Implications of Digital Transformation on the Strategy Development Process for Business Leaders

Abstract

What the internet with its connectivity did to facilitate the third industrial revolution, cloud computing and artificial intelligence have done for the fourth industrial revolution. Technology is changing the world at an alarming rate, which includes products and services that require scale to manage the growing demands of an ever-changing and increasing population. Digital transformation is enabled through cloud technology where human comprehension cannot cope with the size and speed of data required to manage a business in the digital economy. Artificial intelligence and machine learning assist in activities to overcome human limitation, using algorithms to develop predictive and simulation models and scale to provide data for decision making. The technologies employed to run and execute these require skill and resource. The challenge for the modern-day CEO is that the use of technology and its demand in the digital economy of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is not fully understood by them due to their digital skill level and managing the generational skill sets in their structure.