What are the top challenges to consider when implementing a new tech innovation project?
Implementing a new tech innovation project can be exciting and rewarding, but also challenging and risky. Whether you are developing a new product, service, or process, you need to consider some key factors that can affect the success and sustainability of your project. In this article, we will discuss some of the top challenges to consider when implementing a new tech innovation project, and how to overcome them.
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Harish ChauhanDirector | Head of CTIO India @ Orange Business | Digital Transformation | Strategic & Innovative | Software…
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Shashi JainDeep Tech Innovator in AI, Space, IoT, 3D Printing, Healthcare. Youth entrepreneurship advocate. Author of "The 100…
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sydney hushie, LLMRegional Innovation Specialist at United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
One of the first challenges to consider is how your tech innovation project aligns with your overall business strategy and goals. You need to have a clear vision of what problem you are solving, who your target customers are, and how you will deliver value to them. You also need to assess how your project fits with your existing resources, capabilities, and culture. A tech innovation project that is not aligned with your strategy can lead to wasted time, money, and effort, and can create confusion and conflict among your stakeholders.
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Harish Chauhan
Director | Head of CTIO India @ Orange Business | Digital Transformation | Strategic & Innovative | Software Engineering & System Integration | Change Resilient & Enabler | Leadership & Empowerment
As per my experience key challenges are following but these things triggers you to work further - 1. Required Skills and mindset to contribute as innovations need you to think out of the box. 2. Environmental support from stakeholders where are you working 3. Push from competition and realisation about how innovation is important for the organisation and you 4. Opportunity and availability of use cases to prove failure or success (success always come after failure even in dictionary 😊) 5. Last but not the least maintaining the inner confidence or self believe
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Giovanni Sisinna
🌟22x LinkedIn Top Voice: Generative AI, Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, NLP, LLMs, Portfolio-Program-Project Management, Technological Innovation, Management Consulting🌟AI Advisory-Director Program Management
💡 Harnessing strategic alignment in tech innovation ensures resources are optimally utilized, steering projects towards fulfilling overarching business objectives. 🔍 Market Insight Understanding market demands and aligning them with your innovation can drastically improve project relevance and success. 🛠 Capability Assessment Evaluating your organization's capabilities ensures the project is feasible within current technological and resource constraints. 🔄 Feedback Loop Incorporating continuous feedback mechanisms helps keep the project aligned with strategic goals and market needs. 📌 Ensuring every tech innovation project aligns with the strategic vision is crucial for maximizing impact and ROI.
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Pravin Hungund
Indian Administrative Fellow (IAF) @ Rural Development and Panchayat Raj | CTO
In innovation of biz, tech & human behaviour, Tech is at the core. Every organisation wants to be known as a tech company. In most cases, especially in Digital transformation world, strategy gets defined basis successful tech innovations. By nature, innovation is about solving unknown challenges. In case of business & human behaviour, strategic alignment can be somewhat predictable. Incase of Tech innovation, designing a strategy can be very tricky. Technology experts tend to exhibit ‘not invented here’ syndrome, Rambo syndrome & overconfidence that solution is just round the corner. The fuzzy nature of tech intimidates decision makers, amplifying on ground challenges. Today, Strategic CTO plays a crucial role in organisational success.
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The Hood Efits Foundation Limited
Financial Consulting, Career Development Coaching, Leadership Development, Public Speaking, Property Law, Real Estate, Content Strategy & Technical Writing.
1. Alignment with strategy. 2. Customer validation. 3. Technical feasibility. 4. Team collaboration. 5. Change management. 6. Project evaluation.
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Fabrinio A. S. Lemos
CTO e Diretor de TI, GME-SE | Apaixonado por IA, inovação, cloud e transformação digital
Minha contribuição vão em tópicos principais de atenção, há que cuidar, monitorar e trabalhar sobre cada um: 1. Medo do novo 2. Recursos limitados 3. Alinhamento estratégico 4. Riscos do projeto 5. Comunicação falha 6. Integração complexa 7. Mudanças nos processos 8. Avaliação incompleta 9. Adaptação às mudanças 10. Cultura fechada Lembre-se: A implementação de um novo projeto de inovação tecnológica pode ser desafiadora, mas com planejamento e execução cuidadosos, o sucesso é possível.
Another challenge to consider is how to validate your tech innovation project with your potential customers. You need to understand their needs, preferences, and behaviors, and how they will react to your solution. You also need to test your assumptions and hypotheses, and gather feedback and data that can help you improve your product, service, or process. A tech innovation project that is not validated with customers can result in a solution that is not fit for the market, or that does not meet the expectations and satisfaction of your customers.
