‘Shift your tech strategy’: 3 keys to positive ROI

An overwhelming majority of business leaders say their companies are increasing their technology investment, but a large majority also admit their technology isn’t fully aligned.

A new Grant Thornton report sets out to help companies achieve alignment during digital transformation.

Ninety-three percent of 550 senior executives in multiple industries surveyed for “Shift Your Tech Strategy” reported that their organizations are increasing tech investment this year, yet just 27% described their tech as fully aligned to business objectives.

What are businesses to do?

In short, according to the report, learn from the past and embrace the opportunities that technological advances afford.

Then: Tech transformation required massive system overhauls.
Now: Maximizing existing tools can efficiently improve ROI.

In the survey, 77% said their organizations are in the process of or are considering add-ons or upgrades to current systems in order to expand capabilities, and nearly as many (63%) are pursuing upgrades to make current systems compatible with one another. In contrast, just 36% reported pursuing complete overhauls of foundational systems.

While senior leaders listed “integration with existing systems” as the top tech challenge that they expect this year, clearly they consider it a challenge worth tackling in light of the potential return on investment (ROI).

Then: Traditional ROI metrics guided investments.
Now: Usage metrics clarify technology’s impact.

When asked to rank the top three ROI metrics they plan to measure related to new tech investment, respondents favored traditional retrospective metrics — reduced operational cost, increased revenue, and customer satisfaction.

While those are important, the top reasons that respondents said past tech initiatives failed (user adoption challenges, approaches that took too long) suggest that real-time usage metrics are being underused when measuring ROI.

Respondents listed lower on their ROI metrics priority list things like “employee satisfaction” and “reduced operational times,” metrics that could help signal whether a new tech initiative is on the path to successful implementation.

Then: Companies centered tech investment on internal process improvements.
Now: Customer needs direct strategic tech priorities.

Just behind cybersecurity, respondents said their changes in tech this year are paced by customer interfaces, as well as generative AI investment.

“Organizations that center digital transformation around customer experience see clearer paths to revenue growth,” the report stated. “With generative AI initiatives in particular, businesses initially implemented technology internally out of fear of exposing customers to potential AI-delivered mistakes that could harm brand reputation.

“But now that they have developed guardrails around AI use, companies are using customer-facing AI platforms to satisfy customers — who are enjoying the personalization that AI provides.”

MEMBER RESOURCES

• Digital Transformation and Underpinning Technologies (CPE self-study)

• Developing an AI Strategy: Key Insights (digital report)

• Navigating Digital Transformation: Leveraging Technology for a Competitive Edge (webcast)

• Gen AI and the Future of Finance & Accounting (video emphasizing future readiness)

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.