Is digital transformation dead, or does it have even greater business imperative in the AI era?

Recall my definition of digital transformation. I first shared it in 2015 when I introduced the “digital lens” that I updated in Driving Digital. I most recently discussed the lens in my post on winning with genAI and pleading with Digital Trailblazers to seek business value beyond productivity drivers.

Here’s my definition:

“Digital Transformation is about looking at the business strategy through the lens of technical capabilities and how that changes how you are operating and generating revenues.”

Now, include AI as the latest technical capabilities, and you should realize why I advise organizations, “You will always be transforming.”  

Digital transformation is amplified in the AI era

Many organizations still treat digital transformation as a project with an end date. Teams are overloaded with technology upgrades, cloud migrations, and AI experiments, but lack the strategy, leadership, and execution practices to turn these into true competitive advantages.

So digital transformation isn’t dead – it’s amplified and accelerated by AI. If your organization thinks it can operate with the same products, services, and operations from the pre-AI era, then it will be disrupted.

My new course on leading digital transformation

I shared my best practices in Driving Digital that are required in transformation programs. In Digital Trailblazer, I shared stories through a personal narrative and 50 lessons on leading transformation. Many of you have asked me when the third installment of my books is coming.

It’s here! Well, just not in book form. Introducing my new LinkedIn Learning course:

Digital Transformation for Leaders in the AI Era

This course is designed for Digital Trailblazers – the product managers, program managers, development leads, IT Ops, DevOps, data scientists, and governance professionals responsible for driving transformation initiatives every day. It’s for CIOs, CTOs, CDOs, CMOs, and high-potential leaders who aspire to these roles.

Digital transformation is about reimagining business models, creating exceptional customer experiences, building data-driven cultures, and integrating genAI capabilities to deliver measurable business value.

In this course, I teach transformation leaders to:

• Craft vision-aligned initiatives that move beyond incremental improvements.
• Evaluate pragmatic AI use cases and build responsible, impactful AI strategies.
• Integrate agile, product management, DevOps, and data governance practices into transformation programs that deliver innovation.
• Lead the culture change by supporting self-organizing standards and driving change management.  
• Measure and communicate outcomes that demonstrate real business impact.

I’m also excited to announce that the course is one of the few selected to use LinkedIn Learning’s new AI capabilities. One AI will let you role-play pitching a vision-aligned digital initiative. A second will guide you on coaching your teams to design their own workflows.

Equip more transformation leaders for the genAI era

If you want your organization to thrive in the genAI era, your leaders need more than technical skills. They need the mindset, frameworks, and confidence to drive continuous transformation.

I invite you to take this course and share it with your digital, data, and AI leadership team and colleagues. Use it to accelerate your transformation initiatives, inspire strategic thinking, and build the leadership capabilities required to navigate tomorrow’s disruptions.

The course is now live on LinkedIn Learning. Access it here or message me if you want to discuss integrating it into your leadership development programs.