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Shashi Jain
Deep Tech Innovator in AI, Space, IoT, 3D Printing, Healthcare. Youth entrepreneurship advocate. Author of "The 100 Coffees Project" coming 2024!
Innovation is mistaken with invention. Your idea, no matter how great, is only an invention if it doesn't change customer behavior. So, in my view, innovation is action, specifically customer behavior change. You must validate that customers are willing to displace what they do today, not just during the initial ask, but over time. Customer validation is an iterative process to ensure that anything you build is changing the customer's behavior towards your solution. Before that, you should _also_ ensure problem-solution fit, or that you're working on a "migraine problem" for the customer- one big enough for them to feel intense pain with existing solutions and one big enough they will gladly adopt yours.
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Oleg Fonarov
Founder @ Program-Ace. Founder @ Cine-Books. Forbes Technology Council member. New Media Expert and Content Producer.
In my journey through tech innovation, I've learned the hard way that talking to potential customers early and often is non-negotiable. By putting a prototype or MVP in their hands, you get invaluable insights that go beyond mere assumptions. It's like steering through a dense fog with a compass; customer feedback is that compass. Skipping this crucial step can lead you to create something that looks great on paper but flops in the real world because it doesn't resonate with the people it's meant for. Real, candid conversations with your audience can pivot your project from a 'nice-to-have' to a 'must-have,' ensuring it lands right where it needs to.
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Emilie Lundblad
Microsoft Regional Director & AI MVP | Top Voice in Technological Innovation | AI & automation at Hempel
If your innovation is not of clear value to customers, and easy to use, it will hit the grave fast. Thus to use innovation resources efficiently, it is essential to involve customers early on and have their validation, it also keeps the innovation team focused on the customers needs, instead of getting carried away by shiny new tech tools.
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Raphael Duhs
Digital Product Architect Transforming Ideas into Reality
Kundenvalidierung ist ein kritischer Schritt in der Entwicklung technischer Innovationsprojekte. Es ist entscheidend, tiefes Verständnis für die Bedürfnisse, Vorlieben und Verhaltensweisen der Zielgruppe zu entwickeln, um sicherzustellen, dass die Lösung nicht nur technisch machbar, sondern auch marktrelevant ist. Das Testen von Annahmen und das Sammeln von Feedback bieten unschätzbare Einblicke, die zur Verbesserung des Produkts, der Dienstleistung oder des Prozesses beitragen. Ohne diese Schritte riskieren wir, Ressourcen in eine Lösung zu investieren, die möglicherweise nicht den tatsächlichen Anforderungen des Marktes entspricht.
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Luis Leon
Social Development & Community Relations | Sustainability | Mining
La validación debe darse de manera constante, es decir, cada vez que se vea que el mercado lo amerita, ya que los cambios en temas tecnológicos son tan vertiginosos que lo que hoy podemos considerar como una validación adecuada, podría cambiar sólo en cuestión de meses o semanas inclusive.
A third challenge to consider is how to ensure the technical feasibility of your tech innovation project. You need to have the right skills, tools, and methods to design, develop, and deploy your solution. You also need to address the technical challenges and risks that may arise during the project, such as compatibility, security, scalability, and reliability. A tech innovation project that is not technically feasible can result in a solution that is not functional, efficient, or secure, or that does not comply with the standards and regulations of your industry.
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Melissa Valenzuela
Customer Success Partner @ SAP | Top Technological Innovation Voice | Multilingual Strategist | BWN Communications, Operations and Content Lead
The selection of technology stacks and development tools should not only consider current needs but also the project's future scalability and integration requirements. Addressing compatibility issues early on, through rigorous testing, safeguards against potential roadblocks that could derail project timelines. Your solution must grow with increasing user demand without compromising performance or user experience. Keeping abreast of industry standards and regulations ensures your solution not only meets current benchmarks but is also poised to adapt to future changes. The goal is to navigate these technical complexities with a strategic, forward-thinking approach, ensuring your tech innovation project is a viable, market-ready solution.
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Paulo Batuta
Executive operating in Digital Transformation, specialized in technological platforms, Solution Architecture, and Systems on Digital Platforms in the Banking, Cards, and Healthcare industries.
