In eight global markets, 2,900 business leaders were questioned for the report. Barry O'Byrne, CEO of HSBC's global commercial banking division, commented on the results, saying, "Our Digital Horizons report makes clear that successful businesses will not see a diminished role for human skillsets." Businesses will need to adopt new technologies to enable teams to work more effectively, creatively, and efficiently if they want to stay competitive. It will take new skills and methods of thinking and doing things to be this agile.

As a way to take full advantage of the potential that new technology will provide, respondents to a survey by Digital Horizons said they intend to invest in their personnel. Eighty-six percent of respondents are considering the ways in which new technology might improve the skill sets of their workforce. In addition, in response to the quick advancements in technology, 83% of employers intend to retrain their personnel, and 82% are investing in fresh talent.

The Future Laboratory's co-founder Martin Raymond stated: "Technological advancements have historically reset economic and social paradigms." But through people-driven collaborative innovation networks, we can better understand human collaboration and how, why, and where it works best. This enables us to direct growth, ignite innovation, and develop talent.

The direction and spirit of change are determined by human collaboration and talent, while technology shapes and accelerates change. Moreover, companies must lease the former and invest in the latter in order to sustain their competitive advantage over the long run.

A new chapter in cross-border and cross-sector cooperation
According to the HSBC Digital Horizons report, cooperation will be essential for companies to succeed in the next ten years. The vast majority concur that more cooperation amongst their organization's members (85%) and with other industry participants (84%), will drive growth. However, the majority of corporate executives concur that working together both inside and outside of their industry—through 82% and 83% of international alliances and networks, respectively—is essential to success.

The paper outlines the top tactics that companies use to facilitate this new collaborative era. The most popular strategies include putting more of an emphasis on agile, technology-driven working practices (favorable by 47%). However, 36% think it's critical to embrace alliances with smaller, more agile competitors in the market.

Four trends emerged from the study that, over the next ten years, will propel fundamental transformation and open up new economic opportunities through digitalization:

1. A new era known as "borderless business" is promoting a worldwide perspective and networks wherein prosperous companies adjust to take use of global talent, supply chains, and connections.
2. FLIT organizations are becoming more and more prevalent; they prioritize tech-driven operations, a flexible workforce, lean processes, and creative business models.
3. A workplace that emphasizes the benefits and advantages of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), enabling and upskilling talent to adopt this approach, is known as inclusive automation.
4. Creative Edge: Businesses that foster an environment that values creativity, independence, and open-mindedness will have a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

The role of technology in long-term success
According to a survey of business leaders, technology will be crucial to their companies' growth over the next ten years. They identified the three most important areas where technology will be used: reducing costs (26%), enhancing customer service and experience (26%), and increasing revenue (27%). Key areas for growth and investment were determined to be robotics and automation, generative AI, machine learning, and augmented or virtual reality.

Although business executives acknowledged a lack of familiarity with some of the technologies driving longer-term change, the majority (86%) are confident in their ability to keep up with technological advancements over the next ten years. Only 31% of businesses globally are very familiar with robotics and automation, 26% with optical character recognition, and 26% with quantum computing.

"New and emerging technologies present both a challenge and an opportunity for businesses around the world," stated O'Byrne's conclusion. We have translated the key trends into practical insights in our Digital Horizons study to assist executives in navigating this path. Consequently, it aids companies in future-proofing their operations and setting themselves up for expansion.

The report's conclusions also support our view that people should be empowered by digital technology, not replaced by it. This underscores our dedication to staying at the forefront of innovation and satisfying the changing demands of our clients both now and in the future.