CIO & LEADER-Issue-01-April 2018 (1)

around
thetech
WhAT
CIOs are
tired of
hearing...
“The CIO
office is a
cost center”
Leadership
Why so few CIOs drive
digital transformation?
A recent research that we
conducted on digital transformation
in some of the core sector
companies in three of India’s top
business groups—Tatas, Mahindra
& Mahindra and Vedanta/Sterlite—
threw some interesting trends.
One of the few points on which
there seem to be a near-complete
consensus among digital leaders,
other CXOs and consultants is that
only a senior, dedicated executive
can drive digital transformation.
‘Dedicated’ is the keyword here.
The current thinking is that driving
digital transformation is a full-time
job. It cannot be just another KRA
for some executive!
It is not too difficult to explain why.
A typical transformation journey,
especially in a traditional business,
could involve a lot of time and focus
to prepare the organization before it
could leverage technology.
“60-70% of the transformation
journey is actually about bringing
a culture shift,’ says Nischal Gupta,
Chief Transformation Officer
at Sterlite Tech. Almost
all executives we spoke to
identified culture shift as
the toughest part of the
transformation journey that
requires undivided attention.
That can be manifested
in a lot of discussion with
other C level executives,
creating communication
programs for all employees,
branded programs and a lot
of similar stuff. Tata Steel,
for example, started with a
reverse mentoring program
where 16 senior executives
agreed to be reverse mentored
by the youngsters. There was
another program called Digital
Enthusiastic Exploration
Program (DEEP) that involved
60 people immersing in
technology. There was another
called Digital Darshan. All
these programs do require
considerable time and focus.
4 CIO&LEADER | April 2018