What does it mean to take charge in today’s digital world and what’s the difference before and after digitization? What makes it essential for successful implementation of digital growth and are we really there yet? These are just some of the questions that sparked the curiosity of Bikash Pathak from PT. MAP Aktif Adiperkasa about how this evolving environment is redefining customers as kings.
Big companies today are striving to find that perfect recipe for success. Bikash discusses how companies fell victim to kicking off large scale, transformation projects without a clear framework of what success would look like. He explained four main points that touch on other possible routes to making a company successful and to what one company should focus on.
First, it is important for the company to have it’s own purpose and a clear baseline. In this way there is a clear foundation and vision as to how the company will work together.
Second, customer first. Bikash mentioned: “Always being a customer first. As cliche as it may sound and now more than ever in history, the customer is the true king and directive. For digital initiatives to succeed, they have to start and center around customer experience”. The company’s winning power rests within its customers.
Third, to start small. Now isn’t this something so basic and simple, something that people hear everyday? It’s okay to make mistakes, Bikash stressed how it’s important to fail fast and pivot from there.
And lastly, having digital initiatives need to have a strong conviction and sponsorship. This just means that having investment in tech helps simplify business processes, to boost efficiency, to foster growth and most importantly and creates a culture of investing in their own customers.
Connecting the customer perspective, personalization has become essential for companies to maintain customer trust and remain relevant in today’s experiential shopping landscape. This led to the question of whether we have truly achieved sustainable digital growth in personalized experiences. Bikash pointed out that while data access is more straightforward now, even major companies like Amazon have yet to perfect personalization.
He emphasized, “If businesses are to drive meaningful personalization, the prime focus needs to be on more unified data points we have on customers. But for me, the most important bit is to start rather than waiting for that perfect moment to arrive.” This underscores the need for creativity and collaboration within teams, especially when fostering new ideas.
We wrapped up by exploring his views on how the world contrasts with and without digitalization. The status quo of today’s generation is infused with the mainstream of digital usage, leading towards a path of a paradigm shift from the old to the new, especially the growing need of an increasing number of tech-savvy indonesians.
The relevancy of 9-5 is slowly fading away like a cocoon erasing its caterpillar phase, preparing for its butterfly stage. With the new generation pushing for a flexible workplace, the wave of a new work culture is rising at a steadfast rate.
Speed, as Mr. Pathak emphasizes, is the driving force that maneuvers the company to unprecedented heights. The prowess of technology elevates the possibility of work to divert from bureaucratic human interactions to an innovative and flexibility-centered structure. In the lenses of Mr. Pathak, this divergence of technology is not corrupt nor virtuous in nature. It stands on the grayscale as its purpose is to be as efficient as possible.
He ended the interview with: “How the nature of work itself is becoming more with modular technology reducing the need for large-scale and constant human interactions. And if GEN AI does play out how it’s predicted we would see a rapid and incremental rise in one person functions and even businesses assisted by copilots. It’s just part of the evolution and us as individuals and businesses will just have to adapt and play on.”
Bikash is geared up and ready to take on this year’s Retail & E-Commerce Summit Asia 2024 Indonesia. Join us on November 21, 2024, at the Ritz-Carlton, Jakarta, to gain valuable insights from some of the top leaders in the marketing industry. It’s an event you don’t want to miss!
