Rewired

Chapter 6The digital roadmap is a contract for your C-suite

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The final output of the business-led roadmapping process is the implementation roadmap and the related financial plan.

Exhibit 6.1 shows an actual example of a digital roadmap for a CPG company. Note the specific domains (personalized marketing, supply chain, and procurement) and how the capability-building efforts happen in parallel. This roadmap is limited to the first three domains. In years two and three of this transformation, these domains add additional solutions to continue their transformation and new domains get launched.

It's not helpful to plan further out than two to three years. Invariably things will change and you will learn a lot in the first year. Be clear on the prize you are going after and flexible about the journey to get there.

There are five markers of a good digital and AI transformation roadmap:

1. Domains and the underlying digital solutions are sequenced in a way that will produce meaningful value in the short and medium terms.
2. Domain transformations are explicitly tied to improvements in operational KPIs, which in turn tie to value creation. Business leaders are committed to the domain roadmap and the expected benefits have been baked into their business objectives and incentive plan.
3. The overall plan explicitly accounts for the buildout of enterprise capabilities – talent, operating model, technology, and data – and includes ...