--- title: Why businesses must slay the sacred ‘proof of concept’ to adopt digital transformation description: When it comes to digital transformation, businesses need to rediscover the philosophy of taking a calculated risk and asking for forgiveness, not permission. image: https://blog.cognitionhq.com/hubfs/David-use-1024x635.jpg --- [![Cognition_logo_white_RGB-1](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Cognition_logo_white_RGB-1.png?width=225&height=76&name=Cognition_logo_white_RGB-1.png)](https://www.cognitionhq.com/) [Get in touch](https://www.cognitionhq.com/get-in-touch) ▼ ENG ESP POR - [Services](https://www.cognitionhq.com/#How%20we%20do%20it) - [Clients](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/case-studies) - [News](http://www.cognitionhq.com/content-hub) - [Careers](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/we-are-hiring/we-are-hiring) - [Who we are](http://www.cognitionhq.com/about-us) [Get in touch](https://www.cognitionhq.com/get-in-touch) ▼ ENG ESP POR # Why businesses must slay the sacred ‘proof of concept’ to adopt digital transformation [Back to Blog](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog) by Press Releases | 0 mins read If the Coronavirus outbreak has taught business leaders across industries anything so far, it’s that embracing technology should be a huge part of any business’ plans. This doesn’t mean welcoming new tools hurriedly, uncritically and with open arms; but diagnosing your opportunities and pain points and defining a technological vision that can benefit your company and its stakeholders in profound ways. The old risk-averse, short-termist, cautious approach to digital transformation involving extensive ‘proof of concept’, ‘waterfall methods’ and extensive procurement is raising the barrier to digital transformation. When it comes to digital transformation, businesses need instead to rediscover the philosophy of taking a calculated risk and asking for forgiveness, not permission. Read Emergence CEO David Poole's full [guest feature in Data Economy Magazine.](https://www.broad-group.com/data/news/documents/b1ml46pdyl73th) ## Further Reading [Intelligent Automation](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/tag/intelligent-automation) | [Intelligent Automation Collective](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/tag/intelligent-automation-collective) ### [Intelligent Automation Collective launches IA Guide Book](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/intelligent-automation-collective-launches-ia-guide-book) [Read](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/intelligent-automation-collective-launches-ia-guide-book) Press Releases | 1 mins read The potential of smart automation has soared as the result of advances in core AI technologies and the availability of vast, affordable computing power on demand via the cloud. It is transforming the way all kinds of organisations capture information, manage processes and deliver services. ### [We’re about to see an automation rush - but first there is groundwork to be laid](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/were-about-to-see-an-automation-rush-but-first-there-is-groundwork-to-be-laid) [Read](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/were-about-to-see-an-automation-rush-but-first-there-is-groundwork-to-be-laid) James Hall | 1 mins read Automation adoption is about to accelerate, but success is far from guaranteed. With economic recovery at stake, businesses risk making the same short-termist mistakes that have seen automation investments fail to succeed at scale over the past decade. Before rushing into quick fixes, business leaders should remember the. ### [Your contact centre performance metrics aren’t going deep enough](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/your-contact-centre-performance-metrics-arent-going-deep-enough) [Read](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/your-contact-centre-performance-metrics-arent-going-deep-enough) David Poole | 2 mins read Measuring and improving performance in the contact centre requires more than the conventional surface-level metrics ### [Scalable learning vs Scalable efficiency](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/scalable-learning-vs-scalable-efficiency) [Read](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/scalable-learning-vs-scalable-efficiency) David Poole | 3 mins read Automation is shaping virtually every institution on the planet, from small and medium sized enterprises right through to government organizations. But its success or failure will in large part be driven by the mindsets adopted by business leaders. 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