How tech-savvy organizations are outperforming their peers during the pandemic

Purpose Executives surveyed by the IBM Institute for Business Value indicated that they are dramatically accelerating their company’s digital transformation during the pandemic. And fully two-thirds said that the pandemic has allowed them to advance specific transformation initiatives that previously had encountered resistance. Design/methodology/approach To better guide others seeking to make the transformation, the researchers looked at which technologies make a difference between high performing and struggling businesses in this period of extraordinary change and challenges. Findings The “technology mix” recipe for success is changing. Increasingly, cloud and AI are becoming performance differentiators. Not only does technology adoption vary greatly across industries, but the relationship between technology adoption and financial performance varied significantly among industries. Practical implications Cloud has become a more important contributor to revenue performance during the pandemic in 11 of the industries analyzed Originality/value Tech-savvy organizations outperformed their peers in revenue growth across the 12 industries where technology acted as a performance differentiator.