Agility, Talent, and a Customer-Focused Value Proposition: Keys to the New Digital Transformation

McKinsey & Company brought together more than 200 executives of Spanish and Portuguese companies for the inaugural McKinsey Digital Summit, held in Madrid to analyze crucial aspects of the future of business.

Leaders of Netflix, Airbnb, and Waze joined McKinsey & Company’s partners to discuss disruption and innovation as opportunities for transforming companies.

The ability to continuously test and learn, incorporate new capabilities, and adapt quickly to major changes, and do so with a customer-focused value proposition, were some of the main conclusions drawn from the inaugural McKinsey Digital Summit, held in Madrid to analyze crucial aspects of the future of business. Mitch Lowe, an executive co-founder of Netflix; Uri Levine, co-founder of Waze; and Jonathan Mildenhall, Airbnb’s former marketing director, were among the top-level guests and speakers who attended the event, which brought together more than 200 executives of Spanish and Portuguese companies.

Speaking on behalf of disruptive companies that have shaken up their industries, these three leaders provided their vision of business transformation success during the inaugural McKinsey Digital Summit. Netflix’s Mitch Lowe said change must begin within organizations and receive the backing of senior management. Uri Levine, Waze’s co-founder, said that to be disruptive companies must have an understanding of the perception of the product that goes beyond the industry to which it belongs. For his part, Jonathan Mildenhall underscored the importance of having an innovative digital marketing strategy that helps support the company’s business growth.

Luis Ferrándiz, a partner at McKinsey & Company and leader of the Digital Practice in Iberia, discussed the three big keys for organizations embarking on a new digital transformation. “On the one hand, the importance of having an Agile organization capable of adapting quickly to big changes. Secondly, realizing that (companies) should not be defensive in their response to disruption, but rather be proactive and take it as an opportunity. Lastly, focusing on developing a customer-focused value proposition.”

The event underscored the fact that the world is changing dramatically, and that business management also is undergoing a dizzying transformation. In that regard, the president of McKinsey & Company Iberia, Alejandro Beltrán, pointed out that “50% of our present activities did not even exist five years ago.” According to the company’s own figures, 72% of business consulting revolved around “basic” management practices just 15 years ago, whereas that share of the total is now just 27%. For that reason, the company has generated and acquired a broad range of new competencies related to digital transformation, advanced analytics, capacity building and design and a suite of new technological solutions.

Alejandro Beltrán, president of McKinsey & Company Iberia said:

“We’ve changed and innovated more quickly than ever in recent years, acquiring new capabilities related to digital transformation in order to respond to the new needs of our clients. Our more than 100 integral digital transformation projects over the past 3 years are a testament to this.”

In that regard, McKinsey Digital has a team of nearly 80 people in Spain and Portugal who are dedicated to strategic transformation processes, with capabilities that include digital strategy, the design of new experiences and products, next-generation IT strategy and deployment, digital marketing, Agile, Advanced Analytics, and AI. Spain also is home to a Machine Learning global competence center that is one of the most innovative of its kind worldwide. Using a unique digital reinvention methodology, the firm helps company CEOs identify and implement new growth paths, mapping out digital strategies and developing the skills needed to face new market challenges.

Luis Fernandez - Partner at McKinsey

Duarte Braga and Alejandro Beltran - McKinsey

Prudencio Pedroza - Partner at McKinsey

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