Digital Transformation: Where are you growing next?
By: Kathleen Lovett
Have you heard the latest buzz on cryptocurrency or autonomous cars? While it may seem futuristic, Verizon Media reported that more than $1.5B in Bitcoin was traded in 2020. Ford also announced on September 15 that they were partnering with Walmart and Argo AI on an autonomous vehicle delivery service in three U.S. cities.
With the accelerated technology advancements and digital push from the pandemic, online business models are growing to increase convenience and productivity. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Cloud services have enabled data to be captured and processed at unprecedented speeds. Our mobile devices have shifted into smart hubs for HVAC management, security monitoring, entertainment streaming, location tracking, and shopping to support our daily lives.
In applying these digital capabilities to business, connectivity and process automation are critical to gain real-time insights and differentiate online customer experiences. Companies are also increasing supply chain partner connectivity via APIs and private blockchains to accelerate and improve the quality of transaction processing.
Digital transformation provides unique opportunities to lean into technical careers where business and IT need to co-author approaches to increase customer value and solve business problems.
Digital Transformation Areas
Several digital transformation areas need involvement of both business and IT professionals:
Digital transformation strategy
Diverse perspectives of consumer buying models, machine interaction and agile processes are important to craft meaningful strategic goals. Approaching as a phased transformation will help ensure success. Roles: Business, technology, digital product, HR organization, training, and communication leads.
Business process redesign
New digital experiences and models highlight business process pain points. To solve these challenges, low value activities need to be removed or automated. AI machines can perform data-driven tasks and learn processing rules to remove routine work such as data entry and business rule application. Roles: business process experts, project managers, automation developers, machine learning engineers.
Customer journey designs
Customer experiences are evolving to include multi-channel marketing, optimized screen navigation (UX), digital product presentation, account management, and augmented reality. Roles: digital marketing, designers, story writers, technical engineers, and developers.
Data analytics and insights
Online transactions and IoT connected devices provide significant data volumes. To inform decision-making through AI, data expertise, mining techniques and processing rules are key skills to advance machine learning. Roles: data scientists, data architects, machine learning experts, algorithm developers.
Cyber security and risk management
The sophistication of cyber hackers increases daily where AI machines are used to launch massive attacks impacting companies world-wide. Roles: product experts, application security engineer, network security engineer, forensic analysts, ethics compliance managers, project managers, training experts.
With the availability of on-demand cloud-based services, high computing power, and large data volumes, start-ups and digital business models can gain traction quickly and leverage talent spread throughout the world. This next generation of transformation presents an incredible opportunity to learn new digital technologies, engage in transformational activities and create personalized online experiences. Wishing you success and growth through digital transformation!
References:
Boulton, C. “What is digital transformation? A necessary disruption.” CIO Magazine – Digital Transformation. CIO.com, Jun 24, 2021. Web. Sep. 26, 2021.
Lisa, A. “Which Countries Are Using Cryptocurrency the Most?” finance.yahoo.com/news/. Verizon Media, Jun 28, 2021. Web. Sep. 26, 2021.
“Ford, Argo AI, and Walmart to Launch Autonomous Vehicle Delivery Service in Three U.S. Cities.” Ford Media Release Ford Motor Company, Sep 15, 2021. Web. Sep. 26, 2021.
About the Author
Kathleen founded a company specializing in digital strategies, transformation, and agile delivery services. Previously, she served as an executive at Thermo Fisher Scientific, crafting digital strategies to achieve business goals and leading global eCommerce, applications, and data analytics teams for six years. Prior to Thermo, she served for 20 years at United States Steel Corporation, including three years in their international division based in Slovakia and two years at a joint venture start-up in California.
Kathleen holds a bachelor’s in Computer Information Systems from Westminster College and earned an MBA and Master of Information Science from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. She’s a champion of diversity and inclusion with involvement in several community organizations. In her spare time, Kathleen enjoys running, beach-time and hikes with her family, especially in the Fall.
Connect with Kathleen on LinkedIn
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