VIEWPOINT
AGENTS OF TRANSFORMATION DAVID NOËL, VICE PRESIDENT MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA & RUSSIA/CIS AT APPDYNAMICS, ON LEADING THE POST COVID-19 DIGITAL REVOLUTION
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OVID-19 has forever changed the way we work. Remote working — aided by the accelerated adoption of collaboration tools and video conferencing technology — will surely be the norm, rather than the exception, going forward. In fact, according to a recent survey from Robert Half, 80 percent of UAE employees said they would prefer to work from home, post COVID-19, citing savings in time and money, and productivity gains. But beyond its lasting impact on how we work, the pandemic has challenged businesses to redefine how they deliver 42
CXO INSIGHT ME
AUGUST 2020
services and products — and ultimately value — to their customers. According to a recent McKinsey study, more than 90 percent of executives expect the fallout from COVID-19 to fundamentally change the way they do business over the next five years, with almost as many asserting that the crisis will have a lasting impact on their customers’ needs. Organisations have transitioned vast sections of their business online, redefining their operations and strategies to meet new customer demands. Maintaining this dramatic transformation will be critical and ‘Agents of Transformation’ —
technologists who possess the skills, ambition and vision required to drive innovation — will be the difference between success and failure for their organisations in the post-COVID world. Pandemic shines spotlight on digital transformation and digital customer experiences With the pivot to digital channels in the so-called ‘new normal’, businesses in the UAE have had to rethink their technology investments. This is in line with findings from a recent AppDynamics’ study, The Agents of Transformation Report 2020: COVID-19 Special Edition’, in which 99 percent of
