HFS Research hosted a webinar on Thursday, April 23rd, with prominent business leaders to discuss the trends and outlook for the modern workforce in a post-COVID-19 world. Ravi Kumar, Infosys President, was joined by fellow panelists Brad Keywell, Founder and CEO at Uptake Technologies, and Sandeep Dadlani, Chief Digital Officer at Mars, for a discussion with HFS CEO, Chief Analyst, and webinar host Phil Fersht. 

This powerhouse of digital transformation thought leaders provided great insights and predictions for how the world of business will fundamentally change due to the shock and paradigm shift ushered in by COVID-19. As Phil Fersht noted, we are witnessing a dramatic change to how enterprise businesses function; two to three decades of the status quo are being replaced by two to three months of rapid change. 

While the fears, unknowns, and concerns continue to weigh heavy, it’s also clear that we are experiencing a time of great opportunity for organizations to take this time to truly change and transform their business models. We wanted to take some time to highlight a few eye-opening statistics on the steps enterprises are already taking and some of the insightful quotes shared from Ravi Kumar, Infosys President:

STAT: While organizations are currently preparing for two to three months ahead, most individuals feel we’ll be in this situation for six to twelve months. 

“This crisis is testing us on agility and resilience. As we go forward, look for organizations that have the resilience to deal with unknown unknowns. This is a known unknown right now. But what organizations are prepared for the unknown unknowns?” —Ravi Kumar

STAT: 80 percent of enterprises perceive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to be bigger than the 2008 economic downturn. 

“Things will evolve into a more efficient and outcome-based model. … There’s a lot of productivity optimism. People have more gratitude to have a job, and so they put more effort into it. … Employers are trusting employees more than before.” —Ravi Kumar

STAT: Due to COVID-19, 55 percent of enterprises expect changes in their business priorities, and more than half of enterprises anticipate an increase in spending on smart analytics, process automation, and cybersecurity. 

“We’ve got to rethink work, workplaces, and the workforce. ‘Work’ is changing. … Machines are increasingly part of that future. Workplaces are going toward a hybrid physical-virtual model. And the enterprise workforce is going from a 100 percent full-time setup to a more distributed model of accessing people whenever they’re available to deliver outcomes.” —Ravi Kumar

It’s a time of huge disruption. But through this humanizing experience, we can also grab hold of an opportunity to become more customer-centric, infinite organizations that are driven by big-picture outcomes and sincere purpose. Learn more about how to pivot your organization with Simplus here.