Have you ever been caught between transitioning from technology hype and the how, when realising quantifiable value from emerging technologies at scale? You are not alone. How do you make sure you don’t miss out on the next technology paradigm, like the introduction of the smartphone?

How organisations adapt and drive value from any new functionality is critical for first mover advantage, or at least to ensure continued competitiveness. This capability to transform emerging technology from hype into value for your organisation, without wasting time and effort, is a critical ingredient for success. This includes technology such as the metaverse, digital twin, augmented reality, generative AI, knowledge mining and many more just around the corner.

Emerging technology is more prevalent and more important than ever. Take ChatGPT for example, possibly the next technology paradigm has rapidly gone from concept to driving real business benefit in a short space of time. ChatGPT is one of the most notable products developed by OpenAI – involving a large language model trained on a massive amount of data that can generate human-like text responses to a wide variety of prompts. Its success can be attributed to their focus on both cutting edge research and practical applications, allowing them to rapidly go from concept to driving business value. Leveraging a collaborative approach with world-class researchers and engineers through development, access to vast amounts of computing power and data, allowed OpenAI to train and refine their language models to an unprecedented degree - making them one of the most influential organisations in the field of artificial intelligence today.

Organisations get stuck in the hype and fail to realise the value or full potential of emerging technology. Organisations struggle in the following ways:

1. Fail to Scale – Pilot the technology, gain insights and value but never expand to fulfil the full value for enterprise. With some organisations failing to have a clear strategy in place for how to scale an idea, moving from ideation to industrialisation, making it difficult to prioritise resources and make the necessary investments to scale the idea, alongside lacking the support from leadership.


2. Clear tracking of benefits – Often organisations fail to instil or establish clear metrics to measure the success of innovation or the incremental benefit realisation of initiatives.


3. Risk aversion - Uncertain times can lead to organisations sticking with tried and tested approaches. Preventing organisations from taking advantage of the value that could be unlocked.


4. Overwhelmed by emerging technologies - With so much happening and the sheer number of technologies in play, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Uncertainty around what capabilities emerging technologies present, leading to difficulties in making it real for organisations or practical ways to assess the organisational fit.


5. Forget the foundations for success – Need to be set up for success and set up the surrounding tools, people, processes, culture to take advantage of the new technology.

Seven key steps organisations can take to move with confidence, from hype to how, and deliver value faster with emerging technologies. Emerging technologies are shifting from a nice-to-have, to a must-have. Now is the time for organisations to instil:

1. Understand and keep the business value front of mind. Make sure you have specific, measurable business value (risk, revenue, benefit, etc) that predict, measure and reflect upon across the entire lifecycle from planning, piloting and scaling technology.


2. Clear alignment on the approach to adopting or exploring emerging technologies for resilience and business results in uncertain times. It is essential for organisations to establish a clear strategy, approach and direction for adopting or exploring emerging technologies to stay resilient and achieve desired business results. Leaders must communicate this approach effectively to ensure all stakeholders are aligned with the organisational goals and objectives.


3. Experimentation to de-risk and cut costs in the face of uncertain times. Embrace experimentation to test ideas quickly, gather feedback, fail fast, iterate on the approach, and de-risk to conserve costs. Making sure that the lessons learnt are embedded into the broader expansion of the idea. Ensuring that the proof of concept, tests for the real risks, issues, constraints and value of the new tech.


4. Stay aware of what peers are pursuing, keep in mind the value, and cost efficiencies. Organisations that are slow to adopt emerging technologies risk falling behind competitors.


5. Separation between the hype surrounding emerging technologies, to understanding how and what this means for your organisation. Companies must avoid getting caught up in the hype surrounding emerging technologies and instead focus on understanding the specific needs of their organisation. They must assess the potential impact of these technologies on their business and develop a clear understanding of how they can leverage these technologies to drive growth and innovation.


6. Leverage your ecosystem of partners to unlock additional value, and efficiencies. Build strong partnerships, and collaborative communities, look for opportunities to work with other businesses, organisations, or experts to leverage their expertise, resources, and networks to solve the problems that matter.


7. Identifying risks and proactively mitigate. Emerging technology has the potential to pose risks to human safety if they malfunction or are misused, can damage a company’s reputation, erode consumer trust, present financial or regulatory risk if unchecked. Companies that can identify and mitigate risks associated with emerging technologies are more likely to be seen as leaders in their field. Giving them a competitive advantage and helping to attract and retain customers.

Addressing changing market conditions and uncertainty requires clear strategic direction, and an approach to assessing the organisational fit of emerging technologies: considering the specific needs and constraints of the organisation, taking calculated risks, and prioritising investments based on the potential impact toward the organisation’s ambitions.

At Avanade, we work with emerging technology both from Microsoft and how the Microsoft ecosystem interacts and scales with emerging technology.

Reach out to Avanade’s Innovation and Advisory teams in Australia today.