Companies are jumping on the tech bandwagon but failing to deliver on 'digital promises'
Even though digital technology is everywhere, a new report found that organisations may be ‘falling short’ of meeting the needs and expectations of employees and customers.
According to the report, continuing with existing business models does not just risk irritating customers or disengaging employees, but could permanently limit the potential for future innovation and growth.
The report suggested adopting a new mindset and approach to align current business and technology models, with people’s needs and expectations.
“Dazzled by the promise of technology, many organisations created digital products and services just because they could, without fully considering the human, organisational and societal consequences,” said Paul Daugherty, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Accenture.
“Today we’re seeing a ‘tech-clash’ caused by the tension between consumer expectations, the potential of technology and business ambitions — and are now at an important leadership inflection point.
“We must shift our mindset from ‘just because’ to ‘trust because’ — reexamining our fundamental business and technology models and creating a new basis for competition and growth.”
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The report by Accenture identified five key technology trends that will redefine businesses over the next three years and help build more trusting relationships with stakeholders.
• The ‘I’ in experience
Organisations will need to design personalised experiences that amplify an individual’s agency and choice. This turns passive audiences into active participants by transforming one-way experiences, which can leave people feeling out of control and out of the loop, into true collaborations.
Globally, 85% of executives surveyed believe that competing successfully in this new decade requires organisations to elevate their relationships with customers as partners.
• AI and me
AI should be an additive contributor to how people perform their work, rather than a backstop for automation. As AI capabilities grow, enterprises must rethink the work they do to make AI a part of the process, with trust and transparency at its core.
Currently, only 23% of global organisations report that they are preparing their workforce for collaborative, interactive, and explainable AI-based systems.
• The dilemma of ‘smart’ things
Assumptions about who owns a product are being challenged in a world entering a state of “forever beta.” As enterprises seek to introduce a new generation of products driven by digital experiences, addressing this new reality will be critical to success.
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of global executives report that their organisation’s connected products and services will have more, or significantly more, updates over the next three years.
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• Robots in the wild
Robotics are no longer contained to the warehouse or factory floor. With 5G poised to rapidly accelerate this fast-growing trend, every enterprise must re-think its future through the lens of robotics.
Executives around the world are split in their views of how their employees will embrace robotics: 45% say their employees will be challenged to figure out how to work with robots, while 55% believe that their employees will easily figure out how to work with them.
• Innovation DNA
Enterprises have access to an unprecedented amount of disruptive technology, such as distributed ledgers, AI, extended reality and quantum computing. To manage it all, and evolve at the speed demanded by the market today, organisations will need to establish their own unique innovation DNA.
Three-quarters (76%) of global executives believe that the stakes for innovation have never been higher, so getting it “right” will require new ways of innovating with ecosystem partners and third-party organisations.
