The pandemic has caused almost every organisation to go digital, some these organisations moved on to do digital things, while others became ‘digital first’, placing digital at the heart of everything they do. To become digital, they executed a ‘digital first’ strategy, where they redefined how they created value through; digital transformation, disruption and a boldly reimagined future.

‘Digital first’ organisations are either born ‘digital natives’, or undergo a digital transformation, to become ‘digital incumbents.’ Many businesses that are ‘digital first’ are experiencing rapid growth, today, 5 of the world’s top 6 most valuable organisations, such as Apple, Microsoft and Google are ‘digital natives’.

Digital first organisations innovate faster than their peers.

‘Digital first’ organisations quickly innovate through the product lifecycle development. They are faster than their peers due to their innovation mindset and an agile culture that responds to change. ‘Digital first’ organisations that drive continuous innovation invest in new opportunities to; disrupt like a start-up, pivot to embrace emerging opportunities, design and iterate customer value and kick start and scale ventures.

Digital first organisations grow value in ecosystems and platforms

Ecosystem based partnerships are increasingly important for sustainable differentiation, especially for ‘digital first’ organisations. ‘Digital firsts’ apply AI to make sense of the third-party data from their partner ecosystem and deploy machine learning to automate key ecosystem dependent customer experiences. ‘Digital first’ organisations who invest in ecosystems are the highest users of AI in the world.

Digital first companies transform data into knowledge.

Using AI, ‘digital first’ companies capture data and action the insights to create a seamless customer experience and automated workflows. ‘Digital first’ data is captured through bots, algorithms and IoT sensors, transmitted to data actuators and analysed in cloud-based processors. ‘Digital firsts’ make data available enterprise wide for both customer and employee facing interactions. Employees may apply this data in their workflow to increase productivity and provide more personalised and responsive service to the customers.

‘Digital first’ companies use analytics to know their customer better than their peers. Analytics allows ‘digital firsts’ to be more attuned to customer behavioural shifts, responding quickly to an increase propensity to churn or a reduction in marketing effectiveness. ‘Digital firsts’ apply analytics to observe online behaviours and generate predictive models that manage the product lifecycle more effectively.

Digital firsts are more focused on community engagement than their peers.

‘Digital firsts’ go beyond traditional marketing methods, using growth strategies such as trust building through social proof and user generated content. They invest heavily in community engagement, converting customers to advocates. ‘Digital firsts’ continuously improve their marketing, they apply A/B testing to optimise their cross-channel campaigns and to create a more personalised customer experience.

Digital firsts have a distinct approach to people and culture

‘Digital firsts’ form a solid partnership between humans and technology to generate the business capabilities to outperform their peers. They value people. ‘Digital firsts’ invest in attracting the right talent through a strong employee value proposition. ‘Digital firsts’ are organised as teams of teams, which operate autonomously with non-hierarchal decision making. To be agile at scale, teams in ‘digital first’ organisations form from across business functions and swarm together to accomplish their goals.

‘Digital firsts’ value technological innovation. They have a test and learn culture, using prototype and business model testing to drive rapid innovation. They leverage cloud computing for agile and continuous technology integration and delivery. To reduce the risk of early adoption of new technology, ‘digital firsts’ often lean on outside technology specialists such as App 360.

App 360, the digital first design and engineering partner

App 360 is the chosen design and engineering partner of many ‘digital first’ organisations. If you are already a digital first organisation and you are seeking a partner that understands your business need for ongoing innovation, we are happy to talk to you about your needs and opportunities. If you are a business that is just starting as a digital native or undergoing a digital transformation, we are here to help. At no cost we can take you through our rapid prototype development and give you a free clickable prototype to show you how your new venture can be brought to life.