Achieving Digital World Class® Transformation in Technology With Gen AI

In a world challenged by volatility and economic unpredictability, a select group of Digital World Class^® organizations are not just surviving but thriving. These tech-forward leaders are redefining performance benchmarks, boasting 40% higher revenue and triple the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of their peers – all while running information technology (IT) operations at 9% lower cost. Their secret? A strategic fusion of business and technology, relentless innovation, aggressive talent investment, and a streamlined tech ecosystem. Fueled by cutting-edge advances like generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) in IT, large language models, and agentic AI, these organizations don’t just react to disruption – they harness it to leap ahead. They show how IT consulting and IT transformation is evolving, and how IT can move beyond a support function to become a critical driver of business value, resilience and competitive advantage.

What distinguishes these leaders from their peers? Their success is rooted in a strategic mindset, deliberate investment choices and an operating model that is future-ready.

1. Deep integration with business strategy and stakeholders

Gone are the days when IT operated in isolation. Today’s most successful technology organizations are tightly woven into the fabric of the IT strategy and broader business vision.

Proactive engagement in business strategy

Nearly 50% of Digital World Class^® IT functions are “always” involved in strategic discussions – a rate that is 2.9 times higher than that of their peers. This integration ensures that technology decisions directly support enterprise goals from the outset.

Alignment with enterprise objectives

Over two-thirds (69%) of these organizations have an IT strategy fully aligned with overall enterprise and stakeholder strategies. By comparison, only 29% of peer organizations achieve this level of integration, signaling a significant gap in strategic coherence.

Stronger stakeholder perception

These efforts don’t go unnoticed. Digital World Class^® organizations earn a Net Promoter^® Score 35% higher than their peers and are recognized as valued business partners by 75% of stakeholders. Strategic alignment is often led by visionary IT leaders who shape both technology and enterprise priorities through proactive engagement. This reinforces their role as essential contributors to business success, not merely service providers. (Fig. 1).

2. Innovation as a strategic imperative

Innovation is not just about deploying the latest technologies – it’s about redefining what’s possible. Digital World Class^® organizations lead with innovation to achieve meaningful differentiation.

Substantial investment in emerging technologies

These organizations commit 34% of their total IT spend – three times more than peers – to emerging technologies such as AI development, intelligent automation, and next-generation digital tools. This positions them to stay ahead of the curve and unlock new value streams (Fig.2).

Prioritization of application innovation

By spending 22% more per end-user equivalent on application innovation, they can focus on effective planning and deployment of new software capabilities. Notably, this represents a significant advancement over prior years, reflecting a growing innovation gap between leaders and laggards.

Dedicated innovation talent

Twice as many full-time resources are allocated to program management functions in these organizations. This enables structured innovation, aligned with business priorities, and ensures initiatives move from concept to execution efficiently.

3. Strategic investment in talent

The battle for digital talent is fierce, and Digital World Class^® organizations are winning it by creating compelling environments for technology professionals.

Higher compensation for key roles

These leaders offer an 11% premium in fully loaded labor costs compared to peers – and 23% more for critical roles in IT planning and management. These investments not only attract top talent but also communicate a culture of value and respect for expertise.

Focus on technology-driven talent differentiation

They understand that offering the opportunity to work on Gen AI for IT and other emerging solutions enhances both recruitment and retention. This holistic view positions them as employers of choice in a competitive talent landscape.

Superior retention and tenure

The payoff is clear: Digital World Class^® organizations boast 56% higher average tenure among IT professionals, including 43% higher for managers. This stability supports institutional knowledge and smooth IT transformation initiatives.

4. Rationalized, agile technology architecture

Complexity is the enemy of agility. World-class technology organizations simplify and modernize their IT landscape to enable faster, smarter business responses.

Cloud-first investment strategy

These organizations allocate 50% of their technology asset spend to cloud capabilities, compared to just 28% among peers. This cloud-first approach accelerates scalability, flexibility, and GenAI deployment.

