The Next Boom: In The 2020s, The Network Is The Corporation

This is the latest installment of my ongoing series of discussions with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and corporate leaders on what to expect as the world recovers in the post-Covid era in terms of technology and innovation.

One of the key lessons being carried out of the Covid crisis is that while we needed to be separated by at least six feet, we also learned that no individual — or corporation — is an island. We are all part of a network, connected, real time and right time, with increasingly sophisticated technologies. That’s the lesson many executives are taking with them as we progress into the post-Covid economic boom, and prepare for the new opportunities that the 2020s will present.

A reliance on ecosystems of partners and customers is essential to do business in the digital ‘20s, says Athina Kanioura, chief strategy and transformation officer for PepsiCo, who says building an ecosystem is one of the most important lessons learned going forward. “One business decision that has inhibited success for entrepreneurs, business leaders, and innovators is doing everything on your own without any support, partnerships, or leveraging platforms to drive the changes you need to implement. Building an ecosystem of expert partners and tools that allows your organization to innovate and collaborate to develop and maintain solutions and capabilities is imperative."

As the pandemic wove its destructive path through societies, some forward-looking companies quickly recognized the importance of looking out for the welfare of members of their wider networks. “We knew how important it was to ensure our customers, who are mostly small business owners, had access to resources that enabled them to sustain their businesses through this difficult time,” says Jasson Gilmore, senior vice president of global digital and consumer marketing for Allergan Aesthetics. “Many of them were closed for several months. We worked quickly to implement programs to help as much as we could – extending payment terms and programs, offering virtual training sessions and detailing, peer-to-peer panel discussions and digital forums to help us stay connected with our customers. What surprised me the most was how tenuous the whole marketplace is… and then as things opened up, and people came back in droves, I was surprised at how resilient our customers and their patients really are.”

The lesson taken away from the Covid crisis is we were all in it together, and as we move into the next boom period of the 2020s, we need to stick together. The pandemic “made it obvious how vulnerable big companies are to any external shock that impacts their operational business," says Kanioura.

This effect was especially apparent when it came to the vulnerability of supply chains, she continues. “There’s a big push for companies to make their supply chains more resilient and optimize their value chain. Companies that had the visibility, intelligence, data value chains, and systems that allowed them to flex capacity and adjust their go-to-market strategies to more e-commerce penetration, were better prepared. Having the infrastructure already in place allowed them to be more agile. As organizations have adopted new infrastructures in the wake of Covid, this new baseline will become the norm and drive further investment in technology, artificial intelligence, and new emerging platforms. We’ve learned a valuable lesson emerging from the Covid crisis on just how vital technology has become for the growth of an organization."  

This has implications for the way organizations innovate, and bring products and services to market, because there is no precedent for the times we are entering. “The framework organizations previously used to develop an idea was primarily hypothesis-led, but that process has collapsed with the pandemic," says Kanioura. "We have to create new methods without any historical baseline to compare against past performances or ideas. These new ways of working require using impressive new tools like artificial intelligence and cloud technology. These technologies can create a simulation that predicts if an idea could be successful and what it would mean for the corporation. Combining data, technology, and AI will enable companies to create big ideas and test them much faster before pushing them out to a bigger scale."

Education and constant connection — through digital means — also will be a hallmark of successful enterprises in the era ahead. “Companies that foster a working culture that promotes continued education and training optimizes productivity and breeds creativity,” says Gilmore. “We actively seeks out customer feedback driving a model that is shaped by customers, for customers. Their perspectives help shape our innovation. What we’ve discovered is the need for compassion, flexibility and support for employees and customers.”