Beyond Technology: Why This Transformation Is Different

What makes digital transformation so different from earlier industrial revolutions? Previous revolutions were powered by physical strength, while today’s machines can observe, help us think, and deal with ideas. In the past, a single disruptive technology emerged, such as the combustion engine or electrification, that would impact the business and social environment; today a series of highly disruptive technologies—Big Data, cloud computing, mobile and social network communications, the Internet of Things, and cyber security have come together all at once in a perfect storm challenging society and overturning our most basic assumptions about how we do business.