Emerging technologies throughout history have each been transformative, sparking digital shifts in the business landscape. Even so, it appears that artificial intelligence (AI) is set to be more transformative than any that came before.
Here, our Chief Technology Officer Matt Cloke breaks down how businesses can embrace this technology and position themselves to thrive in this changing landscape.
It’s not the first time we’ve asked you about the potential AI holds. Before we dive deeper into this, tell us, what excites you about AI personally?
For a long time, there was nothing sufficiently different about technology that really, really made me excited. I remember when iPhones first came out and was excited about the incredible possibilities. Some of it has happened, some of it hasn't.
I look at AI technology right now, at the things that we're doing as a company, and even beyond Endava, and I see things I didn’t even realise were possible – yet some people have worked out how to do it. That’s exciting for me – things we didn’t expect to even be possible are now becoming normal.
It’s certainly a technology that’s sparking a lot of change across industries. So tell us, how would you define digital transformation?
When we talk about digital transformation in companies, what we're really meaning is embracing the technology that can be at the centre of what people do and how they interact with other people.
It's easier to identify digital transformation by looking backwards and realising that something was a big leap forward.
To illustrate this, consider how, pre-internet, people were the recipients of computers doing things in the background. For example, you may get a printed bank statement, but you didn’t consider the computer and its role, you simply received the statement. Then the internet came along, and suddenly there were lots of things you could do online that you couldn't previously do. You had a direct role with computers and the internet that you didn’t have before.
That would be an example of a major digital shift that sparked transformation across industries. Then, the development of mobile phones created another wave.
We're at that point now where AI technology, through the evolution of large language models, is causing another moment in time. Businesses everywhere are realising that if they embrace it, they can do something entirely different as a result.
What does this AI moment in time mean for businesses?
During historical digital transformations, people have looked at how they can quickly adopt a technology without it really disrupting what they do at the core of their business.
However, because AI technology has the ability to be so transformative – both from the interactions that it can have with customers, but also in terms of efficiency gains and those types of activities – people are having to go and look very hard at the systems that they've not changed for a very, very long period of time.
Now, they're asking: “Can I use AI technology to be more efficient, and therefore, can I embrace the technology and do something different?”
With AI holding so much potential, how can businesses best prepare themselves for this technology?
I think it’s about having an openness to embrace technology and realise where efficiency gain can come from.
Don't think about this as deploying technology into an organisation. Instead, think about adopting a mindset of 'how can I use this to make everything I do more productive and more efficient?'
Part of that openness to technology must come from the people, and part must come from ensuring that your systems are up to task. It’s important when embracing this new technology to have a clear and thorough understanding of your existing systems so that you can start your transformation project with a solid foundation.
With any transformation project there are clear benefits, but there are always some risks. How can businesses mitigate these?
Most organisations have complex connections inside their systems, some intended and some unintended. These connections become very, very hard to break apart. In architectural terms, this is known as coupling.
With any kind of transformation, organisations must identify whether changing one system will impact another. However, the risk exists when there's a lack of visibility of how these connections exist between systems.
What Endava can do, using its tools, experience and knowledge, is provide people with visibility about those dependencies and that coupling, which then allows people to de-risk making changes inside those environments.
Implementing AI can be a challenge. What should businesses look for in a technology partner to best support them?
I think people always look for experience in these situations. So, the number one conversation that we have with clients whenever we talk about AI is about being able to demonstrate to them that we know what we're talking about.
We're very grounded in our ability to provide our experience because we've been writing large-scale AI systems for clients for more than ten years. That is what people are looking for when they're looking to partner with someone to help them navigate this digital wave: someone with experience, someone who can be trusted, someone who can help them truly consider the true potential of AI beyond chatbots and towards efficiency and productivity.
Our experience allows us to provide that, so we are excited to offer trusted support and expertise to customers as we help them bring their AI projects to life and see what’s possible.
Looking forward, how do you see the technology landscape evolving?
Future models will provide a degree of sophistication that we don't currently have. But it’s about knowing how to use these models. We're all going to have to learn how to actually use this technology in our daily lives, in our roles, and really take on what comes next from a technology perspective.
Of course, there’s also agentic AI, which is really exciting. This is so powerful because it allows AI agents to have roles, tools and also to collaborate. It’s going to be revolutionary for businesses because it’s about having different agents interact with each other to provide an outcome, making workflows more efficient and unlocking time and resources for people to go beyond the mundane.
What message would you leave those who are considering how AI fits into their business?
We’re right on the cusp of change. When I was younger, I went to the Masai Mara and witnessed the wildebeest migration. Once the wildebeests arrive at the river to cross, thousands of them gather, waiting, looking down into the river and considering all the potential dangers. None of them wants to be first.
At some point, something happens, and suddenly there is a mass migration – all the animals go through and come up on the other side.
That's where we are at the moment with the AI wave. Lots of people have some concept of where we're going, but many are cautious about being the first.
There are many, many benefits for organisations embracing this change. Actually, the sooner they do it, the better it will be for them from an organisational perspective as opposed to being a laggard.
Because in this case, with this wave, being a laggard could be the difference between being successful in the future and losing out in a competitive market.
Ready to embrace the change and implement AI? Discover how modernisation plays a crucial role in preparing for AI with our Global Head of Strategy Scott Harkey. Or dive deeper with our CEO John Cotterell and explore the past, present and future of digital transformation.