Each fall, APC members determine their highest priority topics to address at their three meetings per year plus virtual sessions between meetings. Topics are proposed by APC members and leaders, APC Research Advisory Board members (Vijay Gurbaxani, Gabriel Piccoli, Michael Wade, Rick Watson, George Westerman), and other leading researchers. Members then indicate their highest priority topics by voting.
The just-concluded poll for 2021 has some key themes. Given that APC’s members are senior technology executives from large companies, it’s not surprising that digital transformation tops the list. Aspects of digital transformation members want explored range from strategic to tactical. What are the most important benefits to be gained through true digital transformation vs. process improvement and efficiencies? What challenges are associated with the execution and dynamics of digital transformation initiatives? What can we learn from companies that have been successful and those that haven’t? What are the best practices for digital transformation at traditional companies? What new business model opportunities can AI enable? How can we digitally transform our businesses while slogging through technology debt?
Another key theme relates to current and post-covid-19 strategies and practices. What leadership practices and cultural environment can best support remote work? How can we learn from practices that led to greater productivity during the pandemic that we can apply post pandemic? How can we best “show up” now to demonstrate our lasting values as a company?
New and emerging technologies always play a large role in APC agendas and 2021 will continue this trend. Machine learning, AI, bots, data, analytics, and enterprise data management are high on the list of important topics to explore.
Finally, APC members want to gain insight into how organizations in 2030 are likely to look different from those in 2020. What skills and businesses will be required to leverage new and emerging technologies? What will be required for businesses to fundamentally rethink their supply chains, relationships with customers, and products and services they deliver.
The APC has now engaged speakers and researchers to address these themes and answer the questions in 2021. The researchers include:
- Michael Wade of IMD (improving digital transformation success post covid-19)
- Vijay Gurbaxani of University of California at Irvine (digital transformation execution and dynamics)
- Nicholas Berente of University of Notre Dame (platform inversion as a digital transformation strategy)
- Amit Joshi of IMD (intelligence transformation)
- Ahmed Abbasi of University of Notre Dame (data and analytics).