Agile in structure and leading in technology – is your business ready for the future?

Megatrends are reshaping the future

Various global trends are affecting businesses today and will continue to do so in the future. These trends influence every enterprise, sector and economy on a global scale. These trends are:

• Asymmetry: The increasing wealth disparity and the erosion of the middle class
• Disruption: The pervasive aspect of technology and its impact on individuals, society and climate 
• Age: The demographic pressure on businesses, social institutions and economies
• Polarisation: The breakdown in global consensus and a fracturing world, with growing nationalism and populism
• Trust: The declining confidence in the institutions underpinning society

Thriving in the future means being able to adjust to these and various other trends by taking advantage of new technology and lean business practices. However, such a transition might not come naturally. How do businesses need to adapt to turn trends into opportunities?

Evaluate the potential of agile structures

The challenges in an established, extended and highly regulated market are numerous and range from dispersed teams and high domain and technical complexity, to regulatory scrutiny. Today, most organisations separate business from IT functions in their organisational structure and split the responsibilities for running and changing the business into silos. Enterprise agility aims to seek a pragmatic and adaptive way of structuring the business to focus on products, services and solutions that are aligned with customer needs. Businesses seeking to introduce agile methodologies into their organisational structure and culture are restructuring their business models to make their identified value streams the focus of their operating models.

Emerging technologies and digital levers as digital transformation accelerators

Leveraging digitalisation and technology is one of the key drivers of success across any industry. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, Cloud-powered solutions, Distributed Ledger Technology and Robotic Process Automation can have an enormous impact on businesses if we are willing not only to accept, but to embrace them. Embracing such emerging technologies enables businesses to gain a competitive advantage and move rapidly on the market.

Benefits of fostering agile structures and embracing emerging technologies

There is a broad range of benefits that could result from embracing an agile transformation journey and facilitating emerging technologies. Such benefits include:

Fundamental shifts in growth and prosperity are expected in the near future as a result of emerging technology and digitalisation. It is therefore paramount for organisations to stay flexible and competitive and to focus on customer centricity, incorporation of technology and agility in doing business.

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