Succeeding in the age of digital transformation

All industries will face changes as a result of Industry 4.0. But some industries in particular are already being buffeted by rapid and extensive changes—particularly technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT).

To obtain a global perspective of how organizations are responding to this time of sweeping digital change, Deloitte Global and Forbes Insights recently conducted a survey of 1,600 global C-level executives across industries on the topic of Industry 4.0. The study examines the state of digital transformation across all industries, revealing a startling lack of readiness for the impending disruptions.

Main highlights of the report:

• Technology is the key business differentiator: six in ten TMT CXOs believe that implementing new technology is the key competitive differentiator in today’s business environment. Foundational technologies for the smart, connected era—cloud, IoT, mobile, and AI—are expected to have the largest impact on TMT organizations over the next five years.
• As disruptors loom, readiness lags: smart and autonomous technologies rank among the five issues expected to affect TMT organizations most over the next five years. Across the top issues, 33% to 42% of CXOs rate their organizations as underprepared— a vulnerable position that leaves companies open to disruption by more agile competitors.
• Spotlight on Frontrunners: changes driven by digital disruption are pummeling TMT organizations. To better understand what sets these companies apart, we grouped organizations based on how respondents rated the business value of new technology solutions and their enterprise’s readiness to adopt and use smart and autonomous technologies. Frontrunners are “adoption-ready” and understand the business value of new technologies.
• Digital leadership in an age of disruption: CXOs believe that their own businesses—both public and private—will be pivotal, and Frontrunners see public organizations playing a lead role.
• Turning innovation into customer value: new product/service creation is one piece of the value puzzle; getting those innovations into the hands of employees and customers is another critical piece that Frontrunners are putting into place.