Unbundling the Enterprise - A Conversation with Stephen Fishman & Matt McLarty

In this episode of the IT/OT Insider Podcast, where we’re taking a short detour from our usual deep dives into industrial things to explore something broader-but equally vital: how enterprises evolve.

We’re joined by Stephen Fishman and Matt McLarty, authors of the book Unbundling the Enterprise, published by IT Revolution. Stephen is North America Field CTO at Boomi, and Matt is the company’s Global CTO. But more importantly for this conversation-they’re long-time collaborators with a shared passion for modularity, APIs, and systems thinking.

We’ll talk about the power of preparation over prediction, about how modular systems and composable strategies can future-proof organizations, and-most unexpectedly-how happy accidents (yes, “OOOPs”) can unlock unexpected success.

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From Creative Writing to Enterprise Architecture

Stephen and Matt first connected over a decade ago, when Stephen was leading app development at Cox Automotive and Matt was heading up the API Academy at CA Technologies. Their collaboration grew from a shared curiosity: why were APIs making some companies wildly successful, and why did that success often seem... unplanned?

They didn’t want to write yet another how-to book on APIs. Instead, they wanted to tell the bigger story-about why companies who invested in modularity were able to respond faster, seize opportunities more easily, and unlock new business models.

“We wanted to bridge the gap between architects and the business. Help tech teams articulate why they want to build things in a modular way-and help business folks understand the financial value behind those decisions.” – Stephen Fishman

OOOPs: The Power of Happy Accidents

One of the big themes in their book is what the authors call OOOPs-not a typo, but an acronym.

“Google Maps is the classic story,” Stephen explains. “People started scraping the APIs and using them in ways Google never planned-until they turned it into a massive business. That was a happy accident. And it happened again and again.”

So they gave those happy accidents a structure-Optionality, Opportunism, and Optimization.

* Optionality: Modular systems open the door to future opportunities you can’t yet predict.

* Opportunism: You need ways to identify where to unbundle or where to apply APIs first.

* Optimization: Continuously measuring and refining based on real usage and feedback.

This framework makes the case that modularity isn’t just a technical preference-it’s a business strategy.

Read more about OOOps in this article.

S-Curves, Options, and Becoming the House

Another concept that runs through the book is the S-curve of growth-the idea that all successful innovations follow a familiar pattern: slow start, rapid rise, plateau, and eventual decline.

Most companies ride that first curve too long, betting too heavily on what worked yesterday. The challenge is recognizing when you’ve peaked-and investing in what comes next.

“Most people don’t know where they are on the S-curve,” says Stephen. “They think they’re still climbing, but they’re really on the plateau.”

That’s where optionality comes in again: the ability to explore multiple futures at low cost, hedging your bets without breaking the bank. They borrow the idea of “convex tinkering”: placing lots of small, low-cost bets with the potential for high upside.

“Casinos don’t gamble,” Stephen says. “They set the rules. They optimize for asymmetric value. That’s what this book is trying to teach organizations-how to become the house.”

We also wrote about the importance of having cost effective ways to work with data in this previous post:

Unbundling is Not Just for Big Tech

You might think this is a book for Google, Amazon, or SaaS unicorns-but the lessons apply to every enterprise. Even in manufacturing.

“The automotive world has always understood modularity,” Stephen says. “Platforms existed in car design before they existed in tech. When you separate chassis from body and engine, you gain flexibility and efficiency.”

And the same applies in IT and OT.

* Building platforms of reusable APIs and services

* Designing products and processes with change in mind

* Investing in capabilities close to revenue, not just internal shared services

Even internal IT teams benefit from this mindset. Once a solution is decontextualized and reusable, it can scale across departments and generate asymmetric value internally-without needing to sell to the outside world.

All Organization Designs Suck (and That’s Okay)

A memorable quote in the book comes from an interview with David Rice (SVP Product and Engineering at Cox Automotive):

“All organization designs suck”

It’s a reminder that there’s no perfect org chart, no flawless model. Instead, success comes from designing your systems, your teams, and your investments with awareness of their limits-and building flexibility around them.

“APIs aren’t a silver bullet. Neither is GenAI. But if you design your systems, teams, and investments around modularity and resilience, you’re better prepared for whatever future emerges.”

We highly recommend the book Team Topologies as further read on this topic.

Final Thoughts

Unbundling the Enterprise is not a technical manual. It’s a mindset. A playbook for organizations that want to survive disruption, scale intelligently, and embrace change-without betting everything on a single future.

The ideas in this book are especially relevant for those working on digital transformation in complex industries. It’s not always about moving fast-it’s about moving smart, building for change, and staying ready.

You can find the book on IT Revolution or wherever great tech books are sold. And be sure to check out their companion article on OOOPs on the IT Revolution blog.

Until next time and stay modular! 🙂

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