The pace of digital transformation has accelerated, and enterprises are focused on ensuring they’re maximizing the value they get from worktech systems. In fact, Eptura’s 2025 Workplace Index report shows more companies are hiring digital workplace leaders to help manage related organizational change.
It’s a positive trend, though not surprising. According to the report, 34% of companies surveyed are also increasing the number of days employees spend in the office, putting more pressure on leaders “to find the optimal employee experience and usage of space.” Hiring more digital workplace leaders signals that many organizations see digital transformation as a means to create value within their business. Different ways to think about digital transformation
Implementing new technologies can offer many benefits, but different roles or sectors may view these gains – and their relative importance to the business – through different lenses.
Across business types
The operational areas in which enterprises focus their investments typically depend on who their business serves. Business-to-business companies tend to focus on improving the customer experience. They might develop front-end technologies like mobile apps that improve the overall shopping experience or digital solutions for online banking. For companies employing a business-to-consumer model, investments are more likely in back-end solutions that optimize internal processes and support business operations. For example, they might implement digital customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, or project management platforms.
Between leadership and end-users
Leadership is often focused on overall, fundamental business goals like reducing costs to improve the bottom line. They may view digital transformation as a way to streamline cross-functional processes and drive efficiency.
We’ve also seen organizations extend their approach beyond optimizing operations. For example, with the rise of the Internet of Things, some heavy equipment manufacturers used technology to transform their basic business model. The first step was maximizing asset management for their own equipment. Next, they applied a layer of digital services they could then sell to customers as a new line of business.
It’s still a popular idea. We recently spoke with a telecom company that’s interested in pursuing the same process. They want to transform their offices so they can offer smart spaces and smart buildings to their customers. Before they can do that, though, they need to make themselves into a compelling case study by proving the ROI of using high-performing space. Another driver of digital transformation from the leadership perspective is competitive differentiation. Here, digital transformation is about building brand affinity and delivering a level of customer experience that matches or exceeds what competitors offer.
For those in the organization who will directly interact with the new technology — the end-users — the focus is narrower, and comes down to the questions “Day in, day out, how is this going to help me perform my job better?” and, “Am I going to be able to achieve what I’m being asked to do more efficiently?”
It’s important to keep these differences in mind when building buy-in across different levels of the organizational chart. Employees will be more open to embracing the benefits of automation if you speak directly to their experience in the workplace and role-specific metrics about how the change will ultimately make their daily lives easier.
The rise of the digital workplace leader
Within professional and financial services organizations, 67% have hired a digital workplace leader to manage hybrid needs, with 42% hiring in the last 18 months, according to the 2025 Workplace Index report.
In our experience, successful digital workplace leaders share some common characteristics. They’re innovators who are not afraid to push boundaries. They’re also creative and curious about technology. They want to experiment with tech to see how it works and how they can use it in new ways. Many of them come from backgrounds in IT, consumer experience, or design.
They also excel at:
- Cross-functional collaboration: Working well with different departments and teams to make sure digital transformation is a whole and integrated process
- Influence management: Building buy-in from various stakeholders across an organization, including leadership and end users
- Organizational respect: Earning and maintaining respect within the organization, which is crucial for gaining trust and driving change
In this role, it’s always important to carefully match vision with execution. Digital transformation is a process that takes time, and it can be difficult to drive lasting change without well-planned use cases that consider the steps needed to evolve as well as the desired outcome. For example, if the majority of the business analyzes data manually on spreadsheets, a transition to running buildings via predictive automation and robotics within a short time span is likely unrealistic. Aspiration needs a strong connection to practical considerations, including timelines, budgets, and impact on company culture.
The growing influence of digital natives
We see many workplace leaders and their teams embracing change. In fact, they’re often the ones spearheading digitalization projects. This trend will grow as more employees become more comfortable with digital tech. According to the Workplace Index, Gen Z is now 18% of the workforce (and rising), and “Being a generation of digital natives, they are driving a significant shift from paper-based processes to automation.” It’s important to consider that there could be more at work than how a demographic generally thinks about technology. Remember, software solutions cannot create policies and processes. Instead, they play a supporting role. For example, we once saw a company that brought in a software solution to help their maintenance technicians identify and prioritize tasks. Because the team was not incentivized to work more efficiently, they did not invest their time in learning and leveraging the new technology. The team lacked clear, enforced performance metrics, so no amount training or fine-tuning the technology delivered the desired results.
Digital transformation helps solve uncertainty
Embracing digital transformation is a valuable strategy, especially in times of increased uncertainty, because it helps companies make data-driven decisions. By integrating advanced analytics and AI, businesses can gain deeper insights into market trends, customer behavior, and operational performance. A data-driven approach helps companies to identify opportunities and risks more accurately, enabling them to pivot strategies quickly and efficiently in response to a range of changing conditions.
Digital transformation can also streamline processes and reduce costs, which is crucial to forecasting in any business environment. Automation and digital tools can optimize workflows, minimize human error, and improve productivity, which helps companies maintain operational efficiency so they can reallocate resources to more critical areas, such as innovation and customer service, which drive long-term growth.
To begin your own digital journey, connect with our consultancy.
By Erik Zink and Sarah Kilmartin
Erik Zink, Vice President Worktech Consultancy and Corporate Development, has more than a decade of experience as a strategy and transformation consultant. He is an expert on change and strategic growth and has advised Fortune 500 enterprise leaders on large scale implementations and transformations. Sarah Kilmartin, Director of Customer Insights, has more than two decades of experience managing enterprise customers and supporting global departments through workplace transformations. As a former facility and operations leader for a leading flex space provider, she’s an expert on workplace strategy, qualitative and quantitative thought leadership, and customer insight.
