In last year’s Business Performance Benchmark Study, when we looked at the topic that would dominate boardroom conversations in terms of business disruption, the winner – if that’s the right term for a disruption – was very clearly Digital Transformation. 48 percent of study participants put Digital Transformation on the boardroom agenda. That was one of the reasons why I wrote Digital Sales Transformation in a Customer First World .
We are midway through the data collection for the 2018 Benchmark Study and though the data is as yet incomplete, and the analysis is consequently still underway, early indications are that Digital Transformation continues to rocket up the priorities chart.
Advancements in AI was identified last year by many as an area to watch. AI is the biggest mover this year so far. In my book, Tomorrow Today: How AI Impacts How We Work, Live, and Think, I highlighted the threat and opportunity that AI brings, and I revisited it again in Digital Sales Transformation in a Customer First World.
The risk is that we don’t stop and fully consider how to apply these technological advancements to our betterment. Most successful advances result from a conscious purposeful search for innovation opportunities. They are rarely accidental and they demand an uncommon level of domain-specific knowledge to be successful. Today’s technology enables innovations in processes, products and marketplaces at a pace we have never seen before. In addition to the technological advances, successful innovation requires ingenuity, focus and, above all else, insight into the problem being solved. That demands deep domain knowledge—particularly when applied to knowledge workers.
These principles apply equally to both Digital Transformation and Advancements in AI.
If you want to participate in the study (takes 10 minutes) and get a detailed perspective on what 2018 will mean for your customers and your business, the study is still open.
Participants also get to immediately download my most recent research publication Thriving in the Whirlwind.
Download THRIVING IN THE WHIRLWIND by participating in the 2018 Business Performance Benchmark Study (takes 5-10 minutes)
If you want to read more of my blogs please subscribe to Think for a Living blog. Follow me on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn. I want you to agree or disagree with me, but most of all: I want you to bring passion to the conversation.
Donal Daly is Executive Chairman of Altify having founded the company in 2005. He is author of numerous books and ebooks including the latest Amazon #1 Bestseller Digital Sales Transformation in a Customer First World (Nov 3, 2017) and his previous Amazon #1 Best-sellers Account Planning in Salesforce and Tomorrow | Today: How AI Impacts How We Work, Live, and Think. Altify is Donal’s fifth global business enterprise.