All companies will be IT companies
In the future, every company will become an IT company. Those who don’t will fumble on with a “Frankestein tech stack” giving them little or no advantage.
According to Chad Brooks of Business.com,
“The most successful and highest performing companies have little separation between their business strategy and their technology strategy. In short, they have technology as part of their DNA, and they would NEVER outsource this significant competitive advantage. Companies who realize they are in the technology business can drive speed and innovation by closely aligning their technology leaders with their line of business leaders to co-create solutions.”
Uber and AirBnB are nothing more than a computer program. They don’t own a car or any real estate. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have all reached market capitalizations well above $1.5 trillion, larger than 92% of country GDPs. Each had very humble beginnings.
Banks seem to understand this. All of them are working hard to make their online presence compelling and easy to use – pay your bills with a” Netflix-like” experience. CBA’s corporate venture division x15 invests in emerging start-ups but unlike its rivals, it also builds its own. ANZ have just released an app that calculates your “Financial Wellbeing Score” which could signal their intention to return to the wealth business.
Lower down the “food chain” businesses don’t have the deep pockets to create or buy unique and compelling solutions. Those who do, have arguably a brighter future with a competitive advantage and a balance sheet boasting an IP component.
Financial planning for example is a slow, inefficient and expensive process ripe for a revolutionary change. The internet speeds offered by 5G and powerful processors create some interesting possibilities. Will future clients meet advisers in a virtual world with instant calculations and rich 3D graphics. Will some advisers have their own game in the Metaverse where clients purchase “advice tokens” that allow them to defeat the dragon of inflation, cross the valley of risk and climb the mountain of financial security.
This isn’t as fantastical as it sounds. Powerful tools like Construct3 and GameMaker make it relatively easy to create your own game. Finchat already has a digital assistant that does instant financial planning calculations on voice command.
Will all future companies be IT companies? Maybe just the successful ones.
