Taking the Pulse of 2022

“Executives have always told us that investing in digital transformation is the smartest way forward. This year many plan to build on those investments…”

Those words are found within the most recent PwC Pulse Survey and essentially form the spine of the findings for this latest version of the occasional, well, pulse-taking of executives, initiated nearly two years ago at the outset of pandemic-fueled lockdowns.

According to the survey, 60% of executives say digital transformation is their most critical growth driver in 2022. The program was started with a goal of examining the long-term planning and strategies being employed by companies in today’s unprecedented environment. This most recent installment polled nearly 700 business leaders for companies in a variety of industries and size categories in January 2022 to gather executive insight into this year, including the top concerns and opportunities.

And for the majority, the biggest opportunity for growth is digital transformation.

“Filling job vacancies and enhancing digital capabilities will also accelerate progress toward other high priorities such as increasing agility, developing new products and services for ever-demanding consumers, improving supply chain resilience, honing pricing strategies and pursuing M&A,” the report based on survey findings notes.

An Enterprise Level Goal

A notable difference, PwC notes, between this latest survey and prior versions of this occasional series is a distinct increase in cross C-suite collaboration.

As the report states, “Sharpening talent strategies and applying digital transformation across the enterprise to more areas from tax efficiency to pricing strategies have become unified, businesswide priorities. That’s a marked shift from the focus on specific functional goals we’ve seen in the past.”

The report also highlights the concerns at the executive level about data and privacy regulations. As digital transformation seeps into all aspects of an organization, such concerns about technology and data regulations are increasing.

Fifty-four percent of respondents state policy shifts in this area will be the biggest driver of change for their business. Compare that to the roughly one-third of respondents who attributed potential U.S. and global tax increases, stricter environmental, social and governance disclosure requirements and increased U.S. government spending and incentives in leading them to make operational changes.

Cloud Transformation Growth

These concerns about tech and data, the report notes, are likely driven by the ongoing cloud transformations which involve data being moved outside the walls of an organization and into the domain of third-party service providers. Adding to the complexity and risk are global data and privacy laws.

Regardless, digital transformation, PwC points out, is increasing agility amid these concerns about tech and data regulations.

“Digital capability is at the heart of execution, whether it’s increasing supply chain resilience, rolling out new products and services for consumers or shifting to investor-grade ESG reporting in preparation of new disclosure requirements,” per the report.

A Survey Who's Who

The makeup of survey respondents included U.S. executives in the roles of CFOs and finance leaders, CHROs, tax leaders, risk management leaders including CROs, COOs, CIOs, CTOs and technology leaders. Respondents came from companies in the sectors of industrial products, consumer markets, financial services, technology, media and telecom, health industries and energy and utilities.

If you would like to put your finger on the pulse of what is most critical in the areas of billing technology and automation today, please join a gathering of your peers for an immersive virtual workshop on April 26 & 28, presented by Chris Sanders Consulting. To learn more about this unique event and to register for the event, please visit here.