Digital transformation and the associated disruption it wrought has further intensified with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering accelerated adoption and leverage of technology to respond to radically different consumer behaviours, increased volatility, supply chain disruptions and the like. The transformation process has been enterprise wide, and deep. Businesses that are agile and nimble have been able to build resiliency in the face of an uncertain future; others have floundered, fast.
Over the last six months if not more, business leaders have reorganized supply chains, set up remote operations and made tough strategic and financial decisions. For the most part, these processes have aimed to overcome existential crises, and to accelerate growth for the lucky few.
The global pandemic has brought a hard-stop to business as usual and the world is no longer viewed through the same lens. Organizations have been handed a launching pad to become virtual, digital-centric, digital-first, and it all needs to be done at lightning-fast speed. Companies that were not just tech-enabled but tech-first were the ones first out of the gate when the pandemic struck and they are the ones who continue to lead the way, carving out a steadfast roadmap for the rest.
Technology leaders have been at the helm of the transformation. Now, as they look ahead to the next year and beyond, they’re asking: How do we keep up the momentum? How do we take the best of what we’ve learned and put into practice, not just now but in everything we do going forward?
The accelerating speed at which organizations have moved exemplifies a winner-take-all mentality, with a dose of panic mixed in at the thought of being left behind in the competitive race. Yet again, simply going faster isn’t the sole answer. Rather, winning companies are investing in the tech, data, processes, and people to enable speed through better decisions and faster course corrections based on what they learn. The iterations triggered by learning are key here. Enterprise India is expected to invest $28 bn in IT spending in 2020 and around $10.5 bn on digital technologies to achieve the above objectives.
The companies you are going to encounter in TechCircle’s meticulously curated anthology of tech transformational stories, Technology Trendsetters 2020, are adopting and deploying digital strategies and approaches at speed with a clear cut purpose to transform in a comprehensive fashion. Aside from moving thousands of employees from the office to home overnight, they’re using all these technologies to rejig supply chains, stand up entirely new e-commerce channels, and leverage AI and predictive analytics to unearth smarter and more sustainable ways to operate.