Implementing a new technological innovation project was a challenging experience. Identifying real needs, managing resources, and dealing with resistance to change were significant hurdles. Additionally, I faced technological risks, integration with legacy systems, and the need for effective communication. Assessing the impact of innovation was crucial to measuring the project's success. This experience taught me the importance of patience, resilience, and collaboration in implementing technological innovations.
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Camilo Molina Castaño
Fundador @montesolsostenible | Intraemprendimiento UPB | Modelación de Negocios, Economía Circular e Innovación
Importante tener en cuenta antes de iniciar si el equipo es capaz de desarrollar el proyecto o si bien tocará contratar nuevo personal o capacidades externas. Tener en cuenta no solo la viabilidad tecnica sino la factibilidad financiera
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Jane Hamrin
Writer at IT-Kanalen and reporter for Computer Weekly from the Nordics
Consider presentations and good and solid story telling. That in relation to this, consider what to write down and save to better remember what happened during a project. You may well have a good tech story worth telling someone about! Keep the data you need in order to keep understanding over time. Once a project is over - it could be worth it writing a good article or taking you tech story to stage in a conference.
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Oscar J. Cardoso
Ayudo a empresas en su proceso de Innovación y Transformación Digital | IT Consultant | Businnes Innovation | Automatización | SCRUM | ITIL |
La viabilidad técnica es el aspecto más importante para un proyecto de innovación tecnológica, se trata de evaluar si el proyecto propuesto puede ejecutarse en términos de tecnología, de infraestructura y de conocimiento. Estop ayuda a identificar posibles limitaciones técnicas o retos que puedan surgir durante la ejecución del proyecto y permite planificar las contingencias adecuadas. Por otro lado, permite evaluar la viabilidad económica de un proyecto, esto implica realizar un análisis detallado de costos y beneficios para identifica riesgos financieros asociadas a cualquier proyecto. Este análisis ayuda a las organizaciones a comprender el rendimiento potencial de la inversión, la rentabilidad del proyecto y el retorno de inversión.
A fourth challenge to consider is how to foster effective team collaboration for your tech innovation project. You need to have a diverse and multidisciplinary team that can bring different perspectives, skills, and experiences to the project. You also need to establish clear roles, responsibilities, and communication channels for your team members, and provide them with the support and resources they need. A tech innovation project that lacks team collaboration can result in a solution that is not innovative, coherent, or consistent, or that does not reflect the input and feedback of your team members.
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Alexis A. Bravo Jiménez
Fundador y Director General en HarvClass SpA | T. Administración de empresas, mención marketing y ventas | Diplomado en Inteligencia artificial
Sin duda un equipo multidiciplinario y multietario nos entregará una vision más general y con un enfoque mucho mas completo , si queremos innovar con un proyecto tecnología en en el sector automotriz por ejemplo, ya que la experiencia junto con las nuevas ideas basadas en las visiones futuras y las actuales pueden generar resultados impresionantes.
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César G.
Grants & Incentives | R&D&I Senior Consultant | Project Manager | Grant Writer | Financial Analyst | Financial & Tax | PT2030 | PRR | SIFIDE | RFAI
Collaboration can extend to external stakeholders beyond the project leader, demanding tighter coordination for aligning resources and meeting milestones/deliverables. Additionally, there should be a complementary integration of each stakeholder's competencies and interventions, accounting for the evolving stages of a tech innovation project, ranging from fundamental research to experimental development. Effective project management skills, along with fostering diverse communication channels and ensuring commitment from all parties, are essential for achieving synergistic collaboration toward the overall objective of the tech innovation project.
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Mairum Andrade
Senior Engineering Manager at Flink
More than team collaboration the most important thing is having the right team. Development of innovation or innovative products is navigating unexplored water, unplanned and unpredictable things will happen, if your team is not engaged and onboarded on the project they will never be able to quickly adapt to the changes that will occur.
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Ona Rocamora Badia
Tech-Driven Industrial Design Engineer & Innovator | Graduate in Innovation and Project Management
Team collaboration yields numerous benefits: it drives creativity and innovation through diverse perspectives, enhances problem-solving with collective expertise, and fosters agility for rapid adaptation. Effective collaboration hinges on diverse team composition, clear communication, defined roles, flexibility, trust, the use of collaborative tools, regular feedback, and an environment that encourages creativity. By embracing these key points, teams can unlock remarkable benefits, including robust solutions, efficient resource use, and faster project completion, all while fostering a positive and productive work culture.
