Why 70% of Digital Transformations Still Fail - and How to Avoid Becoming One of Them
Digital transformation success has less to do with technology and everything to do with structure, accountability, and execution.
I’m not sure if it’s a well-known statistic, or just one that I cite so often that it feels like common knowledge.
Either way, according to McKinsey, 70% of digital transformations fail¹.
Harvard Business Review found the same pattern: most fail not because of technology, but because of people and process².
After nearly two decades overseeing these processes successfully - and often sifting through the rubble for failed attempts - here’s what I’ve seen on the ground:
The failures can very rarely be blamed on picking the wrong tech stack or CRM. They come from wonky structures, blurred accountability, and ludicrously optimistic thinking about how quickly teams will adapt.
Here are five actionable ideas to add to your checklist if your organization is undergoing a digital transformation.
Don’t call it a “digital” transformation. Pardon the hypocrisy here; we’ll keep calling it a “digital transformation” for ease of communication. However, everything is digital now, so using that word pulls the camera in too close on just one aspect of the challenge. This is a business transformation that happens to involve - maybe even foreground - technology. Treat it that way, and the tech pieces will typically fall into place from there.
Write down what you are trying to change in one sentence that is free of jargon. If you can’t explain the goal clearly to the person sitting next to you on the train, it’s not clear enough to guide investment. Even “We do things manually that we think automation could solve” is fine.
Start small and finish. Pick one workflow or pain point, automate or rebuild it fully, then measure the outcome, and communicate what worked - and what didn’t. Momentum is built through visible wins, not slide decks. Even from a psychological and morale perspective, you’re more likely to see adherence to grand plans if you break them up into smaller, identifiable phases.
Measure adoption, not deployment. An obsessive focus on feature iteration is the death of many a startup, and the same can happen to established organization making a digital pivot. Feature or process rollout can very much be a vanity metric here, but if you keep your eye on how many people are leveraging your new innovations - and how sticky these features are - you’ll have a more faithful marker of progress.
Change how decisions are made. Many organizations digitize bad habits. Creating software or digital processes that merely make outdated or inefficient processes slightly quicker is not the way. By implementing a new decision cadence that uses data, feedback, and accountability upfront, however, you can ensure that you’re not simply turning a crummy manual process into a crummy digital process.
There is no immutable formula for success in this space, but if you follow the guidelines above, you’re certain to limit the likelihood that you’re spinning your wheels as you take your first steps towards a productive digital transformation.
And if all of this feels nebulous or overwhelming, schedule a call with an Atlantic Zero consultant for more insights and clarity.
Atlantic Zero works with leadership teams to design data, automation, and growth systems that deliver measurable business outcomes. Let’s talk about how we can help accelerate your transformation.
