As enterprises move from experimenting with AI to deploying multiple models and agents across the business, orchestration is becoming a foundational capability. The orchestration layer coordinates how AI models, agents, data pipelines and business applications work together while ensuring those interactions remain observable, secure and governed. Here are five questions IT leaders should ask as they evaluate an orchestration strategy.
Where Should the Orchestration Layer Sit?
It should live between the enterprise data estate and the models, agents, applications and infrastructure consuming that data. “It coordinates how data is discovered, accessed, moved, protected and delivered across on-premises, cloud and edge environments,” says Sandeep Singh, senior vice president and general manager of enterprise storage at NetApp, likening it to the connective tissue of AI infrastructure.
How Should It Be Deployed?
Begin with focused use cases before expanding into more autonomous workflows. Craig Le Clair, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, recommends starting with stand-alone large language models or retrieval-augmented generation agents that improve search, summarization and employee productivity before progressing to “solver,” “worker” and “executive” agents that become embedded in business processes.
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What Capabilities Should Every Orchestration Stack Include?
Successful orchestration depends on much more than connecting application programming interfaces: The stack needs integrated data pipelines, automation, scheduling, state and memory management, observability and built-in governance. “These should not be viewed as optional, nice-to-have features,” Singh says. “They are the foundation for sustaining the velocity, trust and adaptability that enterprise AI demands.”
What Benefits Should Organizations Expect?
A well-designed orchestration layer should improve both technical operations and business outcomes. It enables enterprises to scale beyond isolated pilots by supporting multiple agents that can work together to address more sophisticated use cases that aren’t appropriate for single-agent deployment, says Neil Ward-Dutton, IDC research vice president for agentic automation and AI technologies.
Models will evolve rapidly, but well-designed orchestration gives the enterprise a durable control plane beneath that change.”
Sandeep Singh
Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Storage, NetApp
Why Does a Distinct Orchestration Layer Matter?
A distinct orchestration layer prevents every model, agent and application from becoming its own isolated data project and separates business workflows from individual infrastructure or model choices. This lets enterprises adopt new technologies without repeatedly rebuilding pipelines, policies and controls, Singh says: “Models will evolve rapidly, but well-designed orchestration gives the enterprise a durable control plane beneath that change.”
Illustration by Jon Reinfurt
