Getting digital transformation right in the age of AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) marks the biggest technological change in a generation. In fact it’s supercharging many business areas through new tools, systems and technologies. For example, the shift toward agentic AI has moved at a pace that’s hard to overstate, and boardroom agents are even beginning to act as support partners for leaders.

Businesses being able to deploy new AI capabilities quickly has become a benchmark for success. This is often the headline takeaway of management meetings. However, the more important conversation revolves around how organisations identify where AI creates genuine business value, rather than adopting it simply because they feel they should.

Business leaders across the UK need to learn to differentiate the hype around the technology, with the reality of the benefits it is providing.  For example, research shows that AI is adding pressure and complexity for organisations. This is despite being positioned as a solution to easing workloads. While the technology is expected to help teams do more with less, the constant integration of new tools, options, and ways of working, can cause a decline in ROI, or governance issues, if not integrated correctly.

Vitally, for AI to be truly beneficial to an organisation, it must be the right technology to solve a business problem. It must also be integrated effectively as part of wider digital transformation, with tailored support for the workforce.

Rather than viewing AI as the starting point for digital transformation, organisations should first ensure they have the right foundations in place. If rolled out efficiently, AI has the potential to:

• enhance efficiency
• improve customer service
• increase productivity

However, businesses shouldn’t rush to adopt the latest hype in AI or treat it as an answer before clearly defining the problem. Instead, teams should explore more cost effective, tried and tested solutions, such as automation first.

In many cases, automation delivers immediate operational benefits. This is often without the complexity, cost, risk or cultural concerns that can come with large-scale AI adoption. The conversation should not always start with “Where can we use AI?” but instead “What repetitive problems can we solve better today?”.

Significant value remains in automating existing processes beyond AI tools. Doing so reduces manual effort and duplication, improves workflows and customer experience, and frees up staff time. Organisations will see greater and faster value by focusing on getting the tried and tested fundamentals in place first, before jumping on the latest trend.

Automation helps ease pressure and meet expectations for modern, resilient, high-quality digital services. It offers a practical, achievable way to ease the load while improving outcomes. From automated parking and waste systems to digital case management in social care, processing times can be significantly reduced, and costly errors minimised.

With new innovations constantly being introduced to the business landscape, keeping ahead of the curve is essential to avoid stagnation. Digital transformation helps to ensure the best, most cost-effective solutions are being utilised and that employee needs are met.

Rather than blindly adopting the latest technology, teams need to take a strategic approach. This will identify the right solution for each challenge, balance innovation with practical business needs and long-term value.

Digital transformation has long moved on from focusing solely on equipment and software. It’s now a core business strategy to ensure continued growth of an organisation and improvements to the customer experience. The strongest digital transformation projects consider how to continuously improve end-user experiences.  A culture of innovation and support should also be fostered. This can be achieved by keeping people central to any transformation and ensuring upskilling and training.

AI will undoubtedly shape the future of business. However it shouldn’t define every transformation strategy. Organisations that understand the problems that need to be solved, prioritise getting business foundations in place and support their people will be better equipped to deliver lasting business value.

Read more about our work delivering successful digital transformation.