Why digital culture will be key to business success in 2025 and beyond
£111 billion and 676,000 new jobs. That’s the missed opportunity for the UK economy caused by slow digital change between 2021 and 2023, uncovered by our recent research with Cebr which explores digital culture and its impact.
But building a strong digital culture isn’t just about adopting the latest technologies. it’s about embedding a mindset and practices that allow technology to be integrated across every aspect of an organisation, whether that’s cloud-based software to improve collaboration, better use of data or improved cybersecurity.
While 51% of ‘digital leaders’ – organisations actively investing in digital solutions – promoted collaboration and knowledge sharing to foster a stronger digital culture, only 37% of ‘digital followers’ – organisations not actively improving their digital capabilities – reported the same.
And the payoff is clear: digital leaders reported a 12% increase in revenue and double the productivity growth of their digital follower counterparts. This shows that fostering a digital-first mindset directly correlates with business success.
Simply put, without a strong digital culture, organisations risk getting left behind.
Perception vs reality
Our research also found that while 88% of decision makers surveyed claim to have a strong digital culture already, the majority also revealed they are not maximising the potential of their technology investments.
This means many organisations think they are much further ahead in their digital readiness than they actually are. And worse, they’re failing to set out strategies for continuous improvement.
A once-and-done strategy for digital won’t work because technology keeps advancing.
The solution? Leaders must challenge their understanding of what it means to be truly digital-first. They can’t just roll out the latest tech and assume it will cure all their digital issues.
A strong digital culture is about what you do with that tech and creating an environment where innovation becomes second nature. A culture that values experimentation, continuous learning and proactive change.
Now is the time to act
Organisations that invest in digital culture today are setting themselves up for long-term success, whether through enhanced productivity, happier employees or broader societal contributions.
So, now is the time to act. Let’s close the perception gap, embrace a digital-first mindset and unlock the immense potential waiting to be seized.
Our brand-new guide has the steps you need to take covered. It’s packed full of helpful analysis, insight and advice, all based on our research with Cebr and interviews with our own customers, with much more detail on the findings too.
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