The answers lay both within and in-between dragons and aspiring dragons, according to this contributor
Roughly a decade ago, Gartner Research coined the term ‘Digital Dragon’- referring to enterprises that “enabled radical digital disruption across industries and geographies”. These digital dragons have “the ability to build and orchestrate platforms and ecosystems, and the ability to analyze and monetize Big Data” by using AI.
Now, Asia is emerging as the powerhouse engineof global economic growth in the lunar year of the Dragon. How have Digital Dragons progressed in the region?
At the time of Gartner’s coining of the term, digital dragons were at the forefront of digital innovation, technology, and transformation. Today, with the advent of generative AI (GenAI) and the increased need (for all things technology) to drive operational resilience, businesses are expected to deliver growth amid an array of challenges. Business ecosystems have evolved vastly over the last few years to become highly complex and integrated; value chains have increasingly become non-linear; and these ‘hyper-connected’ are increasingly reliant on immersive interactions between more stakeholders.
AI then and now
In the last two years, ecosystem-wide agility have proven to be as important as a firm’s internal strength.
The democratization of GenAI and the speed it affords every user has been a major tech equalizer. We are seeing increased adoption of AI to enhance decision-making processes, automate mundane tasks, and improve overall efficiency.
In emerging markets, AI is becoming a transformative force, particularly in sectors such as healthcare, finance, and agriculture. It has been the main subject, but how it will transform businesses and the world along with it is yet to be seen. I believe, it will continue to accelerate and move to the next wave rather rapidly.
AI is obviously the topic of the year, and perhaps for the whole of the coming decade, but are there other aspects of digitalization that digital dragons in the region will need to excel at, if they are to maintain their competitive edge?
That leads us to another trajectory that is on its upward trend – security.
Securing the dragons
As we link more people and things in the hyper-connected ecosystem, attack surfaces become exposed, and cyber risks will increase manifold.
An increase in IoT usage also equates to a larger potential for risks and vulnerabilities at play.
To mitigate risks from such widespread connectivity accelerated by the transformative impact of AI, enterprises will need to ensure that they have robust guardrails. The rapidly increasing sophistication of both digital dragons and digital predators will lead to stronger impact and evasion tactics.
So, how can digital dragons and organizations in the region as a whole, direct their digital transformation journey with security, sustainability and resilience?
The answer, in my view is: we need to converge infrastructure and security solutions to create a more sustainable set of IT operations for enterprises and governments alike.
This paradigm of a holistic security infrastructure will also augur well for a more digital approach to a more sustainable world. A strong digital core can be both transformative and regenerative, unlocking human potential and boosting productivity exponentially. The differentiator will be technological innovation and agility.
So, to leverage technology to its fullest potential, organizations will need to adopt an end-to-end approach that impacts the entire value chain and the itself as a whole. Building the right skill sets will be crucial in achieving this goal. Several key trends will define successful corporate strategies going forward. These include tapping into the immense potential of GenAI, and valuing the critical importance of a holistic security infrastructure.
Most notably, there will be a need for a “constant cycle” of introspection, innovation, and technology embracement to stay ahead of the competition.
Other ways of the dragon
As the pace of innovation continues to accelerate, I expect businesses aspiring to be dragons to increasingly focus on “future-ready” networks that confer the ability to introduce new services quickly, effectively and securely.
The next generation of connectivity is all about flexible options that serve a variety of business needs. As such, we will see more hybrid and multi-cloud deployments that enable greater agility and business resilience.
Whether you are looking to transform your business into one of these dragons, or are simply partnering with one, be ready to take flight and soar. Keeping up with the times requires a commitment to continuous adaptation and a willingness to be agile and embrace new technologies and solutions.
