Why digital transformation is now on the CEO’s shoulders
Below is an abridged version my article in McKinsey Quarterly available online in its full cited version here and here.
Elastic cloud computing, big data, IoT and AI hold such disruptive power within industries that they have inverted the dynamics of technology leadership. I've witnessed many tech adoption cycles over the past 40 years. At the heart of these decisions, IT was always tasked to acquire supporting tools that increase a company's efficiency and productivity
Then, over months or years, and after multiple trials and evaluations, these tech decisions gained the attention of the CIO, who was responsible for technology adoption. Meanwhile, the CEO was periodically (or infrequently) debriefed. However, with digital transformation, the adoption cycle has inverted. What I'm seeing now is that, almost invariably, corporate transformations are initiated and propelled by the CEO, or mandated by the board.
I’m seeing leaders who get this. They’re all over it: they want to launch five transformation initiatives right now; they’re talking to me and every digital leader they know about where the technology threats are coming from; and they’re hiring the best people to advise them. Yet I’m shocked by—even fearful for—the many CEOs I know who seem to be asleep at the switch. They just don’t see the massive disruption headed their way from digital threats, seen or unseen, and they don’t seem to understand it will happen very quickly.
If your CEO isn't talking about how to ensure the survival of the enterprise amidst this digital transformation disruption, well, maybe you've got the wrong person in the job.
It’s increasingly clear that we're entering a highly disruptive corporate extinction event. 52% of Fortune 500 from 2000 do not exist today. The majority of enterprises that fail to transform will cease to exist. Many new and unanticipated enterprises will emerge, and existing ones will be transformed.
The existential threat of digital transformation is exceeded only by the opportunity.
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10 个月Thomas, thanks for sharing!
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1 年Thomas, thanks for sharing!
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2 年Thomas, thanks for sharing!
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2 年Thomas, thanks for sharing!
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5 年A 2017 post that is ever more relevant as we start #2020 and enter a new decade.??Thomas M. Siebel?speaks to the other side of transformation.? Transformation that reaches beyond the leverage of digital trends to save money or merely go faster.? His inference is that true business transformation and reinvention takes courageous leadership from the top.? Transform or die.? #transformationalleadership?