Digital transformation is resulting in radical shifts across industries. Customer expectations of experience are rising, there is disintermediation, direct channels are becoming more important, new competitors are emerging, and boundaries across industries are blurring. Such radical shifts are both a threat and an opportunity. For enterprises to emerge as winners in the digital age, it is critical that they form a forward-looking picture of how their industry is likely to evolve so they can anchor their business and technology strategies accordingly. This anchoring of digital transformation programs in outside-in industry changes is extremely critical to realizing the full potential of digital. However, this is not an easy exercise. While there are several common characteristics in the shifts happening across industries, their specifics and degree of development vary significantly. It is not easy to predict the nature and speed of evolution in each industry. While deep industry specific context and insight is of course important, there is a lot of value in observing patterns from other industries and trying to develop foresight. However, the interesting thing is that the industry maturity curve is not a given; enterprises can shape it based on their efforts. This is one of the distinguishing features of the digital age – you have the ability to shape your own future!
Let’s take a look at a few industries.