PR94442

BENGALURU, India, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/

    - Report finds companies can gain $357 billion in annual profits globally

through people-focused transformation efforts and a commitment to ESG

    Digital adoption alone is no longer enough to meet business objectives and

drive profits, according to new research from Infosys Knowledge Institute

(IKI), the thought leadership and research arm of Infosys

(https://www.infosys.com/) (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY). The study reveals that

companies must now use digital to differentiate beyond traditional IT metrics,

reaffirming the importance of people-focused transformation and ESG in

achieving business success. While businesses once faced a 'digital ceiling',

unable to reach the most advanced levels of tech adoption, these adoption

thresholds have become the minimum standard.

    Infosys Digital Radar 2022 assessed the digital transformation efforts of

companies on a Digital Maturity Index and found that companies have

progressively adopted technology year-over-year. The report, which surveyed

nearly 2,700 digital transformation leaders from the U.S., Europe, Asia and

Australia, ranked the most digitally advanced companies as 'Visionaries',

followed by 'Explorers' and then 'Watchers'. From 2018 to 2020, a meaningful

portion of businesses lagged far behind, watching the technology journeys of

others before starting their own. This year's findings, however, show that all

respondents have graduated from the 'Watchers' category and are now all either

'Visionaries' or 'Explorers'. Infosys has found that each industry has reached

an age of digital maturity never seen before. The percentage of companies

achieving moderate transformation success, the 'Explorer' tier, rose minimally.

However, the 'Visionary' cluster grew from 22% in 2020 to 30% in 2021, the

largest year-over-year increase for this cohort in the survey's history,

indicating that companies have broken through the 'digital ceiling' and being a

top adopter is no longer an operational or financial differentiator.

    Companies across all industries have rushed to broadly implement technology

    Companies are significantly increasing adoption of emerging technologies.

More respondents reported implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and

blockchain (73% and 71%, respectively) than mature and foundational cloud and

legacy modernization (69% and 68%, respectively), suggesting that once emerging

technologies (like AI) now show real promise, and enterprises are moving

quickly and aggressively to implement them than in earlier times.

    More than 90% of companies indicated they had at least started to adopt the

19 digital initiatives surveyed. Technology adoption in the healthcare

industry, for example, increased from 60% to 98% since 2019. The adoption rate

for the manufacturing sector increased from 81% to 97%, and the rate for the

financial services sector grew from 59% to 94% in the same period.

    As adoption rates soared during the pandemic, the study also indicated a

point of diminishing returns for companies with high levels of adoption.

Companies with above-average adoption rates, in fact, generated slightly less

profit growth than those with lower adoption, while those with average rates

generated the most. The study data suggests that mere adoption is not enough,

what matters most is the effectiveness with which companies use their

technology.

    Previous surveys found adopting Agile, cloud, and other technologies led to

better operational and financial benefits, but that was no longer the case in

2021, as more companies approached digital maturity. Further, the survey found

companies are more effective when they use digital to positively impact

stakeholders, including through environmental and social responsibility and

initiatives like career paths for women and minorities, data privacy, and AI

ethics.

    Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys, commented: "Enterprises are at an inflection

point post-pandemic. COVID-19's widespread disruption and the subsequent

digital acceleration have permanently altered how the world views technology.

While some enterprises have seen this as an opportunity to move beyond the

questions of whether and how far to digitize, some still haven't realized the

need to use these digital tools to engage their stakeholders more purposefully

and respond to calls to serve people, planet, and community."

    ESG provides direction, clarity - and profits

    When companies have high levels of tech adoption and strong ESG commitment,

four out of five times (81%), they also use technology most effectively. ESG

and technology effectiveness are connected because ESG informs company culture,

shapes mindset, and provides a purpose that guides decision-making up and down

the line. Improving ESG leads to higher effectiveness than simply adopting more

technology. While adoption is necessary and positive, ESG focus further doubled

tech effectiveness, indicating that ESG commitment now drives value in its own

right.

