Human Transformation: Beyond Digital Adoption

Digital transformation coupled with the development of increasingly advanced technology - artificial intelligence, big data, 3D printing, blockchain, augmented reality, and so on – has seen digitalization slowly, but surely, impact almost all areas of our lives, especially over the last five years.

- Hermawan Kartajaya

Whilst the substantial benefits of digital transformation saw many organizations invest heavily, not all took it as imperative. A survey conducted in higher education discovered that the feeling of a lack of urgency was the biggest single obstacle to digital transformation. Then the world is shocked by the COVID-19 outbreak which disturbed many things and forced everyone to adopt new behaviours. It also accelerated the pace of digital transformation. As Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, noted, We've seen two years' worth of digital transformation in two months.

Digital transformation is not solely a technological process, it’s much broader than that. Technology is only one part. Looking broadly, business transformations that have occurred due to the adoption of digital technology can be categorized into four major types.