Latest news with #digitaldisruption
Tahawul Tech
14 hours ago
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
The Future of Finance Conference
Welcome to the Future of Finance Conference—the definitive platform for rethinking finance in an era of rapid digital disruption. Held in the innovation capital of Dubai, this game-changing event unites CFOs, financial leaders, fintech innovators, and policymakers to explore how AI, blockchain, automation, digital assets, and ESG principles are revolutionizing the financial world. Why should you attend? Because staying ahead means stepping into the future—today. From mastering cryptocurrency and digital assets to building resilient, tech-driven finance functions, this conference offers unmatched insights, powerful networking, and real-world strategies. Be part of the movement shaping finance for a smarter, more sustainable tomorrow.
Forbes
09-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
A Guide To Maintaining Your Vision While Driving Innovation
Chandra S. Pemmasani, M.D., is the founder and CEO of UWorld, a worldwide leader in online learning for high-stakes exams. Things can change quickly in business. Consumer tastes, supply chains and other market forces can shift overnight, and technologies deemed cutting-edge today might become mainstream tomorrow. In this environment, it's easy to see how business leaders might be tempted to focus on the momentary urgency of an adopt-and-adapt challenge; no one wants to see their company fall behind because they were slow to adopt. After all, more than half of the Fortune 500 companies from 2000 no longer exist, having been bankrupted, acquired or pushed out of existence, largely due to some form of digital disruption. What's not so obvious is how the rush to innovate may cause leaders to lose sight of their company's core mission. While the need to innovate is strong, innovation without vision and strategic direction can lead to wasted resources and diluted brand equity. Consider the significance of a company staying true to its vision as it introduces new innovations. The vision is what sets the standard for the company's broader aspirations and serves as the North Star of decision making, even disruptive adopt-and-adapt decisions. The vision guides the why and where of an action, while innovation guides the how. The key lies in finding the sweet spot where innovation and organizational vision intersect. To better navigate this complex balancing act, business leaders might consider the following steps: Staying focused on your company's North Star is important, but it may also benefit from updating. Consider revisiting your company's mission periodically and determine whether it remains relevant. To make the most of your resources, you can prioritize emerging technology and innovation along three criteria: the ability to fulfill your company's long-term goals, your company's ability to implement the technology and the resources needed to do so effectively. This may include upskilling the existing workforce or hiring new talent. Once you've prioritized, break the initiative into phases, setting clear expectations for each phase, reflecting at the end of each phase and evaluating whether the plan needs to change. You can pressure-test your innovative roadmap against real-world needs by being transparent with organizational stakeholders, from leadership to employees and customers. For example, at my company, we hold quarterly chats where I share updates about our verticals and products and field questions from employees. We also host an all-hands town hall in January. Remote employees and sales teams fly in so that we can collectively review the previous year's performances across every vertical, share goals for the new year and celebrate our successes with a huge gala that includes food, fellowship, performances and fun. Innovation and risk go hand-in-hand. That's a basic truth that comes from leading a sector, but knowing your audiences and coupling that insight with detailed market research can significantly reduce your margin of risk. When I started my company, we focused exclusively on medical students taking the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam, which made sense to me because I was a medical student doing my residency. When we expanded into educational tools for nursing students, we took a risk, largely because we had limited knowledge of the market and had to hire nursing educators to build the products. There were a lot of bumps along the way, but we learned from our experiences, and our nursing products became successful, capturing a majority market share in just a couple of years. Since then, we've rebranded ourselves, hired hundreds of people and expanded educational tools for a variety of industries. My lesson: When you venture into new markets, be prepared to invest in expertise you don't yet have. Stay close to your customers. The only way to measure growth is to establish a benchmark and track the key performance indicators (KPIs) that best capture what you're looking to achieve. Learning from those KPIs by reinvesting in what worked and adjusting what didn't is fine, but be careful not to derail yourself with sudden, knee-jerk shifts. In the end, leave yourself some space to course-correct and make calculated adjustments along the way so that you can stay on track. The idea that business leaders stay focused on a company's larger vision as disruptive technologies hover doesn't mean that one outweighs the other in importance. Innovation and vision are not opposing forces; they are complementary drivers of sustainable growth. As business leaders continue to prepare and plan for the long term, I think it's important to reflect on the successes and challenges of the past and approach the road ahead with boldness and intentionality. Throughout the journey, maintaining that balance should allow your company to keep moving forward and to keep growing. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
