Fast-tracking the digital revolution requires not only the adoption of the latest technologies, innovation, and better network infrastructures but more importantly, a sea change in the mindset of enterprises and their people.

Industry experts gathered by PLDT Enterprise in a conference on digital transformation agreed that central to bridging the digital divide is finding the right people that will foster profitable, efficient, and responsible use of artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies to bolster growth of businesses and the broader economy.

“Vision drives transformation. Transformation needs innovation, which we believe continues to center around people, skills and culture,” said Jojo Gendrano, PLDT and Smart senior vice president and head of Enterprise Business Group. “Technology is nothing without a person’s vision,” added Gendrano as he moderated the plenary session of the Philippine Digital Convention 2023, or PH Digicon 2023, VISION: Reimagine Tomorrow’s Enterprise.

Ragu Masilamany, general manager and head of Solutions Engineering at software and services provider Amdocs, said two things are needed in tandem for the success of its digital transformation journey in its business and workforce. “One, the mindset change has to come from a structural, organizational change, including retraining and re-skill,” he noted.

“Two, the tribal knowledge that you take from your very senior people in the organization may not be valid anymore. So, sometimes you have to make the call to leave them behind and go look for the new talent who may not know your business, but they have the right mindset to run the business, so to speak. If you combine them in the right ratio, I think you have a good chance of getting to the end,” Masilamany said.

Anup Changaroth, director of Service Provider Systems Engineering at Cisco, said enterprises need to digitally transform not only to attract new sets of investors but to ensure their future survival. He pointed to a 2017 article in the Harvard Business Review which cited a study by Constellation Research that showed that since 2000, 52 percent of companies in the Fortune 500 have either gone bankrupt, been acquired, or ceased to exist as a result of digital disruption.