daunting to high tech. A recent poll by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that 60 percent of CEOs in high tech are either extremely or somewhat concerned that the speed of technological change will hurt their organizations’ growth prospects, compared with only 41 percent similarly concerned among CEOs in all industries. figure 1
That might seem paradoxical, given that these same CEOs are leading the very device manufacturers, component suppliers, and software vendors largely responsible for accelerating technology’s pace. But the changes are also profoundly altering high-tech companies’ own internal operations, creating the need for a digital transformation. These transformations involve using technology to create differentiation by changing a process or business model. “High tech is undergoing a tectonic shift,” explains Tom Archer, U.S. technology industry leader at PwC. “It starts with how and why the industry’s customers want to purchase technology.”