Digital transformation

Client need 

A leading telecommunications organization in the Middle East had long partnered with BTS on strategy implementation and business acumen-building initiatives. Two years into the partnership, the organization embarked on a new strategic direction: providing digital services such as fintech, on-demand video, IoT enablement, analytics, and cybersecurity. To bring this transformation to life, the organization’s mid-level managers needed to shift existing mindsets and behaviors and develop the requisite digital knowledge. 

To execute key strategic objectives outlined in the new strategy, the organization and BTS co-created a digital excellence program that combined the organization’s existing curricula on IoT with BTS’s expertise in AI- and data-driven decision-making. The organization had already embarked on two training initiatives: the knowledge transfer program, which fostered a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration by tapping into the organization’s collective intellectual capital, and the specialty development program, which sought to position employees as trusted digital advisors by cultivating specializations according to industry trends. Together, the organization and BTS incorporated both initiatives into a single, streamlined digital learning journey.  

The solution… 

To reach both target audiences, executives (general managers and vice presidents) and mid-level leaders (section managers and directors) attended specifically-designed versions of the digital excellence program to address each group’s specific needs.  

Busy executives experienced an abbreviated version of the journey, while mid-level leaders went through a longer program, which included an additional day of AI training and an additional two days of data-driven decision-making training. For the AI component of the program, BTS facilitators built a simulation that leveraged BTS IP on the topic. For the data-driven decision-making portion, BTS built a big data simulation with input from the organization’s senior data scientists. 

The program is comprised of six modules, each of which was carefully designed to address specific technologies relevant to the organization’s growth trajectory. As a result of the experience, people would become better equipped to drive innovation, adopt emerging technologies, and lead their teams towards the organization’s strategic goals.

• Module 1, Data-driven decision-making: A two-day, BTS-led experience to help leaders understand how to frame business problems like data science problems in order to derive strategic insight from the organization’s big data. 
• Module 2, Innovation leaders lab: A one-day experience equipping leaders to create an environment in which innovation can flourish. 
• Module 3, Artificial Intelligence for business growth: A two-day, BTS-led experience about capitalizing on artificial intelligence to drive business growth. 
• Module 4, Master classes: Two-day sessions featuring the organization’s internal experts on exploiting cyber security, 5G, and cloud technologies.  
• Module 5, Emerging technologies: A four-day, joint-facilitation effort covering IoT, smart cities, and robotics.  
• Module 6, Digital excellence symposium: A daylong set of internal expert-led knowledge sharing sessions featuring data visualization, drones, and other emerging technologies. 

Results 

To date, the initiative has reached eight cohorts of leaders. 87.6 percent of those leaders reported that they would recommend the program to a colleague. Given the program’s success so far in transforming the traditional telecommunications organization into a digital services provider, the organization plans to run many more cohorts in the future. Overall, the experience has catalyzed the organization’s continued growth by empowering its middle management to navigate the digital landscape with confidence.