Envision episode 1 recap: Unpacking the top questions from 2020

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that no business is 100% resilient but those with digital capabilities can better withstand disruptions, keep business moving, and innovate for the future.

In a year when companies accelerated their cloud and AI initiatives—whether they wanted to or not—we have learned in an unprecedented way what works and how companies can empower themselves not just to stay in business, but to reimagine their business. 

Last week at Envision, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet and I had the opportunity to hear from company leaders around the world.

Julie and I have spent an enormous amount of time together this year engaging customers, so we asked ourselves about the common themes that emerged in 2020 as organizations worked to get ahead of the competition and transform the way they worked.

What follows are the five questions that really matter to companies right now.     

Question 1: What does the future of work look like?

This is the one we hear again and again.

Organizations asking this question are usually focused on the ability to work, learn and do business remotely. They have been asking which of those processes will persist and what will return.

But their focus is quickly shifting to the potential of these new investments: “Does this open up new opportunities?” or “Can we access new talent?”

Julie shared how Accenture has been operating with remote teams for many years. What this year uncovered were new ways to unlock creativity through remote working and collaboration tools.

Accenture did a sweeping brand refresh during the pandemic, working with a new agency and hundreds of people around the world on a project that would have normally been done on-site in a studio. The result was a huge success, far outperforming their benchmarks.

The ability to build dynamic teams quickly and work with people from anywhere turned into a creative asset for the organization.

Question 2: How are we creating ongoing innovation?

When companies make strategic decisions like moving to the cloud or rethinking their application portfolio, it can also create an economic flywheel that unlocks innovation going forward.

What is key here is the notion of democratizing the digital experience, and a great example is our work with Unilever over the past year.

Throwing professional developers at every challenge cannot be the only option. Everybody should be equipped and empowered to be a part of that digital experience. We worked with Unilever to modernize factory operations, but its ability to innovate really took off when we enabled frontline workers to be part of the innovation process, teaching them how to build low-code and no-code apps using the Microsoft Power Platform.

Suddenly, frontline workers inside a factory were moving manual processes to apps that they had helped engineer. Now those processes can power innovation because they work with the data model and the digital twins environment that underpins the factory. In essence, people learn from the model and then feed back into it as the flywheel gains momentum.

Question 3: Are we making the most of our data?

If you only invest in AI and mixed reality on the front end without building a data estate, all you are going to do with your fancy investments is make mistakes with greater confidence.

So, between Microsoft and Accenture, we have spent a lot of time helping customers build their connected data estate.

This past year Accenture brought this to life with the Norwegian Health System. Researchers working on everything from cancer treatments to hospital processes had been stymied by inefficient handling of data that led to delays of 17 months on average to get a usable data set. 

Accenture has helped the system go from accessing data over a series of months to accessing it in minutes by having the right technology and understanding of what data is valuable to researchers and other providers in place from the start. From there, they can apply AI and machine learning services in the cloud.

By putting those three components together, Norway can save an estimated $1 billion a year, and most importantly, achieve better healthcare outcomes for patients.

Question 4: How are we protecting ourselves from bad actors?

If there is anything that Covid has not slowed down, it is cybersecurity threats.

It is also true that as you digitize environments, whether it is remote work for employees or enabling new digital experiences for customers, the attack surface increases along with the potential for vulnerabilities. We have seen how companies that accelerate their transformation efforts without security embedded in that work can make themselves more vulnerable.

Security must be the foundation for any digital initiative, and there are three keys to this in the post-Covid world.

The first is investing in modernizing the security around older systems that are now touching a much larger digital footprint. The second is to transform the way you work so that security is fundamental from the ground up. Finally, hygiene must be in place in terms of remote work and all those new endpoints that interact with the company’s systems.  

In other words, you need the right technology capabilities, but you also need the right ways to work. Security should get the same level of focus as the outcome you are trying to drive.

Question 5: How can we move faster?

In any technology initiative, there is always going to be a business outcome you are working toward that is unique and differentiated, but there are also repeatable assets and processes that can be applied to speed up the process.

An example is our partnership Mars, which involved implementing a complicated digital twin environment in a matter of weeks.

There are aspects of business that are unique to Mars, but knowing how to wire together an IoT sensor fabric and a mass-scale data model with machine learning and digital twins to drive operational efficiencies—that is an asset that Microsoft can bring to any number of factories. And we can get to MVP outcomes much faster because of those repeatable patterns.

In the case of Mars, we were able to drive enormous efficiencies in their business processes and achieve their sustainability goals in a quick period of time because of the repeatable pattern matching of technologies that we put to work.

I get excited about these things because of the enormous potential right now to bring greater agility to customers across all facets of their operations.

This last year has been hugely challenging, but it is also a time for great optimism.

Companies all over the world are making new investments in themselves that are filled with potential. We cannot wait to see what they come up with over the next year.

I want to thank Julie for chatting with me on our Envision broadcast. If you want to see our full conversation and more, check out our replay from Envision and register for our next live episode on February 16 right here.