Digital transformation is in a way a never-ending journey. Recent trends put high expectations on AI technologies for process automation, insight generation and decision support. In Hilti, we see information generated from our data as substantial contribution to the success of our business.
We will describe how we put the user and the usage of information in the center of our initiative of an information enabled company. Hilti’s journey towards process, data and system consolidation serves as an excellent foundation for that. We present the foundational technologies we put in place to manage the increasing amount and variety of data, as well as our “Integrated Information Management” approach. We will especially focus on advanced analytics and AI and give examples for successful implementations, but also highlight challenges, especially when it comes to change management and taking the organization along.

For many years, technology gurus, transformation evangelists and many more have pictured a world that will dramatically change with incredible pace. Consequently, it was predicted that impacts on society, economy, environment, and political landscapes will leave no stone unturned. As a matter of fact, the current times feel as if these predictions have eventually become reality. The VUCA world is not only part of our daily life, but also even a nucleus in itself that demands resilience from individuals as well as societies and organizations. 

While climate change and pandemics seem to be part of the “new normal”, global conflicts get closer to the western world resulting in even more severe instabilities of supply chains, natural resource availabilities and much more - clearly stretching the long-held promise of a flourishing globalization. 

To avoid the “Uber yourself before you get Kodaked” pitfall, companies no matter what size are finding themselves coping with an environment that is certainly fiercer these days but at the same time allowing for new opportunities that need to be discovered and unlocked. But what’s the right strategy to capitalize on these opportunities if strategies itself are not even worth the paper written on? How to keep the pace with rapidly shortening technology lifecycles or tech innovations that don’t seem to deliver against their promise? Is it even worth to define comprehensive roadmaps on digital strategies and transformations? 

In his keynote, Thomas Kleine reflects on the value of defining digital roadmaps from a company perspective. He will incorporate not only his personal experiences but also refer to his employer’s journey over the last two years specifically propelled to the frontline of fighting the COVID-19 disease. What are the key learnings and what about the half-value time of these learnings if tomorrow comes with a completely different set of challenges?