Streamlined system footprints

With 57% fewer applications and 64% fewer primary databases, these organizations benefit from leaner operations and more focused innovation – hallmarks of digital transformation in IT.

Automation at scale

Automation is not experimental – it’s a core capability. Digital World Class^® organizations automate 36% more business processes overall, and have fully automated many customer- and supplier-facing workflows, using generative AI tools for IT to increase speed and accuracy while reducing cost (Fig.3).

5. Harnessing disruption for strategic advantage

In times of uncertainty, the capacity to innovate becomes a differentiator. Disruptive technologies such as Gen AI, foundation models, and agentic AI systems offer new possibilities to reshape work and redefine performance.

Gen AI: A catalyst for reinvention

Generative AI for IT and agentic innovations are beginning to surpass human capabilities in areas like reasoning, programming, and multimodal understanding. Digital World Class^® organizations are already using these capabilities to elevate customer experience and drive operational efficiency.

Resilience through innovation

By embedding AI into core operations, these organizations are creating systems that are not only more efficient but more adaptable. This agility is key for successful AI implementation in rapidly changing environments.

Priorities for reshaping the technology operating model with Gen AI

To sustain their edge, Digital World Class^® organizations continuously reimagine their operating model – integrating AI across the six key dimensions of The Hackett Group^® Digital Service Delivery Model (Fig. 4).

1. Service design

• Enhance portfolio management with ideation, proof-of-concept testing and scaling.
• Make agile development and machine learning operations foundational.
• Use Gen AI to drive continuous improvement and support scalable AI implementation.

2. Technology

• Rationalize legacy tech with cloud-first, AI-enabled.
• Deploy Gen AI for service desk automation, predictive maintenance and code generation.
• Streamline documentation and testing with synthetic data.

3. Human capital

• Upskill tech teams in AI development and integration.
• Partner with human resources to build structured learning paths for AI fluency.
• Encourage leadership by example, blending human and agentic collaboration

4. Analytics and information management

• Adopt data/analytics-as-a-service to enable real-time insights
• Strengthen data governance for support scalable, secure AI use.
• Ensure robust protection of data in motion and at rest

5. Service partnering

• Outsource commoditized infrastructure to refocus internal efforts.
• Engage Gen AI consulting partners committed to ethical, transparent practices.
• Rethink vendor relationships to align with transformation goals.

6. Organization and governance

• Shift the IT function from operator to strategic enabler through updated IT strategy and AI governance frameworks.
• Create AI centers of excellence to guide strategy and scale solutions.
• Institutionalize Gen AI executive advisory practices to evaluate opportunities and outcomes.

Accelerating toward Digital World Class® performance

For technology leaders, the opportunity to reach Digital World Class^® performance at this time is within reach. With IT benchmarking, AI implementation, and IT consulting best practices, organizations can redefine what’s possible. Visionary IT leaders can drive this change by aligning transformation goals with business value and outcomes.

To accelerate transformation:

• Adopt an enterprisewide, top-down perspective.
• Pursue high-reward innovation aggressively.
• Reimagine business models and operations.
• Identify and scale impactful Gen AI use cases.
• Foster cross-functional ideation and collaboration.
• Evaluate AI solutions rigorously for feasibility and fit.
• Turn insights into action through agile execution
• Use proven frameworks and tools from ideation to AI implementation

Gen AI can’t wait. Neither can you.

Organizations that integrate AI into their operations will outpace those that don’t. Early adopters are already reimagining work, gaining a significant edge in performance and competitive advantage. While the risks associated with AI are genuine, they can be effectively managed. In today’s fast-evolving landscape, failing to keep up is the greater danger. By adopting a structured approach to ideation, use case development and implementation, businesses can seize opportunities and stay ahead of the competition.

It’s time to act. Contact us for more information or to schedule a demonstration.