By Keshav Murugesh, Group CEO of WNS
A new passwordfor the Post-pandemic ‘Thrive’ Era
What does it take for ‘change’ to accelerate to ‘pivot’? In one word, COVID-19. It pushed businesses into a corner till they quickly took the leap from change to pivot. A global survey by McKinsey on digital strategy showed that enterprises accelerated digitization, on an average, by three to four years. Moreover, the share of digitally enabled offerings in their portfolios accelerated by a staggering seven years. A Statista research report reveals that the implementation of COVID-19-related changes took just a fraction of the time that organizations had originally anticipated. On an average, it just took 10.5 days to implement remote working as against the anticipated 454 days.
Pushed by the need to change, enterprises learnt that the audacity of being a first mover paid better dividends than being a fast follower. The shift to remote work transformed physical distance to digital proximity and delivered game-changing impact. The inability to meet did not stop the ability to digitally engage customers and keep revenues flowing. Nor did the challenge of vulnerability deter the determination to swiftly address issues of data privacy and security.
In all these accomplishments, one truth stands out. Digital transformation is more a triumph of transformation than digital alone. Our progress in the post-pandemic ‘thrive’ era will be shaped by how well leaders can envision and execute change.
Upping the Digital Ante
IDC forecasts that the global spending on digital transformation will touch USD 2.8 Trillion in 2025. This is a mind-boggling global opportunity across industries and technologies.
BCG’s research on digital transformation success points towards technology, telecommunications and financial services as the industries that rank the highest for digital maturity and are more successful at transformation. While many technology companies are digital natives with minimum baggage of legacy IT, banks and telcos have nimbly transformed themselves to deliver digital experiences in line with customer expectations. It is the same consumer expectation that has enabled the consumer and industrial goods sector to stand above-average on the digital maturity scale. Hampered by legacy technology and complex regulatory environments, healthcare, insurance and the public sector industries lag in digital maturity.
Whether leaders or laggards, organizations across industries have definite potential to overcome sectoral handicaps, if they make transformation their key business initiative. The insurance industry is a good example. Challenged by competition from InsurTechs and waning customer loyalty, it is transforming itself in the areas of underwriting, pricing and claims settlement — areas that are critical for customer experience and brand loyalty. Leveraging data, analytics and intelligent automation, they are targeting a thorough understanding of their customers to develop new products and services, and enhance revenue and competitive advantage. For example, a global insurance company, which was finding it immensely challenging and risky to assess rooftop damage claims due to extreme weather, turned to drone imagery analytics for automated damage assessment and claims estimation. This solution offered potential benefits in excess of USD 30 Million.
For retail players, transformation triggers are customer experience and loyalty, and topline growth. In a global analytics study that we conducted with Forrester Consulting, we found that 35 percent of retailers identified business transformation as a key business initiative, and are investing in (AI)-led digital intelligence and predictive analytics.
An amazing example from the financial services world is CBI, a UAE-based corporate and retail bank. It is the first bank in the UAE to open a virtual metaverse location in Decentraland, a blockchain-based world. Built on augmented reality, virtual reality and blockchain, the metaverse is seen as the next level in digital customer experience. Blockchain has evolved to be the fulcrum of digital trust, especially for the financial services industry. In addition to minimizing fraud, blockchain can reduce transaction costs by 35 percent.
When transformation drives digital, technology becomes its best and most purposeful enabler. From an effective cost-saver in the pre-COVID era, technology has today become a vital cog in innovation, modernization, competitive advantage, and creation of great customer and employee experiences.
AI, with its versatility, leads the pack of re-imagined technologies and is expected to add USD 15.7 Trillion in global economic value by 2030. Partnering with data and analytics, AI technologies will power intelligence-led decision-making to boost revenues and profits. AI-enabled robotic processes and Internet of things will drive hyper-automation to its next level. With ‘everything-as-a-service’ and ‘no-code’ interfaces gaining in stature, companies will not be required to own servers or proprietary cognitive code. Equally integral to digital transformation is the cloud and according to Gartner, more than 85 percent of organizations will embrace a cloud-first approach by 2025.
Digital transformation post-pandemic will be very different from what it was pre-pandemic. With financial and talent resources likely to be constrained, organizations must re-imagine digital transformation for value and relevance. This will enable enterprises to become more agile, resilient and customer-obsessed. Beyond bringing in the right technologies, digital transformation must inspire to drive change through an always-on digital-ready culture.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.