By Michael Rivera, PhD
A recent study from Twilio estimates that companies across industries accelerated their digital strategies by six years due to the swift pivot from in-person to remote work during the pandemic. In addition, 77 percent of CEOs say the pandemic sped up their digital transformation plans.
Now that these changes are in place, they’re more or less here to stay. There is no going back to the old way of doing things now that tools are in place to automate and streamline processes. But there’s a difference between adopting tech tools out of desperation and having a true digital transformation strategy for your business.
What Companies Get Wrong about Digital Transformation
Too often, companies focus on the wrong things when it comes to digital transformation. They invest all their budget in data scientists and engineers who may be well qualified to make recommendations but lack the authority to create true transformation.
Company leaders often fail to recognize that true digital transformation needs to come from the top. Executives need to have a fundamental understanding of what digital transformation is generally, what it looks like for their company, and how to approach it for maximum value.
Digital transformation can no longer be left to just some executive positions. All executives and board members need to be digitally literate to take their companies to the next level.
Filling the Gaps in The Leadership Pipeline
Because of the rapid shift in the technological landscape, many companies are recognizing a skills gap in their leadership pipelines that requires a new type of talent strategy.
For example, it might not make sense for a company to promote its president to CEO if the president doesn’t have the right technical skillset. We’ve already seen this in enterprises like Microsoft and Cisco. We should expect to see it happen more frequently in the coming years.
So, what can you do if you’re an emerging or current leader facing this new challenge of stepping up to meet the technological demands of this new era?
- Pivot to a data-driven mindset for all aspects of your work
- Build a culture of innovation that reinforces digitally-driven changes
- Gain domain knowledge for your field or company instead of trying to be an all-around technology expert
- Identify other leaders who have the required expertise and empower them to lead change initiatives
- Adopt a growth mindset and never stop learning about new advances in digital technologies
Is your C-suite ready to meet the demands of the next digital wave?
Thinaer’s team of PhDs, data scientists, business strategists, technologists, and artists helps the world’s leading enterprises optimize their operations and enact digital transformation at scale. To learn more about who we are and how we can help you succeed, contact us today!