Deloitte study: Kinetic tech leaders are poised to reinvent the enterprise

9 November, 2020 – Faced with unprecedented uncertainty, businesses now more than ever need their technology leaders to be resilient, agile, and future-focused. At the same time, current market, economic, and social conditions indicate this is the time for transformation.

Deloitte’s newly launched 2020 Global Technology Leadership Study, The kinetic leader: Boldly reinventing the enterprise tracks the evolution of organizations, the technology function, and the role and competencies of technology leaders that outperform competitors and how kinetic leaders can make an impact beyond the technology domain.

The Deloitte study spanned 69 countries with feedback from more than 1,300 global executives across 22 industry sectors including significant participation from the Middle East.

“Top organizations in the Middle East prioritize leveraging technology for business growth and transformational change. To help them envision, enable, and deliver growth and navigate change, these organizations seek kinetic leaders,” says Bhavesh Morar, Enterprise Technology & Performance Partner.

Key findings in the report include:

1. Compared to their less mature counterparts, known as baseline organizations, tech vanguards are more likely to emphasize innovation (66% vs. 44%), growth (53% vs. 43%), and customers (60% vs. 53%). Meanwhile, baseline organizations are twice as likely (40%) to prioritize cost reduction than tech vanguards (20%).
2. Tech vanguards are nearly four times as likely (31%) as baseline organizations (8%) to say their technology function is transformational in its approach to shaping business strategy
3. Tech vanguards are twice as likely (24% compared to 11% for baseline organizations) to have had a substantial technology budget increases over the previous financial year.
4. The Boards of baseline organizations are less likely (56%) than tech vanguard boards (81%) to be in sync with management on technology issues
5. 31% of business leaders naming the acquisition and development of talent as the top business objective, compared to only 16% of tech leaders who say the same. In addition, tech leaders noted that the soft skills expected to increase the most in importance during the next three years are creativity, emotional intelligence, and cognitive flexibility,

“Against the backdrop of COVID-19, this year’s findings lay out a clear path forward for organizations in the region, and their Tech Leaders, to recover and ultimately thrive. Deloitte is hosting an interactive webinar to discuss Tech Leader mandates, how they can help their enterprise outperform competitors and lead beyond the technology domain in times of uncertainty. We look forward to discussing the findings, challenges and insights further,” said Rich Hurley, Consulting Clients and Industries Leader and Digital Transformation Partner.

To attend the webinar held on Thursday, 12 November 2020, at 14:00 – 15:00 GST, register here.

About Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) LLP:

Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) LLP (DME) is the affiliate for the territories of the Middle East and Cyprus of Deloitte NSE LLP (“NSE”), a UK limited liability partnership and member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”). 

DME is a leader in professional services with uninterrupted presence in the Middle East since 1926 with 26 offices in 14 countries and around 5,000 partners, directors and staff. DME’s presence in the Middle East and Cyprus is established through its affiliated independent legal entities, which are licensed to operate and to provide services under the applicable laws and regulations of the relevant country. DME’s affiliates and related entities cannot oblige each other and/or DME, and when providing services, each affiliate and related entity engages directly and independently with its own clients and shall only be liable for its own acts or omissions and not those of any other affiliate.

About Deloitte:

Deloitte refers to one or more of DTTL, its global network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities, which cannot obligate or bind each other in respect of third parties. DTTL and each DTTL member firm and related entity is liable only for its own acts and omissions, and not those of each other. DTTL, NSE and DME do not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more. 

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