Digital Transformation

With 2022, nearing its end, aspiring entrepreneurs look forward to the business trends shaping the following year. One such trend is the rising importance of digital transformation. Digital transformation is exactly what it sounds like, it is the adoption of digital technology by an organization to digitize originally non-digital products, services, or operations. Through this process, a company can dramatically increase its value to customers by improving its experience and its own efficiency. Some examples of recent digital transformation are the transition towards a remote-first workspace, utilizing AI-driven insights to improve efficiency and the widespread introduction of robotics in different industries.

With the widespread impact of COVID-19 requiring many employees to work from home, to minimize contact, many organizations and companies have shifted their strategy to accommodate this. Remote-first workspace in simple terms means that people aren’t required to perform their jobs from a centralized physical office. Many employees have found working from home more productive, satisfying, and flexible for their schedules. Of course, the question you might have is, how does this relate to digital transformation? For companies to adopt a remote-work policy, certain infrastructures such as cloud-based technology to organize information and coordinate members are required. Digital technology such as Zoom, Slack, and google workspace has made this goal approachable for many businesses. In fact, besides just the workplace these innovations have been showing up in familiar places such as schools. At first, the transition was a bit confusing, but once I got into the routine of attending classes online, my skepticism turned to appreciation, as I found myself filled with free time, and enjoying the many added benefits of convenience. Digital transformation requires embracing the unknown and utilizing technologies (such as Zoom) to transform and dramatically improve the effectiveness of your organization.

Besides adapting to the effects of COVID-19, many companies are finding ingenious ways to improve their company's efficiency through AI-driven analytics. Many of us pride ourselves on being excellent pattern finders and identifying trends that less skilled people may miss, but the truth is, we’re outclassed by modern AI. AI analytics automates the role of a data analyst in order to discover insights and relationships in a much more effective and efficient way. With this, many companies are able to adapt their strategy to improve customer experience and identify new ways to become more competitive in their respective industry. Every successful company utilizes AI to improve the customer experience, for example, Netflix caters its recommendations based on a large set of data, and Facebook analyzes your interactions, likes, and much more to come up with their own recommendations. Even retail stores utilize AI to identify ways to enhance the customer experience, this is everywhere and constantly improving.

In a similar way to AI-driven analytics, robotics are driving change in many businesses by dramatically increasing productivity. Within businesses, there are many mundane, repetitive but essential tasks that need to be completed with high accuracy. This is where robotics come in, they’re perfect for automating tasks necessary to support a business, and with constant improvement, they’re finding themselves in a greater variety of businesses. For example, some companies are experimenting with robots in customer service positions with great success. As to why the field of robotics has grown so much recently and looks especially exciting in 2023, is due to component prices dropping, and greater information sharing which reduces some of the common barriers to implementing and developing robotics.

There is no doubt that 2023 will bring many brilliant innovations in various industries but it is important to understand that these great strides couldn’t have been accomplished without digital transformation. For future entrepreneurs, it’s important to understand the systems and technology out there to enhance your competitiveness. This article gives only a glimpse of the wonderful technologies that will soon be a cornerstone in every industry. I believe that one of the most exciting things to look forward to is the substantial improvement in artificial intelligence technologies. While many are fearful of the implications of advanced technologies replacing humans in jobs, for entrepreneurs this relatively new technology can be an excellent area to begin a business, given you have the right skill set.

~ LAU, Nathan

Sources:

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