A Push and Digital Goes Viral

Context: Pandemic induced crisis and challenges posed by it have reinforced and amplified the need for digital transformation and restructuring in the post COVID world.

Past Digital Transformations

• Demonetisation move: led to a rise in electronic payments (digital wallets, debit/credit cards).
• Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak: led Alibaba to replace its B2B business model with the Taobao eCommerce platform. 

Digital Transformations and their Beneficiaries in Post COVID World

• Digital commerce: robust e-commerce strategy will become the sine qua non for a successful retailer. 
• Digital finance with a rise in a cashless economy.

• Challenger banks will be the beneficiaries of digital finance based on their business models, funding and regulatory status.

• Virtual healthcare: with the rise of telemedicine and teleconsultation.
• Workplace digitization will pave the way to stay at a home economy or WFH culture.

• Concerns regarding loss in merits of personal interaction, new hire integration, creativity and teamwork and security.

• Rise in robotics with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software that automates repetitive tasks.

• Pressure to minimise disruptive job losses will mitigate the robotic trend in near future.

• Netflix culture will overtake the trend of a linear Television subscription.
• Online classes will be accepted as new virtual universities.

Conclusion: Pandemics uncertainty has made digital futures certainty an inevitable process.