SPS Global is a Business Reporter client.
For companies around the world, the time has come to drive operational excellence and reach future frontiers.
Global industries are facing a polycrisis: geopolitical conflicts, economic slowdown, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, climate change and other external pressures add to uncertainty.
However, companies are recognizing that this crisis also provides key opportunities to innovate, distinguish their businesses from the competition and lay the foundation for lasting success. Recent CEO surveys highlight growth as CEOs' top priority for the next 12 months. Instead of retreating or going unnoticed, 69 percent of CEOs They remain optimistic about their companies' prospects.
This focus on growth, despite external uncertainties, suggests a fascinating phenomenon. Companies are investing heavily to realign their organizations for growth, attract and retain talent, and develop product and service innovations. However, the largest investment planned is in technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), to optimize operations and design technology-driven business models.
A technology-driven growth strategy
The key management challenge is to define the transformation strategy towards technology-driven business models that are resilient and generate sustainable business growth. What are the important steps that will allow your company to take advantage of future opportunities ahead of the competition without losing pace with your current core business? This article explores five key enablers that can generate growth opportunities:
Business efficiency
Intelligent automation technologies such as AI, robotics, intelligent document processing, cloud and blockchain will redefine business operations. Streamlined processes will enable straight-through processing of standard business cases, allowing human talent to focus on complex cases and important customer contacts. Systematically optimizing business efficiency can set new benchmarks in operational excellence and free up resources for growth.
Customer experience (CX)
Technologies like Generative AI (GenAI) will revolutionize customer interactions, delivering predictive insights and automated solutions that refine the customer experience and deliver a competitive advantage. By offering personalized, omnichannel communication that resonates with customers, companies can foster long-term relationships. By leveraging data analytics, companies have a superior understanding of customer needs and can offer the right services at the right time. AI-enabled customer self-service options will accelerate response times, improve the service experience, and turn CX into a dynamic growth engine.
Employee Experience (EX)
65 percent of companies face labor shortages as a major barrier to growth. Implementing flexible hybrid workplaces and improving the employee experience are key to winning the war for talent. Virtual employee assistants combined with automation of cumbersome administrative tasks and streamlined office logistics can help ensure the best hybrid workplace experience, supporting employees wherever they are.
Agility and scalability
Scalable business models based on automation technology and global access to skilled employees will enable companies to quickly respond to changing market conditions and scale operations. Businesses can quickly adapt to new trends, quickly scale their operations and outperform their competitors, ensuring they are prepared for real-time growth and innovation.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards
ESG criteria are increasingly important for the decisions of consumers, employees and shareholders. Digitalization helps optimize supply chains and business processes, leading to reduced emissions and improved governance. In addition to this, we can leverage technology to track and monitor business processes and the corresponding ESG impact. This paves the way for implementing strong ESG principles at the core of business operations.
Key success factor: a holistic approach
The speed of technology adoption is not the only factor that determines the future success of a company. It is also essential to master integration into business processes. A holistic approach that encompasses people, processes and technology is key to maximizing benefits.
Take for example the use of GenAI for customer service automation. GenAI can be used to “understand” the content and context of incoming customer requests and automatically construct a response to the query. However, GenAI is not 100 percent accurate: it makes mistakes and “freaks out,” resulting in dissatisfied customers.
A holistic approach can redesign this process and detect the best possible combination of technology and human intervention touchpoints. An intelligent workflow engine can classify and route incoming queries based on predefined and scheduled trust levels. So, if there is a request with a 90 percent confidence level, the engine sends a summary and a GenAI-proposed response to a junior service agent for final verification before reaching the customer. If the query is complex and the confidence level is below a defined threshold, for example 50 percent, the request is sent to a senior service agent for detailed investigation.
Choose the right partner
A key challenge to technology-driven growth is having process and digital expertise, understanding the right time to invest, and adopting technology quickly. According to studies, 80 percent of companies. You will struggle to attract tech talent to drive digital business strategies. This is where strategic partners come into play.
Companies can better focus their core team on growth while seeking support for technology-driven process optimization and digital business operations. Businesses need a safe pair of hands that can cut through the noise of the market – a partner who has the knowledge and experience to apply technology in a business environment. Additionally, a good partner will provide core capabilities such as business process design, global operations, governance, and data security.
Unlock business growth
Visionary leaders will act proactively and transform today's challenges into tomorrow's triumphs. They will leverage technology and partnerships to optimize business operations and achieve maximum flexibility and scalability. They will strengthen their positioning by improving the customer experience. They will systematically use excellent employee experience to retain talent. They will detect future markets for technology-driven businesses before the competition, seize upcoming growth opportunities and outperform their rivals.
At SPS, we are committed to helping businesses unlock their growth potential through our suite of solutions for technology companies and enterprise workplaces. SPS stands as a strong transformation partner that reinvents the potential of artificial intelligence, data analytics and automation to set new benchmarks in business process operations, paving a path to unparalleled growth and efficiency.
Our team of experts has years of experience working with companies across a wide range of industries, from healthcare and finance to retail and manufacturing. To learn more about how your business can drive growth, visit spsglobal.com/en/growth-enablers.
