A top Malaysian expert recently highlighted that digital transformation is on the shoulders of chief executive officers (CEOs), and they must lead and influence the need for change.
In Malaysia private sector digital transformation, having CEOs that inspire change will assist technology innovations to push possibilities and drive new business ventures, the Managing Partner of a multinational professional services firm stated.
The expert noted that the three key secret ingredients for the digital transformation, according to him, were: inspire, innovate and inculcate. While having an open mind towards changes and keeping abreast of the best technologies works for individual companies, it’s also important to keep inspiring the employees, particularly to think differently.
Farsighted CEOs are already rewriting their playbooks and paving the way for innovation. A CEO promotes an environment of collaboration, investment and capabilities, he added.
The ability to assess new-age tech trends, understand the values they can deliver, and adopt the tech which is relevant to an organisation’s business model is a process of continuous adaptation. The rise of AI and other advanced emerging technologies is subjecting CEOs to relentless change.
It was pointed out that CEOs also cultivate agility and adaptability to create a versatile group of employees. ‘Inculcating’ is also about having the vision to sustain, to build, engage and lead teams that focus to achieve brave ambitions, which will drive innovation and growth.
Leaders must establish a framework to assess, activate and optimise digital efforts to build scale and support the expanding portfolio. Future capabilities must be identified to understand, activate the strategy and prepare the organisation for new growth and innovation plans.
The Police Force in Singapore was given as an example; they use data analytics in artificial intelligence (AI) to combat financial crimes.
Innovation, centres of excellence, organisation structure, agility and culture as well as training and hiring were outlined as key components to sustain digital transformation.
The expert noted that establishing a governance model for guiding and managing a program across the organisation is important. In addition, it is crucial to infuse design thinking and agility to enable organisations to respond to rapid market disruption.
In terms of training and hiring, it is imperative to offer learning and development initiatives that not only train existing staff but serve to attract new talent to the business.
The silver lining in the digital transition is that it allows companies to establish partnerships and ecosystems.
Companies were advised to set up strong and committed partnerships to keep the customer at the heart of the business and deliver what they truly want; build new paths that have not yet been imagined.
Noting that advances in technology have already transformed multiple industries to the benefit of consumers, he said data-led insights are making their experiences richer and more personalised.
CEOs must be aware of their talent pool and capabilities during this transition. Up-skilling and re-skilling of talent are imperative to build a future-ready team, and the right capabilities must be harnessed to mitigate technology-induced job loss.
Ultimately, digital transformation is about people and having an open mind to embrace it is what it takes, as technology can always be acquired eventually.
Budget 2020 Pushing Forward Digital Economy
The expert’s sentiments echoed those in Malaysia’s new 2020 Budget. An earlier report by OpenGov Asia stated that the 2020 Budget demonstrates that the local technology industry is continuing to get much attention from the government, which is intent on further boosting the capabilities of local SMEs and start-ups, strengthening digital content, embracing digitisation, enhancing e-commerce, and adopting 5G technology.
Local technology players, industry associations and tech agencies, in general, applaud the various allocations set aside towards making Malaysia a stronger player and contender in the technology arena, both locally and abroad.
Malaysia is poised to be a digital-first economy with a robust digital and social infrastructure that works towards bridging the opportunity divide in our journey to become a high-income nation.
