Business
Digital transformation
AI in Business & Digital Transformation
Also known as DX
A company spends a fortune on shiny new AI tools, and a year later nothing really changed, because the tech was easy but rewiring how people actually work was not. This page is about AI in business and digital transformation: how firms rebuild themselves around software, and why so many of those makeovers quietly stall. It connects to Economics, since the real prize is growth and productivity, getting more done with the same people, and to History, because this is just the latest in a long line of revolutions and upheavals that reshaped work. It also leans on Sociology, since institutions and their old habits resist change, and on Psychology, because transformation really means breaking the daily habits of everyone in the building.
Key people
- Sonita LontohAsian American businesswoman
- Marek KowalkiewiczPolish-Australian thought leader in artificial intelligence
- Richard HoldenAustralian economist
- Karen BakkerCanadian geographer
Timeline
- 1990As usage of the internet has increased since the 1990s, the usage of digitization has also increased.
Read
- Tourism Hospitality and Digital TransformationKayhan Tajeddini · 2019Book
- Building the agile business through digital transformationNeil Perkin · 2017Book
- Digital TransformationNirjhar Chakravorti · 2022Book
- Managing Digital TransformationAndreas Hinterhuber · 2021Book
Listen
- The Digital Transformation JourneyMIT Professional EducationPodcast
- Digital Transformation PodcastKevin CrainePodcast
- Embracing Digital TransformationDr. Darren PulsipherPodcast
- Masters of Digital Transformationo9 SolutionsPodcast
Voices to follow
- Fatih Cakir@FatihStrasys · XFounder of STRASYS Global, a digital and AI transformation company
- Issa Touré@inssatoure · XSenegalese digital entrepreneur
- Paul Okhrem@paulokhrem · XTechnology entrepreneur and AI consultant
- Felix Maschewski@FMaschewski · XGerman literary and cultural studies scholar and economist
By the numbers
- 118.4TWorld GDP (US$) — global, 2025 (World Bank)
- 3Global inflation — global, 2025 (World Bank)
Debates
- Should businesses prioritize rapid digital adoption or careful, phased implementation?One view: Rapid adoption allows companies to gain a competitive edge and respond quickly to market changes. · Another: Phased implementation reduces risks, ensures smooth integration, and allows for better employee adaptation.Open question
- Is AI primarily a job creator or a job displacer in the digital age?One view: AI creates new roles in development, maintenance, and data analysis, boosting productivity and growth. · Another: AI automates routine tasks, potentially leading to job losses in sectors where human labor is replaced.Open question
- Should companies focus on developing proprietary digital solutions or leveraging off-the-shelf platforms?One view: Proprietary solutions offer unique competitive advantages and tailored functionality. · Another: Off-the-shelf platforms provide faster deployment, lower initial costs, and access to established features.Open question
Glossary
- Digital TransformationThe process of adopting digital technology to improve an organization's processes, culture, and customer experiences.
- Cloud ComputingDelivery of on-demand computing services—including servers, storage, and software—over the Internet.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)The simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems, for tasks like learning and problem-solving.
- Big DataExtremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations.
- Agile MethodologyAn iterative approach to project management that helps teams deliver value faster and adapt to change.
- Internet of Things (IoT)The network of physical objects embedded with sensors and software for connecting and exchanging data over the internet.
Careers
Roles this can lead toward
Student research
Published policy papers by One Young India delegates — every delegate leaves published under their own name.
- A Critical Look at India's Digital DivideShreeyans Sharma
- UPI’s transformational effect on the Indian banking and economic sectorSaloni Rego
- Unified Disaster Digital Twin of IndiaPurvi Teotia
- Rethinking Education in the Digital Age: Bridging the Gap Between Technology and AccessGovind Mehra
- Artificial Intelligence in Businesses Decision MakingAanya Kapur
Threads 5
Where this connects to other fields — and why it's worth knowing.
- Immunology Health
When a company adopts new tech, it often gets rejected like a transplanted organ. Middle managers whose power the tool threatens act like antibodies, quietly attacking and smothering the change until it does nothing. The 'body' spits out the new part.
- Growth & Productivity Economics
When factories first got electric motors, output barely improved for decades. They'd just bolted motors onto old steam-era layouts. Only after redesigning the whole floor did production leap. Most AI is stuck the same way: new tool, old setup.
- Revolutions & Upheaval History
Big company makeovers fail the way revolutions do. Grabbing the new tool, like storming the palace, is the easy part. But old habits, loyalties, and power struggles survive underneath and quietly drag everything back to how it was.
- Social Institutions Sociology
There's a rule in tech: software ends up shaped like the company that built it. If two teams barely talk, their two pieces of code won't fit together well either. So a business can't just upgrade its app without first fixing how its people are organized. The code is basically a fossil of the company's own social structure.
- How Habits Form and Break Psychology
Most company tech makeovers fail not because the software is bad, but because people keep doing things the old way out of habit. A team's routine is as sticky as a personal addiction — cue, routine, reward — and no memo is going to break it.