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Raphael Duhs
Digital Product Architect Transforming Ideas into Reality
Die Überprüfung der technischen Machbarkeit ist eine fundamentale Säule bei der Umsetzung von Innovationsprojekten. Es erfordert eine sorgfältige Planung und den Einsatz der richtigen Fähigkeiten, Tools und Methoden. Besonders kritisch ist der Umgang mit technischen Herausforderungen wie Kompatibilität, Sicherheit, Skalierbarkeit und Zuverlässigkeit. Ohne eine gründliche Machbarkeitsprüfung riskieren wir, in eine Lösung zu investieren, die möglicherweise nicht den funktionalen, effizienzbezogenen oder sicherheitstechnischen Anforderungen entspricht.
A fifth challenge to consider is how to manage the change that your tech innovation project will bring to your organization and your customers. You need to prepare for the impact and implications of your solution on your processes, systems, and culture, and how to mitigate the potential resistance and barriers that may arise. You also need to communicate the benefits and value of your solution to your stakeholders, and how to train and support them in adopting and using it. A tech innovation project that does not manage change effectively can result in a solution that is not adopted, used, or sustained, or that does not generate the desired outcomes and impact.
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Igor Suárez
Consultoría · Innovación · Tecnología · Marketing · Comunicación Digital · Internacionalización
Antes de implementar cualquier cambio, es crucial comprender el entorno actual, los problemas que enfrentan los usuarios y las necesidades que buscan satisfacer. Hay que realizar un análisis detallado de las personas, los procesos y la tecnología involucrada en el proyecto, así como de las capacidades y conocimientos de las personas involucradas en el mismo. Además, hay que identificar a todas las partes interesadas relevantes y asegurarse de involucrarlas desde el inicio del proyecto. Escuchar sus preocupaciones, ideas y sugerencias, y conseguir que se sientan parte del proceso de cambio. La innovación y los cambios no dependen solo de las tecnologías, sino de los procesos y las personas.
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Melissa Valenzuela
Customer Success Partner @ SAP | Top Technological Innovation Voice | Multilingual Strategist | BWN Communications, Operations and Content Lead
Change management in a tech innovation project requires a delicate balance of strategic planning, clear communication, and empathetic leadership. Engaging stakeholders early and often in the project's lifecycle fosters a sense of ownership and reduces resistance to change. Tailoring the messaging to address the specific concerns and benefits for different stakeholder groups ensures relevance and resonance. Implementing feedback mechanisms allows for the continuous collection of insights from users, which can be used to refine and improve the adoption process. It's important to monitor and measure the adoption and usage of the new solution, providing data to validate the decision and investment in the innovation.
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Luis Leon
Social Development & Community Relations | Sustainability | Mining
Para una buena gestión de cambio en proyectos es importante el contar con un diagnóstico o línea base sincera y adecuada, así como el hacer evaluaciones continuas de la realidad de variables endógenas y exógenas. Esto podría incluir una gestión de riesgos, que variará dependiendo de la realidad geográfica, política y económica del lugar donde se busque implementar la solución tecnológica.
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Samuel Brown
Web Applications Development Executive at AO HOLDINGS
Managing change is very important especially if your product or service is replacing an existing product or service. You should provide your customers with the ability to gracefully migrate to your product. Customers should be given the possibility to migrate their data from their existing system to your product and you should provide technical assistance in ensuring the data migration is handled.
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Rhauane Montalvão Campos
Partner | Product Owner | Growth Hacker
To address the challenge of managing change in technological innovation projects, adopt a people-centered approach. Involving stakeholders from the outset, seeking feedback, and incorporating their ideas creates a sense of co-ownership. Additionally, invest in accessible and personalized training programs, ensuring a smooth transition to the new solution. Communicate the benefits in an engaging manner and highlight success stories to inspire confidence. Effective change management not only minimizes resistance but also amplifies enthusiasm for technological evolution.
A sixth challenge to consider is how to evaluate the performance and results of your tech innovation project. You need to have a clear and measurable set of indicators and criteria that can help you track and assess the progress and success of your project. You also need to collect and analyze the data and evidence that can help you learn and improve from your project, and to report and share your findings and insights with your stakeholders. A tech innovation project that does not evaluate its performance and results can result in a solution that is not optimized, validated, or scalable, or that does not demonstrate its value and impact.
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sydney hushie, LLM
Regional Innovation Specialist at United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
In my experience,to deploy any (disruptive) technology and innovation, the primary consideration is understanding the needs of the user. What is their persona and how can you align the needs to a business model. Beyond this, any of the existing business and product development models will lead to a viable innovation solution that is context specific and meets a need.
