Was ist Digital Transformation?

The word 'transformation' is important: digital transformation is not the same as digitization (converting paper forms to PDFs) or digitalization (using software to do what you already do). True digital transformation reimagines processes, business models, and customer experiences around the capabilities that digital technology enables — speed, personalization, data, automation, and connectivity. A bank that launches a mobile app has digitized; a bank that redesigns its entire product and service delivery model around mobile-first customer behavior is transforming.

Digital transformation programs typically span four domains. Customer experience transformation uses digital touchpoints (apps, portals, chatbots, personalization) to deliver faster, more personalized, and more convenient experiences. Operational process transformation uses automation, AI, and integrated data systems to eliminate manual work, reduce errors, and accelerate throughput. Business model transformation uses digital capabilities to create new revenue streams, serve new markets, or deliver existing offerings in fundamentally different ways. Cultural and organizational transformation addresses the people side — new skills, new ways of working, and new governance structures to sustain digital evolution.

Most digital transformation programs fail not because of technology but because of organizational change management. The technology is often the easy part; the hard part is changing how people work, what they measure, and how decisions get made. Programs that deploy technology without addressing processes and culture typically produce expensive underutilized systems rather than genuine transformation.