Derek Robinson

A rapidly evolving technological context has inspired a series of bold visions for the organization of tomorrow. Accurately predicting and then closing the gap between those bold visions and the appetite of individual businesses for systemic change is a formidable challenge. Transformation leaders must work through these unknowns, both because they will be the ones driving fresh approaches to organizational design and the target operating model - and because every major Transformation requires a clear vision for the future enterprise. This session seeks to identify the skills, roles and systems that will define the organization of the future – and to explore how we, as Transformation leaders, can deliver them.

• To what extent is workforce upskilling vs. workforce attrition a viable goal for the future enterprise? Will the headcount of tomorrow’s global businesses be smaller and, if so, what does that mean for how we structure, train and incentivise our people? 

• Is a conventional, function-based approach to organisational structure still fundamental, or can we update it?

• Which business foundations will need to shift and which will endure? Will core systems like the ERP ever be redundant, and what might that mean for how we think about our organisational core? 

• If we take some types of creative intellectual product as irreplaceably human, what opportunities might there be to factor in new revenue streams and teams as we design the future business?

• To what extent can we leverage AI as an enabler to approach the redesign of role?

• What if, in the future enterprise, people move from sitting at the centre of processes, delivering them with the help of AI, to sitting at the edge whilst AI executes the process? What early case studies can we learn from and how does our thinking around organisational structures, oversight and governance need to adapt in readiness?