KPMG Global Technology Report 2024

Our latest global technology report highlights the progress organisations are making in realising the value of technology, seeing increased profits from digital transformation and improved data maturity. Leaders are prioritising customer feedback, agility, and security, while embracing emerging technologies.

However, challenges remain, including the pace of change, cost management, and cybersecurity concerns. The report also emphasises the importance of delivering trusted value beyond financial factors, with a focus on security and customer-centricity.

Paul Henninger

Partner, Head of UK Connected Technology & Global Lighthouse

KPMG in the UK

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While leaders are making clear advancements with AI implementation, there are concerns about the impact on the workforce. The report outlines the need for organisations to take employees the journey of technology adoption which will be crucial for success.

Extracting value amid the unprecedented pace of change

Ensuring value from technology investments remains a priority for respondents. And the good news is that technology decisions are paying off and delivering value. For the tech categories surveyed in both 2023 and 2024, organisations report an average 25 percentage point increase in the extent to which those systems have positively impacted their profitability. A significant contributing factor being that the majority of respondents are deploying best practice measures for digital transformation decision making.

Defining and delivering trusted value from technology

When we talk about value realised through digital transformation, it’s about more than just financial value. The value that organisations are looking for from technology investments goes well beyond monetary gains and include factors such as customer satisfaction.

But in general, organisations refuse to sacrifice security in the name of innovation. Cybersecurity and privacy concerns are the factors most likely to trigger the emergency brake in a digital transformation project. And perhaps unsurprisingly, our leaders’ cited risk and cybersecurity metrics as one of their priority KPIs. But leaders are notably more confident in their ability to track these areas with 87% being confident in doing so.

Data maturity is developing

The extent of an organisation’s data-centricity is a key factor in their ability to extract and deliver value from tech in a reliable way.

Overall, data management maturity is now climbing. Across a whole range of different data-linked competencies, this year’s results are much better than a year ago. For example, on accessibility 53% agree users have the data they need to fulfil their roles, helping to enable emerging technologies and the partner ecosystem (37% last year). On extracting meaningful insight, 52% say they can filter through data repositories to find useful insights for customers and operations (38%).

But there’s still more to be done. Moving forward, leaders are likely to be focused on enhancing data security and ensuring data system investments align with the priorities of all business stakeholders.

Artificial Intelligence in action

What progress are organisations making with artificial intelligence implementations?

The signs are positive and advances are swift, with the majority of respondents already generating value from AI implementation across their businesses: 31% are innovating and deploying AI use cases at scale, achieving ROI in many cases; a further 43% say they have invested strategically and now have active use cases across the organisation.

The challenge ahead will be bringing the workforce along on the journey. The good news is that 70% of respondents believe their workforce has an appetite to embrace new technologies.