Forbes magazine published an article today focused on the accelerating pace of change in the business world and the threats that result.

The article‚ titled “Staving Off the Sixth Extinction: A New Operating Model for Modern Work‚” observes that digitization is rapidly altering business models‚ customer experiences‚ and revenue streams. The article outlines the complex challenges that result from this rapid disruption: the need to tackle digital transformation while improving collaboration and communication‚ and implementing a new operating model.

The alternative to digital transformation is dire: “Businesses and other organizations are trying desperately to keep up with this accelerated change through digital transformation. I use the word “desperately” with purpose‚ because executive leadership teams across the corporate landscape have witnessed the analog companies of our recent past go extinct at a shocking rate‚ and their carcasses cannibalized by a better-adapted species‚” notes the article.

The article quotes C3.ai CEO Tom Siebel’s article Why digital transformation is now on the CEO’s shoulders‚’ published in the McKinsey Quarterly in December 2017. Siebel argues the disruptive changes in today’s business environment are akin to those of evolutionary biology—with periods of sudden rapid disruption followed by a new equilibrium. “Since 2000‚ over 50 percent of Fortune 500 companies have been acquired‚ merged‚ or declared bankruptcy. The causal factor is digital transformation‚” said Siebel.

Like Siebel’s thesis‚ the Forbes article argues that dramatic extinction is happening among businesses today. To stave off extinction‚ businesses must digitally transform by monetizing emerging opportunities‚ cutting costs through digitized processes‚ and providing customers new‚ better‚ and differentiated experiences.

Read the full article here.