Consultant who became the Toy Counter.
See it here
And a not-job, but still perfect in spirit:
“My job is like a superhero for the city’s underground water.”
- A utility worker described by ChatGPT making storm-water plumbing sound epic.
See it here
Written for KiwiGPT.co.nz — Generated, Published and Tinkered with AI by a Kiwi