Digital Transformation is the New Normal

By Khadim Batti, CEO and co-founder, Whatfix

It was impossible to predict the way the world would go in 2020. Whilst there have been deeply devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid acceleration of the tech driven age has shifted the needs of digital transformation, rendering it a critical component of 2020 successes. The need for digital transformation in this new remote digital age has been demanded across industries including healthcare, insurance, human resources, telehealth, education and more. We've learned that companies are not only more receptive to digital transformation, but see it as an efficient and cost effective way to propel the success of their industry forward in our "new normal."

In fact, remote work has accelerated the need for digital transformation. Businesses across multiple sectors are increasingly needing to rely on technology to onboard, train and maintain a global distributed workforce. In fact, IDC predicts that by 2024, "over 50% of all IT spending will be directly for digital transformation and innovation (up from 31% in 2018)."

The pandemic has also caused economic burdens, which means businesses need to think carefully about their technology investment. They need to ensure their investments are being spent in the right place and need to find ways to optimize their technology investments. IT leaders, especially those managing extensive tech stacks, are being asked more than ever before to justify their spend over the short- and long-term. The answer to both is simple: increase adoption and efficiency of the tools and platforms they've committed to. An entirely new category to service this exact need has been gaining momentum: Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs), which create customized, real-time, in-app guides and tutorials aimed at effectively onboarding and getting better results from complex offerings such as CRM systems.

I think that one of the notable rising trends of digital transformation this year has been the role of AI. For example, making informed sales decisions is easier and faster with AI-powered assistants that manage, analyze, and recall data on demand. Today more than ever, we've seen things like AI-powered assistants who are taking care of repetitive, data-driven work that would eat up time for a human employee. Using AI, the assistants are programmed to collect data, such as customer habits and sales numbers, and then recall that information instantly. Companies use AI-powered assistants to gain detailed insights into sales trends and customer behavior, which, in turn, help them create better sales strategies.

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About the Author

Khadim is the co-founder and CEO of leading Digital Adoption Platform, Whatfix. Prior to starting Whatfix, Khadim spent more than 10 years at Huawei Technologies leading the Business Intelligence unit. In his role, Khadim was responsible for managing the Deep Packet Inspection and BI product portfolio for the Huawei Central Research Division. Prior to Huawei, Khadim worked as the Program Manager for IBM Kenexa. Khadim holds a Master’s in Information Technology from IIIT Bangalore and Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from University of Mumbai.