Who are software architects? What role do they play in the industry?

Answer:

Architects create architectures, and their responsibilities encompass all that is involved in doing so. This would include articulating the architectural vision, conceptualising and experimenting with alternative architectural approaches, creating models, and validating the architecture against requirements and assumptions.

The role goes beyond technical activities to strategic and sometimes consulting. A sound sense of business and technical strategy is required to envision the "right" architectural approach to the customer's problem set. Activities in this area include the creation of technology roadmaps, making assertions about technology directions and determining their consequences for technical strategy and hence architectural approach.