    "Focused initiatives in sustainability almost unfailingly reflect in a

marked increase in revenue growth, accelerated transformation effectiveness,

boosts in profits and shareholder value. ESG measures will increasingly grow to

influence and eventually change the metrics that measure transformation

success, especially when consistently demonstrated through engagements with

stakeholders across the board," said R "Ray" Wang, Principal Analyst & Founder,

Constellation Research.

    As the world demands more sustainable business practices, this research

signals that companies who capitalize on the link between tech effectiveness

and ESG are best placed to succeed in the decade ahead. They are more likely to

realize business value and proactively anticipate regulatory requirements and

societal pressures.

    Unify ESG with digital transformation

    Improving average transformation effectiveness has the potential to unlock

$357 billion in incremental profits globally, based on data from the top survey

respondents. While digital adoption and ESG orientation individually drive

profits, they are more effective together. The research identified four

approaches to amplify purpose and increase transformation effectiveness:

    - Integrate experience into the operating model. Digital Radar 2022 found

that people-focused experience goals such as improved customer engagement,

building a data-driven culture and increasing employee engagement are

distinguishing top performers than tech-driven efficiency.

    - Elevate the human element across the life cycle. Companies can emphasize

the human element by utilizing Agile to coordinate small behavioral nudges and

include a diverse ecosystem to better manage project delivery. Companies that

rapidly implemented Agile, and in more than half (60%) their teams, were more

likely to grow faster than peers (64% vs. 54% average).

    - Build diverse, dedicated teams so that tech solutions meet the needs of

all. Purpose-driven culture is created through teams that are intellectually

diverse and have a shared, dedicated purpose. Digital Radar 2022 concluded

companies with greater diversity use technology more effectively.

    - Measure initiatives using ESG target. Human-centered approach to

solutions and ESG are becoming more quantitative and metrics-driven. Companies

today can chase loftier goals practically, armed with technologies to help them

set and meet important climate and people goals.

    Jeff Kavanaugh, VP and Global Head at Infosys Knowledge Institute

(https://www.infosys.com/iki.html), commented: "This year's Digital Radar

research revealed a significant shift – no longer are enterprises sitting,

waiting, and watching from the outside as others embrace digital. The most

successful businesses are no longer early digital adopters, nor those that

invested the most in AI, blockchain, and IoT. Those most successful firms now

see value in the relationship between digital technologies and the people they

serve. The companies best prepared to enter the post-pandemic era have already

realized that technology itself isn't a differentiator, but a commitment to

people and purpose."

    For a full copy of the Infosys Digital Radar 2022, please visit:

https://www.infosys.com/navigate-your-next/research/digital-radar-report.html

    Note to Editor:

    Methodology

    In the latter half of 2021, Infosys used a blind format to conduct an

online survey that attracted responses from nearly 2,700 CXO, senior-level, and

mid-level respondents from companies with revenues upwards of US$1 Billion.

Respondents represented multiple industries and hailed from Australia, China,

France, Germany, India, New Zealand, U.K., and the U.S. To gain additional

qualitative insights, phone interviews were also conducted with a few

practitioners and subject matter experts.

    About Infosys

    Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and

consulting. We enable clients in more than 50 countries to navigate their

digital transformation. With over four decades of experience in managing the

systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients

through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an

AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower

the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of

performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their

continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills,

expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

    Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY) can help

your enterprise navigate your next.

    Safe Harbor

    Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects,

financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our

employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to

qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform

Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause

actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking

statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include,

but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the

effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks

related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and

other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic

conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates,

our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including

those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our

ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost

overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration,

restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to

manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key

focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our

ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions,

liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in

which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of

governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts,

legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India,

unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions

affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government

investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results

are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange

Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year

ended March 31, 2021. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may,

from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements,

including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and

Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not

undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time

to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

   Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg  

   Source - Infosys