Five lessons on tech transformation from leaders who have done it themselves

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Five lessons on tech transformation from leaders who have done it themselves

McKinsey & Company | December 15, 2025

3 key takeaways from the article

1. Every company now claims to be digital, AI-powered, or data-driven. Yet the real differentiator isn’t technology—it’s how deeply organizations have rewired themselves across people, processes, and decisions.  
2. Across very different organizations—homeware retail, manufacturing, telecom, banking, and chemicals—we saw a common thread: success came from leaders who didn’t just talk about transformation but started running their businesses differently.  
3. Five lessons from those who turned ambition into measurable impact.  A) Cast a wide net to find the possibilities, then focus on the use cases that deliver and rigorously test to decide what to scale.  B) Speed and scale don’t have to compete; with the right structure, they reinforce each other.  C) The same precision used to engage customers can—and should—be applied internally to accelerate both learning and performance.  D) Transformation happens faster when teams build with the business, and true collaboration shortens the distance between innovation and impact.  And E) The takeaway: By building digital skills and confidence across the organization, Jubilant turned data and technology into daily habits that drive continuous performance improvement.  

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  AI Strategy, Transformation

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read | Listen

Every company now claims to be digital, AI-powered, or data-driven. Yet the real differentiator isn’t technology—it’s how deeply organizations have rewired themselves across people, processes, and decisions.  This year McKinsey worked with leaders who didn’t just experiment—they scaled. They placed bold bets on data, built factories for innovation, personalized learning at enterprise scale, and made digital the core of their operating systems.  Across very different organizations—homeware retail, manufacturing, telecom, banking, and chemicals—we saw a common thread: success came from leaders who didn’t just talk about transformation but started running their businesses differently.  Here are five lessons from those who turned ambition into measurable impact.

1. Karaca: Explore broadly, then double down on what delivers.  When Turkish homeware retailer Karaca wanted to expand its AI usage, it began by scanning nearly 200 potential use cases across the business—but the breakthrough came from focusing on the ideas with the greatest customer and commercial impact.   AIDA, an AI shopping assistant, became the flagship because early tests showed it could transform the online experience—ultimately doubling conversions versus search and delivering five times the rate of unaided sessions. Crucially, Karaca paired its broad exploration with disciplined guardrails, quality checks, and A/B testing to validate what worked and build organizational trust.
2. Emirates Global Aluminium: Run two tracks at once.  Emirates Global Aluminium faced a common leadership challenge—how to show rapid results while building long-term digital foundations. The solution was a dual-track approach.  One track, the digital factory, focused on fast wins and turning out use cases in quarterly waves. The second track built the durable infrastructure—new governance, data platforms, and an agile delivery model. Together, these tracks helped EGA halve inbound logistical delays and increase productivity by over 18 percent.
3. Deutsche Telekom: Apply personalization internally.  At Deutsche Telekom, personalization took on a new meaning when the organization recognized significant variation in performance across service agents. The company built an AI-powered learning engine that analyzed millions of data points to recommend tailored courses, real-time coaching, and peer mentoring paths for each employee.  Not only was there a 10 percent increase in first-time resolution rates, but customer satisfaction rose, reflected by a 14-point increase in customers’ likelihood to recommend the company to others.
4. Banco Pichincha: Make transformation a team sport.  When Ecuador’s largest bank set out to build a new digital business, the turning point came when engineers, designers, and frontline staff joined forces to co-create Deuna!—a platform built to reach millions of unbanked customers.  By merging technical expertise with local insight, the team developed a product that scaled quickly and sustainably. The platform didn’t just digitize banking; it redefined inclusion by expanding access to financial services. Deuna! now has two million monthly active users, and more than 500,000 merchants across Ecuador accept digital payments.
5. Jubilant Ingrevia: Turn innovation into a daily habit.  When market challenges hindered growth for specialty chemical player Jubilant Ingrevia, the organization made innovation part of its operating model. Through a center of excellence and a train-the-trainer approach, employees learned to embed digital tools into everyday operations.  The shift was cultural as much as technical. Employees learned data science fundamentals to apply in their daily tasks, and the organization built lasting confidence in using data to drive performance. Thanks to these changes, Jubilant achieved $13.6 million in savings over 36 months and optimized processes, cutting power consumption by 10 percent at its Bharuch facility.