In a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of the most important issues for global and Australian CEOs, disruptive technology ranked first and innovation culture second. The objective of this research project was to determine how successful organisations decode these issues. We also aimed to create a palette of insights for CEOs and Boards to analyse and progress their own organisations towards best-in-class. We conducted a survey of all The CEO Circle members and received 185 completed surveys with a response rate of 75% from the members. This represented 110 CEOs, 18 Non-Executive Directors, and 56 other C-Level and Business Unit Heads.
Although the digital age is said to have begun around 1994 with the commercialisation of the worldwide web, it wasn’t until 2013 that the current era of disruption became apparent1. Within a few months, many of the world’s academic and business experts were pronouncing a new era, with the main drivers being artificial intelligence and the ubiquitous development of software programs.
The impact is clear: already many industries’ business models are being disrupted, and there are very few industries where these technology developments will not have a major impact. So, how do CEOs and Boards deal with this strategic change and what can we learn from the most successful organisations? Previous research by the author has identified five key issues for success.