Chief Disruptor LIVE returned for its 9th Edition last week at The May Fair Hotel in London. Members, partners and speakers converged for a day of keynotes, interviews, panels, roundtable discussions and networking. We discussed and debated the next stages of digital transformation, purpose-driven disruption and innovation in 2023, driving more data-driven decision-making, the evolving ‘people’ challenge and the small topic of Artificial Intelligence.

Join me as we reflect upon four key takeaways from a jam-packed Chief Disruptor LIVE:

Our amazing speakers reflected upon adopting sustainable digital transformation solutions, integrating and embedding sustainability metrics into planning processes and even creating challenging new business models built around sustainability to achieve growth. Ultimately, it is now clear that sustainability is not just an important consideration for business and technology leaders, but a fundamental indicator of an innovative, disruptive and industry-leading organisation. 

Whether it was the separation of Haleon from GSK, growing a purpose-led business like Too Good To Go or turning around a struggling business like Co-Op Legal Services, we were honoured to hear from those at the coal face of a whole host of successful transformations, widescale business change and innovations. From stories of growth, speakers shared lessons of maintaining both incremental or game-changing innovation, building a diverse culture driven by failing fast and harnessing a culture of collaboration. However, underpinning and driving all of this is a clear vision, mission and purpose.

The contemporary business environment is under continual pressure from the transformative potential of technology and, ultimately, to compete “we have to coexist with tech”. This sentiment manifests itself in the form of transformation initiatives of all kinds, digital, workplace, and workforce to name a few. However, it is easy to get over-excited and these forces of change are often halted by resistance in the form of people, which will and has always been there. To unlock the value of technology, innovation and experimentation, senior leaders must first and foremost effectively bring people on the journey.

Unsurprisingly, a hot topic was Generative AI. There were some great practical lessons shared around data foundations, MLOps frameworks and skills shortages. But before this, amidst the storm of confusion, hype and excitement, the emphasis must be on knowledge sharing and building. Are your wider organisation aware of the environmental or ethical implications of AI? Is your C-Suite able to accurately define what value they see in AI? Educating and collaborating across both technical and non-technical sides of your organisation to build an ontology of value is a massive step for organisations right now. Interested in more AI content, register for our AI Business Impact series.

It was our pleasure to welcome Stuart Young, Innovation Practice Lead and Visual Storyteller at Cprime to illustrate our 'Innovation and Experimentation in 2023' sessions. The illustration below gives you a real flavour of the jam-packed day:

So, as the dust settles on Chief Disruptor LIVE and we look forward to the set of virtual and physical activities and socials lined up throughout the summer. we hope you have taken away a number of insights to share with your colleagues, teams and wider organisation and we look forward to seeing you again in November. Thank you to all our amazing speakers, partners and attendees for a great day! Until next time disruptors!