Hacking Digital

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INTRODUCTION

My destination is no longer a place, rather a new way of seeing. —Marcel Proust

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T he lights dimmed as the participants attending the Next Wave of Digital Transformation Conference filed out of the auditorium. The first day of the conference had drawn to a close, and the networking reception was about to begin. “If I could just find some people to talk to , ” thought Ian as he scanned the room. He was an engineer by training, and his career had recently taken an interesting turn. He’d been tapped to look after digital for his employer, a global engineering company where he had worked for the past 20 years. His company had agreed to let him attend the conference so he could figure out how to get started. Ian caught sight of Elena, who had made a presentation earlier that day. Elena was one year into the chief digital officer (CDO) role at a Dutch bank, and she had indicated that she was open to sharing her experiences. She was already speaking with another participant, who introduced himself as Andrej. Andrej had been recently promoted to the role of chief information officer (CIO) of a consumer goods company, before which he had been the compa- ny’s CDO. Ian was keen to learn from both Elena and Andrej about managing large, complex digital transformation projects. After a round of introductions, they asked him about his new role. “It’s strange,” Ian began. “All the signs are positive, but I have an uneasy feeling.” “What do you mean?” asked Andrej.

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