With so many companies investing in digital transformation efforts, the question inevitably arises about who should lead the process.
The answer is it should start with IT. We need to be shapers of digital demand and not just responders to it. We have to be able to shape the digital environment because we can bring the digital skills, the digital acumen, and the understanding of data to our companies.
But it's just as true that any digital transformation is made from much more than IT alone. You need input and sponsorship from the CEO all the way through your business partners. We’re very fortunate at Monsanto that we have a forward-looking company that really understands the value of digital, and helps to support and enable driving digital.
That support has meant that as I work with different members of our leadership team, whether it be the head of supply chain, commercial, or R&D, we can talk not about digitizing current processes but about how we transform processes through digital and digital technology.
It's a tremendously exciting opportunity to work together in this way. We realize that no one person knows all the answers, but when we bring commercial and supply chain and the CIO to the same table to talk about, for example, how we transform the order-to-cash process through predictive analytics, great answers do emerge.
It’s a game-changing dialogue, creating the energy and excitement for us to demonstrate we can think differently about our business. We can expand on it at speed and at scale, and that we can drive higher value. Finally, it's proof of the value of inclusiveness in driving successful digital transformation.
Jim Swanson is a global business and technology leader and currently Chief Information Officer of Johnson & Johnson, the world’s premier healthcare company. Based at the company headquarters in New Jersey, Jim is responsible for amplifying Johnson & Johnson’s business impact and shaping its direction through the strategic use of technology.
