Organisations in every sector are looking for ways to innovate and maximise the return on their investments in digital technology. While technology advances have accelerated, the approaches for designing and implementing solutions have lagged. The result is a litany of expensive and high-profile digital failures across both government and private enterprise.

We see cause for optimism, with a number of trends converging to open more effective approaches to digital transformation. When cloud services are combined with lightweight integration platforms, low/no code, powerful data management, a general acceptance of agile, and now with AI, there is a real opportunity to change the way organisations think about and approach digital transformation. In particular, this can be done with a ‘pilot and pivot’ philosophy that focuses on a staged approach.

The need for staged approaches and a ‘pilot and pivot’ philosophy

Monolithic system deployments that take a technology-first approach have gone the way of the dinosaurs – too big and slow to adapt to a changing environment. Successful transformation projects take a lightweight, staged approach based on the ‘pilot and pivot’ philosophy. While a long-term strategy is important, outcomes are delivered in stages. This can only work when the entire project team works together and collaborates with all stakeholders to achieve a common goal that unlocks the latent value trapped inside the business.

We advocate an agile approach where projects are delivered in smaller stages with benefits realised along the project journey. As well as shortening the time to value, it allows projects to pivot and adapt as conditions change. When new technologies emerge, such as generative AI, organisations can try them out in a relatively constrained way before expanding the scope.

By breaking projects into smaller chunks with the pay-off coming sooner, it’s possible to identify issues faster and to adapt. While some industries have pushed a mantra of ‘fail fast’, our experience shows it’s more effective to ‘fail small and learn’, so you can move forward faster. Better a small deviation along the road than discovering you’ve taken the completely wrong route later.

Governments shifting towards projects with smaller, staged approaches

Government agencies are also starting to embrace this approach. Rather than paying for complex strategies and engaging in large projects, there is a shift towards delivering smaller chunks with more immediate payback. This represents a great opportunity for smaller companies looking to work with the government, as those smaller projects open the door to competing against large, global consultancies.

This is reflected in the Federal Government’s INVEST strategy. Projects are independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small and testable. Traditional project delivery models tended to favour large, monolithic projects with most of the value delivered at the end of a long development and testing cycle. As a result, project failures were amplified. By adopting these INVEST objectives, the time to value is shortened and project risk is reduced.

The explosion of generative AI is a great case in point for this pilot and pivot approach. The technology is so open-ended, and evolving so rapidly, clients are struggling to conceptualise what the use cases are for their business, let alone the risks. Organisations are also concerned that their competitors might leapfrog them if they don’t keep up with generative AI, which looks set to disrupt a spectrum of business models and value propositions.

Think big, but build small when it comes to new technologies

With new technologies, it is all the more important to test the waters, learn and expand – or as we describe it: “think big, but build small.” We have had early success with this approach, helping clients in education, government and industry to rapidly ideate and build simple AI-driven prototypes. These not only show the potential for the technology to create new value for customers, but also build skills and capability amongst their own people.

That faster, flexible approach permeates every aspect of our operations. When engaging with new clients, their most common need is for a partner that is easy to deal and work with. There is a lot of cynicism in the market. Too often companies spend vast sums on the development of strategies with very few practical outcomes. But that is changing.

Organisations are increasingly looking for digital partners that understand the reality that business strategy is dynamic, capital is costly, and technology initiatives need to deliver faster, in a way that is more responsive to change. We have helped dozens of clients successfully implement new technology that has improved business operations and enhanced the customer experience.