Technology top disruptor of businesses in 2023, survey shows

Jack Azagury

MANILA, Philippines  —Technological disruption has become the number one cause of change for businesses in 2023, driven by advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI), overtaking other issues such as challenges in the talent pool, and even climate and economic issues.

This is according to the latest annual report by Irish-American professional services company Accenture entitled “Accenture’s Pulse of Change: 2024 Index,” which ranked six factors of change affecting businesses.

The report conducted from October to November last year, which surveyed more than 3,400 C-suite leaders found that technology has risen as the number one cause of change, catapulted from its previous ranking of 5th in 2022.Talent took up the 2nd place from being the previous frontrunner, while climate shot up to the 3rd place from the previous being in the 5th spot.

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Meanwhile, the economic factor was placed further down the list to the 4th place from its 2nd place in 2022, while geopolitics went down to the 5th place from its previous 3rd spot.

Lastly, the consumer and social factor was ranked sixth, falling from its previous position in the 4th place.

Accenture also said that an analysis of their index indicator—which took into consideration all six factors—points to the rate of change rising by 33 percent in the past year.

This adds up to a 183 percent change in the past four years, according to the company.

Key to structural change

“The level of change has dramatically increased over the last few years, and it requires a structural change in how businesses operate. Incremental changes in ways of working and performance are no longer sufficient to compete,” said Jack Azagury, the group chief executive for Accenture’s strategy and consulting division.

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“The most significant source of change and disruption, technology, is also the key to this structural change. We believe that the companies that will succeed in the next decade are those that embrace a strategy of continuously reinventing every part of their business,” he added.

Amid these changes, the Accenture report also highlighted that 88 percent of those surveyed anticipate an even faster rate in 2024, with 60 percent of them seeing this as an opportunity while 68 percent expect revenue growth to accelerate in the same year.

Despite these bright prospects, 52 percent or more than half of the respondents said they are not fully prepared to respond to the changes that are anticipated to happen this year.