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Melissa Valenzuela
Customer Success Partner @ SAP | Top Technological Innovation Voice | Multilingual Strategist | BWN Communications, Operations and Content Lead
This process starts with defining success in the context of your innovation, ensuring that your metrics resonate with your goals. Data collection is not just a procedural step but a strategic endeavor, requiring both qualitative and quantitative methods to capture a comprehensive picture of your project's outcomes. Feedback loops with end-users and stakeholders should be leveraged to validate findings and integrate external perspectives, ensuring your evaluation reflects a broad spectrum of experiences. The challenge of project evaluation is thus transformed into an opportunity to iterate, innovate, and demonstrate the tangible value your project brings to the table.
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Luis Leon
Social Development & Community Relations | Sustainability | Mining
Lo que no se mide no se puede evaluar ni mejorar. Sin embargo, se debe poner el foco en la calidad de los indicadores antes que en la calidad de los mismos. al igual que en el caso de la Gestión del Cambio, los indicadores podría ir cambiando a medida que el mercado lo demande, muy particularmente en temas de innovación tecnológica.
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Victor Ballestin Trenado
Energy Engineer | Energy management systems | Monitorisation | Energy communities
Es relevante y necesario establecer unos criterios de seguimiento del "valor" del proyecto y los requisitos a tener en cuenta. Sin embargo, no podemos perder de vista que un proyecto de invocación tecnológica responde a una necesidad de mercado. Ese set de especificaciones inicial puede evolucionar en procesos largos y es importante evolucionar y adaptar esas métricas de evaluación a lo largo del desarrollo en base a la respuesta de mercado.
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Achyut Chandra 🇮🇳 ▪ AC ▪
Driving ecosystem innovation strategies for B2G/B2B/ B2B2G/ G2C • Angel investor (Tech, B2B) • Power connector • Lifelong learner and technology enthusiast
ensuring that you have a plan for post hype, i.e. having plans for compliance, implementation and delivery. If you've built an ecosystem around the new initiative then it is great as you will evolve a composable stack of capabilities.
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Raphael Duhs
Digital Product Architect Transforming Ideas into Reality
In meinem beruflichen Werdegang habe ich die Bedeutung von Flexibilität und Anpassungsfähigkeit in technischen Innovationsprojekten immer wieder erlebt. Ein Schlüsselmoment war während meiner Zeit als CTO bei Need Nect, wo wir ein MVP entwickelten, um die Geschäftsanforderungen zu validieren, bevor wir zu einer skalierbaren Architektur übergingen. Diese Erfahrung lehrte mich, wie entscheidend es ist, iterativ vorzugehen, Feedback einzubeziehen und schnell auf Veränderungen zu reagieren, um den Erfolg eines Projekts sicherzustellen. Das Teilen dieser Erkenntnisse und das Lernen aus den Erfahrungen anderer kann uns allen helfen, besser auf die Herausforderungen in der Welt der technischen Innovation zu reagieren.
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Yesenia Mirella Mendieta
IT Manager | Transition Manager | Sr Project Manager | Scrum Master | PMP | ITIL CDS | Agile | GCP
Ethics are crucial when developing a new technology. Is society ready for this new technology? What improvements are you making in favor of society or the environment? Is this new technology aligned with the business values and objectives? Make sure that you are contributing to creating a better world.
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Frederico Turra
Head de Projetos Estratégicos SOFTEX
Dependendo do tipo de inovação, não perder o timing para o lançamento ou implementação. O desafio é considerar o tempo adequado para o planejamento, desenvolvimento e lançamento.
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Ajay Behuria
CTO | Distinguished Technologist | Director of Technology | Chief Architect | Retail and Healthcare Executive | Advanced Researcher & Disruptive Innovation Leader | Prolific Inventor & Intrapreneur | Startup Mentor
The allure of new technology often blinds businesses to the greatest threat to success: the human element. Resistance to change, poor adoption habits, departmental silos, and designing without deep customer understanding are pitfalls sabotaging the most promising innovations. Instead of focusing solely on the technology, prioritize understanding users' needs and fostering a company-wide culture of ownership and continuous learning. Make employees collaborators in the implementation process, ensuring the new tech adapts to how they work, not the other way around. Technology implementations flounder when the people-focused aspects are an afterthought. Shifting this mindset is the key to turning expensive tech into true competitive advantage.
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