5 ways to be a transformational CIO
Jay Ferro, a top CIO who is currently with Quikrete, shares advice on how to thrive as a technology-focused business leader.
Over my 20 years in various business and technical roles, I’ve come to appreciate the motto, “If everything is a priority, nothing is.” Prioritizing effectively — nailing down precisely what customers and employees need and expect, and what businesses can realistically deliver — is an ongoing struggle for most decision makers. But in today’s hyper-competitive landscape, the trade-offs between what requires immediate attention and what can wait can also be the difference between success and failure.
Digital transformation, in particular, is not a can to kick down the road if a company is to remain viable. This is where Salesforce’s new Enterprise Technology Trends report offers critical insight.
Salesforce researchers examine how IT leaders across the globe are prioritizing 10 hot topics when considering their strategy, skill sets, and future states. The report shows that top priorities for IT leaders include improving customer experience, security, integration, employee experience, and mobile — all of which make good sense. These are among the most critical building blocks of any enterprise technology strategy today, and — when done well — help to make companies attractive to customers, employees, investors, and others.
But what’s much more revealing, in my view, are the initiatives that are not topping IT’s agenda, according to the report: artificial intelligence (AI), voice technology, blockchain, the developer experience, and learning and skills development. When you consider that 69% of people say that emerging technologies are fundamentally changing how they live, and more than half of customers actively seek to buy from the most innovative companies, the question emerges: how long can IT leaders put such initiatives off and still remain competitive?
1. Artificial intelligence: changing the rules of business
As the Salesforce research confirms, many IT leaders are prioritizing initiatives that improve the customer experience, a vital lever in pursuit of growth and customer retention. AI-powered voice technology is a powerful tool to support this approach. Intelligent assistants such as Siri or products like Amazon Echo with Alexa play the part of personal assistant, helping consumers expedite activities such as ordering groceries from a mobile device, browser, or chat platform.
Service agents are using voice-powered AI chatbots to help customers perform simple tasks such as changing a password. This frees up customer support teams to apply their brainpower to more complex queries. Voice technology can also be integrated with back-end IT systems in areas such as managing inventory or customer relationships. Conversational CRM platforms and digital assistants can help sales reps quickly access phone numbers, while human resources teams can onboard employees faster.
Yet despite voice technology’s growing impact, we found only 22% of IT leaders consider it to be a high priority, and only 14% have a completely defined voice technology strategy.
This sets up potential challenges for companies. As customers get used to interacting with companies through voice, they will increasingly expect to do so in all of their digital interactions. Salesforce’s research underlines this point. Today, 58% of customers say voice assistants are actively changing their expectations of companies. Already, 23% prefer to use them when communicating with companies.
The Salesforce report shows that, even if IT leaders’ can’t prioritize voice technology amongst their litany of other pressing initiatives, they very much recognize its significance: 68% of IT leaders expect voice technology to be a key part of their business processes within two years.
At the same time, while adoption of customer-facing voice technologies is projected to increase by 139% during that time frame, internal use cases are also set for significant expansion. Adoption of employee-facing voice technologies is expected to increase by 232% within two years.
Adoption of customer-facing voice technologies is projected to increase by 139% in two years, while adoption of employee-facing voice technologies is expected to increase by 232% within two years.
Soon, customers and employees will expect to engage with brands across every industry through voice-enabled interfaces. This is why I believe that enabling teams to deploy such capabilities is a key competitive differentiator now, and table stakes going forward.
3. Blockchain: adding business value through new offerings
Related Topics:
Artificial Intelligence
CXO
Innovation
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