Ep. 6 - Digital Transformation

Where we work and how we work have been completely disrupted by the pandemic. Behaviors, processes, systems and tools have fundamentally changed, and this seismic shift in the way businesses operate is one of the areas that Wildcat focuses on. 

It’s called digital transformation — which the Wildcat team defines as how enterprises use technology to change their businesses processes in order to unlock trapped value and optimize operations. 

Businesses are learning to adapt to this new normal – particularly the work-from-home phenomenon – which has long-term implications on workforce structures. 

Working from Home is Here to Stay

While offices will eventually open back up to their full capacity, General Partner Bryan Stolle shares that remote work is here to stay.  Distributed teams and their associated talent migrations create ripe opportunities to support this new workforce operationally, creatively, and from a training & education standpoint.  

One such example is Allstacks, one of Wildcat’s portfolio companies. Their predictive forecasting and risk management platform for software development proactively flags issues that could impact delivery goals.  By identifying root-causes early and in real-time, Allstacks keeps engineering and product team leaders aligned to ensure initiatives stay on track, no matter where in the world they’re located. 

Knowing Your Customer to Serve Them Better (with Privacy in Mind) 

Another key trend that Bryan and the Wildcat teams sees is in enhancing the human condition – by understanding the customer in a way where you are building a true relationship, identifying and anticipating their needs but also respecting their privacy.

“When you start talking about digital transformation in the enterprise, the customer experience is probably the number one area of focus and spend. People are trying to figure out: how do we know our customers better than they know themselves. How do you get to know your customer much, much better and more intimately and better serve them?”

Bryan shares it’s critically important that corporate culture be focused on understanding customer needs through the lens of best servicing them rather than exploiting them.  Authenticity is crucial to maintaining the necessary trust for customers to share information.

This inevitably leads to opportunities in helping customers control their data, protect their privacy, and manage relationships with the various stakeholders who are collecting and using their information.

As Bryan reminds us, what used to take a decade to adopt has happened overnight. What were bleeding-edge and early market cycle ideas are now must-dos at scale– so to stay competitive, enterprises worldwide are in a race to accelerate their digital transformation processes.  

Traction and Trapped Value is produced by Flywheel Associates