Elevating Digital’s Role in Business through Innovation and Strategic Partnership

Rebranding Digital as a True Business Partner

To rebrand Digital as a true partner to the business, it is essential to shift the narrative from technology as a support function to one where digital transformation directly aligns with business objectives. This involves ensuring that every digital initiative is focused on value creation, such as driving revenue growth, improving customer experience, and enhancing operational efficiency.

The first step in this rebranding is embedding digital leaders within business units to ensure closer alignment. These leaders should not only understand the technology landscape but also have a deep grasp of business challenges and strategic goals. By fostering a culture of collaboration and co-creation, Digital leaders can position technology as a key enabler of business success. For example, rather than viewing technology as a backend function, digital teams work alongside business units to explore how AI, automation, and advanced analytics can open new growth opportunities or reduce costs.

By doing this, Digital becomes an integral part of the decision-making process and is seen as a value-adding partner, not just a service provider.

Streamlining Technology for Better Engagement with the Business

To better engage with the business, it is essential to streamline the technology landscape while maintaining close collaboration with business units. A dual-track approach is the most effective method here, where foundational issues such as cloud optimization, application rationalization, and shadow IT management are addressed concurrently with business-driven initiatives. This ensures that Digital and IT functions are not siloed but are dynamically evolving alongside business needs.

Rather than waiting to “get Digital in order” before engaging with the business, Digital leaders must be agile, addressing technical debt and foundational issues while simultaneously collaborating on business projects. This way, the business sees immediate results from digital efforts, while the underlying infrastructure is gradually strengthened to support future initiatives.

Additionally, establishing a team of “Tech Translators” within Digital can bridge the communication gap between technology experts and business stakeholders. These individuals help simplify technical jargon, ensuring both sides fully understand concerns, priorities, and opportunities. This builds stronger trust and engagement, positioning Digital as a key player in business strategy execution.

Implementing a Product-Oriented Delivery (POD) Model

To further streamline digital initiatives and ensure alignment with business goals, many organizations are adopting a Product-Oriented Delivery (POD) model. In this model, cross-functional teams—known as pods—are formed, with each team dedicated to specific business areas or capabilities. Each pod is led by a Product Owner, who serves as the primary point of contact for the business, ensuring that digital efforts remain closely aligned with business objectives.

The POD model fosters agility by decentralizing decision-making, allowing Product Owners to prioritize work based on the business’s immediate and long-term needs. This structure enables faster responses to changes in market dynamics, customer needs, or technological advances. For example, a pod dedicated to customer experience may focus on deploying AI-driven chatbots to enhance engagement, while another pod working on operations may prioritize supply chain optimization through digital twins.

This model also fosters a deeper partnership between Digital and the business, as Product Owners act as the translators between technical teams and business stakeholders. By having dedicated, agile teams focused on specific business capabilities, the organization ensures digital solutions are effectively delivered and aligned with strategic priorities.

Embracing Innovation: Moving Beyond Service Delivery

Digital leaders must embrace their role as innovation drivers to move beyond traditional service delivery. A proactive approach to innovation is key—rather than waiting for business units to request technological solutions, Digital leaders should actively introduce emerging technologies and showcase their potential through the “art of the possible.”

To inspire and engage business stakeholders, Digital leaders can present forward-looking use cases, even from other industries, to illustrate how new technologies can solve complex challenges or unlock new opportunities. For example, showcasing how AI has been used to reduce time-to-market in pharmaceuticals or how digital twins are revolutionizing manufacturing processes can stimulate curiosity and help business leaders envision how such innovations could be applied in their own operations.

The Three Horizons Framework is an excellent tool for building a structured innovation strategy:

• Horizon 1 focuses on improving current operations, such as optimizing processes using AI-driven automation or advanced analytics to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
• Horizon 2 identifies adjacent growth opportunities, like applying IoT and digital twins to optimize logistics or improve customer interactions.
• Horizon 3 explores disruptive innovations, such as integrating AI with blockchain to create entirely new business models or using quantum computing to solve previously unsolvable problems.

By regularly scanning the market and proactively presenting these horizons and use cases, Digital leaders inspire the business to think long-term and beyond incremental improvements, driving true innovation. This approach shifts Digital from being a reactive service provider to a proactive strategic partner leading the organization into the future.

Conclusion

The role of Digital and IT has evolved far beyond operational support to become a critical enabler of business transformation and innovation. By rebranding Digital as a partner to the business, streamlining technology while working hand-in-hand with business units, and adopting a Product-Oriented Delivery model, Digital leaders can ensure close alignment with business goals.

Embracing proactive innovation and utilizing tools like the Three Horizons Framework allow Digital leaders to inspire the business, driving the organization toward sustainable, long-term growth. With a focus on both immediate value creation and future-proofing the business, Digital becomes not just a support function but a key driver of competitive advantage and strategic success. By fostering strong communication and collaboration, Digital can move beyond service delivery to play a central role in shaping the future of the business.