The idea in one sentence
The Relational Nexus™ is the web of relationships any piece of information, product or decision sits in, across technology, people, non-human actors (AI agents and twins among them), regulation, business, society, culture and context.
How it works
Every decision has relationships on every side of it: the person who makes it, the people it affects, the organizations involved, the systems that carry it out, the rules that govern it, and now the AI agents and twins acting beside us. The Relational Nexus gathers the strategic lenses you may know from PESTLE and its relatives into one view, and puts relationships at the center instead of markets or technologies.
A new layer to manage
The Relational Nexus is also a new layer we all must learn to manage. Our relationships are no longer only with other people and organizations. We now also have relationships with non-human intelligences: AI assistants, agents that act on our behalf, and twins that speak for us or for others. Each of these relationships needs the same things human ones do: trust, consent, clear limits and someone accountable.
Four areas of focus
No one can work on the whole web at once. Within it, Dr. Becker focuses on four areas, the four pillars of Relational Technology Architecture™:
- AI
- Personal and organizational knowledge management
- Self-sovereign identity and data principles
- Engagement: business strategy and marketing
Each of the four is shaped by the rest of the web: technology, regulation, society and culture all bear on identity, AI, knowledge and engagement. The most useful insights come from where the four meet. Provenance, for example, is where identity meets knowledge. Trustworthy agents and twins are where identity meets AI. The Identity Nexus™ is one part of the Relational Nexus: the part concerned with the value and the risk of sharing information.
Use it
Take a decision you are facing this week. Name every relationship it touches: people, organizations, technology, AI, regulation, society and culture. Which one have you not asked about yet?
Where it shows up
The Relational Nexus is the overarching idea of the AI Leadership Program, the frame for Advisory work, and the name of Dr. Becker’s newsletter.