At a minimum, executives should understand the digital technologies required to run their company. If it fails, it wastes money, undermines competitive position, and ultimately threatens the company’s very existence in a total digital era. So what should they know?
The challenge here is for executives to drop everything and enroll in a master’s degree in computer science or information technology. Executives need to understand the basic topics and technologies that help them save money and make a profit.
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Business owners need to understand that they have the technology in their company to keep trains running on time (such as ERP and CRM systems) and the technology to enhance the products and services they sell in the market. This is the difference between operational technology and strategic technology.
Executives need to understand the role data plays in their tactical and strategic operations. They need to understand where the data comes from, how the data is organized and “cleaned up”, and how it is analyzed to generate explanations, explanations, predictions and prescriptions. They need to understand the need to invest in collecting and analyzing large and small datasets and the role real-time analytics plays in operational and strategic effectiveness.
Executives need to appreciate the competition for tech talent. They need to understand how competitive and expensive talent acquisition is and likely will be in the future. Employee skills and competencies are changing, and management believes that many “traditional” employees today, or especially tomorrow, may not have the competencies needed to achieve the company’s mission. You have to accept that there is Executives should develop dashboards that account for technology investments by current and emerging competitors.
Executives need to understand the full range of technology procurement options at their disposal. The trade-offs between insourcing, co-sourcing and outsourcing should be discussed and debated among management, managers and vendors. When effectively organized, procurement becomes a competitive advantage. Poor management can undermine the provision of even good products and services.
All executive teams should invest in innovative models, processes and technologies. Innovation itself must be prioritized through the best practices that are best for your industry and company.
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Executives don’t need to understand the inner workings of any particular technology. Unless, of course, the inner workings of the technology is their business. The challenge for executives is to understand which technologies are most influential today and which will be most influential in the near future. The definition of “near-term” is important because no one can predict the technology winners and losers of 2030. 3-5 years from now is fine.
Below is a curated – by no means exhaustive – list. technology All executives should understand
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Generative AI (GAI) are clearly the most important technologies for business owners to understand. Need to understand how AI/ML/GAI will impact their products and services and how competitors are using AI/ML/GAI to gain a competitive advantage there is. Internet of Things (IOT)/Internet of Everything (IOE) is a basket of sensors, data and analytics technologies that integrate people, processes and devices across all vertical industries. Executives need to discuss how IoT/IOE will impact their companies.
Development technology is also changing rapidly. Ten years ago, application development was much more difficult than it is today. Low-code and no-code platforms and open source programming repositories like GitHub have changed development forever. Executives need to understand the opportunity these development platforms and technologies offer to their company to provide a sufficient level of understanding and understanding of what it takes to design, develop and deploy the applications that run and grow their businesses. . He also needs to understand the role GAI plays in development and how low-code, GitHub and GAI work together to “replace” programming.
cloud computing is a technology basket that executives need to understand, especially the proliferation of remote everything. Software-as-a-Service will become the primary delivery mechanism for internal and external computing and communications technologies. Executives need to understand not only the opportunities (and risks) that cloud computing presents for their companies, but also their trajectory here.
New technology It contains various digital tools and technologies that may or may not disrupt business models and processes. It is necessary to keep track of ‘celebrity’ technologies such as AI/ML/GAI, IoT, advanced analytics, 5G/6G, blockchain, cybersecurity, robotics, augmented and virtual reality. Executives need to understand the broad applicability of emerging technologies and how they will be leveraged. It can affect their company.
Executives need to understand the ubiquity of technology. All businesses rely on internal and external technology to save costs and gain profits. Executives – all C-suite executives – need to adopt technology that fulfills their mission. The need for technology awareness has never been greater, so the need for executive education has never been more timely.
Conclusion
Business owners looking to optimize their technology investments need to understand the basics. Some knowledge of general technology trends is required. Some knowledge of how these trends translate into a particular list of “featured” technologies is also required. Executives also need some context and awareness of the impact of broader technology deployments that enable optimization, or at least the potential for optimization. Put a little differently, the more executives know about technology, the less money is wasted.
Stephen J Andriole is a professor of business technology and the author of: The Digital Handbook: How to Win the Strategic Technology Game
