Every employee in a company can initiate a technology revolution – Accenture Technology Vision 2021 report

The latest installment of the Technology Vision 2021 report titled “Leaders Wanted: Masters of Change at a Moment of Truth” discusses how leading companies are driving digital transformation. Actions that took decades in the past are now implemented in a year or two. Many companies are making efforts to redefine how they operate and adapt to the realities during the COVID-19 pandemic using technological innovations.

– Global pandemic has caused a gigantic acceleration of digitization processes. Many organizations have begun to leverage technology in unique ways to keep their businesses and communities viable. They do it at a pace they previously thought impossible – said Jacek Borek, managing director of Accenture Technology in Poland. – We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to use this moment of crisis as a catalyst for change that will redefine the future of business through technology – expert adds.

For the Technology Vision report, Accenture interviewed more than 6200 business and technology leaders. 92% said that this year their organizations are focusing on getting innovation up and running quickly. 91% of executives agree that gaining market share in the future will require their organizations to redefine the market in which they operate.

Among the most critical factors to ensure organizations’ success, survey respondents identify three elements. First, being a leader requires implementing pioneering technological solutions. The era of quick followers is coming to an end. The leaders will be those who put technology at the forefront of their business strategy. Second, leaders will not wait for things to stabilize and then adapt to new realities. They will create them themselves, using different ways of thinking and operating models. Finally, leaders will take broader responsibility, engage socially, consciously designing and using technology to make a positive impact far beyond the enterprise to create a more sustainable and inclusive world.

The Technology Vision report identifies five key trends that will shape business over the next three years:

– Stack Strategically: Architecting a Better Future – The changes and sudden influx of new technologies that were companies’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic have ushered in a new era in business – one in which architecture matters more than ever and industry competition is a battle between technology stacks. Building and having the most competitive technology stack means changing the way we think about technology. Business and technology strategies will become inseparable. 89% of executives believe that their organization’s ability to generate business value will increasingly depend on the limitations and capabilities of technology architecture.

– Mirrored World: The Power of Massive, Intelligent, Digital Twins -Digital twins are representations or simulations of real entities or systems. Leaders build smart digital twins to create living models of factories, supply chains, product life cycles, etc. Combining data and analytics to map the physical world in the digital space will create new opportunities for action, collaboration and innovation. 65% of top executives surveyed predict that their organization’s investment in smart digital twins will increase over the next three years.

– I, Technologist: The Democratization of Technology – Powerful technology capabilities are now available to people across company departments, allowing even rank-and-file employees to have a say in shaping the strategies of innovative companies. This approach allows people to optimize their work or solve problems themselves. This is an opportunity for every company to make their employees a key part of their digital transformation efforts. But to do this successfully, leaders will need to implement innovation in every business unit, give employees access to new tools, but also teach employees to think about technology. 88% of executives believe that democratizing technology is becoming critical to their ability to initiate innovation across the organization.

– Anywhere, Everywhere: Bring Your Own Environment – The biggest workforce change ever forced companies to expand their corporate boundaries. After the pandemic, no one will go back to the work style that existed before. Both organizations and employees are entering a new reality, one where work can be done from anywhere in the world. In the past, companies allowed employees to bring their own laptops or smartphones to the office. Employers had to set new rules and find technology solutions, providing flexibility while mitigating the risks associated with the emergence of devices over which they did not have full control. It has given employees the chance for a better work experience and allowed companies to make savings. Now it’s scaling up: employees are creating their own jobs. 81% of executives agree that leading organizations in their industry will begin to shift from a “bring your own device”” approach to a „create your own environment” approach;.

– From Me to We: A Multiparty System’s Path Through Chaos – Multilateral systems share data across individuals and organizations in ways that increase efficiency, build new business models and generate revenue. These include blockchain, distributed ledger, distributed database, tokenization, and many other technologies and capabilities. 90% of top executives surveyed say multi-stakeholder systems will enable their ecosystems to build more resilient and flexible foundations and create new value with their organization’s partners.

– Prioritizing technological innovation in response to a rapidly changing world has never been more important. Take the restaurant industry, for example: 60% of the restaurants that were listed as “temporarily closed” activities on Yelp in July had permanently closed by September. Throughout the chaos, Starbucks emerged as a leader, using technology to expand its customer service and retail channels. By August last year, 3 million new users had downloaded the Starbucks app globally, and mobile ordering and drive-thru pickup accounted for 90% of the. sales. Due to growing demand, the company has implemented an integrated order management system that combines orders from the app, Uber Eats and from drive-thru customers into one system for baristas. Starbucks also introduced a new coffee machine with sensors that track the amount of coffee poured and predict the need for service. This is a great illustration of how technology is a key enabler for a company to respond to change efficiently, flexibly and effectively – says Jacek Borek, managing director of Accenture Technology in Poland.

For 21 years, Accenture has systematically analyzed the enterprise landscape to identify emerging technology trends that have the greatest potential to change the face of companies and industries. The full report is available at: Accenture Technology Vision 2021.