The Journey to Digital First is Within Reach

What does it mean to be “digital first”? Is it moving all operations to the cloud? Is it embracing the “new normal” of a fully or partially remote workforce? Implementing new delivery models?

It’s all of the above — and then some.

What was an aspirational goal pre-pandemic is now a must-have: digital transformation is necessary to scale business capabilities to meet customer needs and expectations. This is no time to be only partly committed. Late adopters run the risk of being swamped by competitors who recognize what’s at stake and have directed their energies (and budget) accordingly.

Technology leaders — and especially CIOs — need to be nimble and assertive in the face of this change. But most have more questions than answers about the next steps they need to take.

In my conversations with CxOs, some of the most valuable exchanges came when peers were given the opportunity to share their experiences with each other and talk through strategy successes, failures, useful tools and tips to adopt digital technology at the pace that’s been set as the “new normal.”

Thus, The Journey to Digital First was born: a series of interviews that aims to understand how different leaders across various verticals are adjusting business models and making strategic investment decisions to use technology as a competitive differentiator.

In 2021, I interviewed four technology executives leading their respective organizations through continuous digital-first journeys: Rhonda Gass, CIO at Stanley Black & Decker; Shawn Purvis, CEO at QinetiQ US; Bradford Newton, CIO at North Memorial Health; and Eric Redmond, Metaverse Studio Lead of the Tech Innovation Office at Nike. Each episode takes us through these leaders’ professional backstories and offers a glimpse into the values that influenced their strategic decisions in pushing for a digital-first organization.

This year, I’m very excited to continue the conversations with more executives, across more industries, with more stories to share. Subscribe to the Apptio YouTube channel to catch new episodes as they’re released!