Technology fuels the Transformative Age

viously possible.

For these reasons, many refer to these times as the fourth industrial revolution. However, the inherent disruption is not caused solely by the technology: it is the application of technology to solve problems in different ways that is at the heart of the epochal disruption many businesses are set to go through.

This is the transformative age, a time in which organizations need to understand the potential of technology, explore the capabilities and reboot their business models and operations to be able to outsmart and outpace the competition. If we consider disruptive players such as Airbnb, Uber, Revolut and Udemy, there is nothing magical or special in their technology. Their revolutionary success is simply due to how they leveraged digital technology to enable different operating models, reduce costs, penetrate new markets and change the economics of their respective sectors.

EY’s research shows that the potential to automate tasks differs by more than 2X across sectors and up to 7X between functions as varied as finance (heavily rules-based, in which 80 per cent of the tasks hold potential for automation) and learning and development (with only 12 per cent of the work potentially subject to automation). While it is important to understand the applicability of automation in one’s sector, we found that every sector can transform roughly a third of its work.

Key to the success of the companies causing the disruption is the ability to innovate. Organizations that realise this are seeking support to be guided through the cultural and organisational changes necessary to foster a company environment where employees think outside the box, are inspired to do things differently and are motivated to experiment and fail. It is a bold move for the manage- ment of more traditional organizations to recognise that the technology itself is not going to be the differentiator or protection from disruptive competition, but that it is nevertheless necessary to invest in the innovation process and culture of the organisation.

Undoubtedly, one needs to have access to the knowledge, expertise and experience of emerging technologies. One also needs the ability to understand how to apply such technology to rethink business model or operational processes. At EY, we engage our clients by asking better questions, We bring together multi-disciplinary teams, sector expertise and technology professionals to help them approach digital transformation from a holistic perspective. In collaboration with our internal IT teams, our global delivery network and partners we also help to develop prototypes, pilots and production solutions that become the engine of our clients’ rethought processes.

We believe that for an organisation to harness the potential of digital, it should be considered as part of the whole, and not as some discrete function. Technology-driven disruption of the workplace is nothing new. Innovations throughout history, from the plough to the steam engine to the desktop computer, have displaced existing workers and organizations by creating new business models, revenue streams and talent needs. In the same way, automation has the potential to radically reshape organizations and the people within them. It’s a way of thinking and behaving that needs to be embedded across the entire value chain – from strategy and design through to execution and the management of risks.

www.ey.com/en_gl/digital