Companies with people-first approach win in digital economy

Accenture Technology Vision found that 33% of the global economy is already impacted by digital

Leading companies that develop a people-first approach will win in today's digital economy, according to the Accenture Technology Vision report for 2016. As technology advancements accelerate and dramatically disrupt the workforce, companies that equip employees, partners and consumers with new skills can fully capitalise on innovations.

Those that do will easily create ideas, develop cutting-edge products and services, and disrupt the status quo. In a companion survey of over 3,100 business and IT executives worldwide, Accenture found that 33 per cent of the global economy is already impacted by digital.

Eighty six per cent of the respondents anticipate that technology will change at a rapid or unprecedented rate over the next three years. The report highlights how companies can experience a "digital culture shock" at the prospect of keeping up with the competition.

However, they can adopt a people-first approach to create new business models that drive digital disruption. The report also probes five trends behind such an approach: intelligent automation, liquid workforces, the platform economy, predictable disruption and digital trust.