50 Digital Transformation Statistics and Trends 2024

Digital transformation uses innovative technologies to create new or modify existing business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. This reimagining of business processes in response to the new age technologies is digital transformation.

Explore the digital transformation trends set to redefine industries in 2024, curated for market leaders and teams.

Digital Transformation: A 360° View

1. Growth of the global digital transformation market: The growth trajectory of the Global Digital Transformation market is awe-inspiring, slated to hit a whopping $1009.8 billion by 2025, riding on a remarkable CAGR of 16.5%.

2. Investment in digital transformation: Global spending on digital transformation reached over $1.3 trillion in 2020, with a 10.4% growth compared to 2019. Expenditure on digital transformation is projected to be $3.4 trillion by 2026.

3. Projected impact by 2025: As per the World Economic Forum, the global economy is projected to receive a $100 trillion boost from digital transformation by 2025, with two-thirds of this $100 trillion value resulting from digitalization being facilitated by interactions powered by platforms by the same year.

4. Integration of artificial intelligence: Approx 89% of large companies globally have a digital and AI transformation underway or are in the process of having one. 

5. Unrealized potential: Companies adopting digital transformation have only captured 31% of the expected revenue lift and 25% of expected cost savings.

6. Digital transformation integral to success: A staggering 90% of executives acknowledge the critical role of digital initiatives in success. The McKinsey report unveiling a 26% surge in profitability for businesses embracing digital transformation solidifies its significance.

7. Market pressures leading adoption: According to Prophet, market pressures are critical drivers of digital transformation, with growth opportunities accounting for 51% and increased competitive pressure for 41% of these efforts. Additionally, high-profile data breaches and new regulatory standards like GDPR contribute significantly (38%) to the impetus for organizational transformation.

8. Post-COVID planning: According to Bain, The COVID-19 pandemic-related agendas for CEOs include becoming a leading company in digital transformation projects (37%). Companies that coped well with COVID-19 stress highlight the importance of technology. As per McKinsey's report, 67% were ahead in tech use before the crisis, and 56% adopted it during the crisis.

9. Increase in IT spending: The 2021 Spiceworks Ziff Davis State of IT study found that updating IT infrastructure is the primary driver of IT budget increases. According to the survey, 56% of organizations plan to increase IT spending.

10. AR/VR market leader: According to Research and Markets, AR/VR technology is expected to experience the most rapid growth until 2025, with the market projected to grow by 10.77% (2024-2028), resulting in a market volume of US $58.1 billion in 2028.

Further Read: How to develop digital transformation strategy in 2024?

Benefits of digital transformation

‍11. Increased revenue and customer base: Digital leaders have grown their active customer base at 0.5% annually between 2018 and 2022.

12. Shareholder’s favorites: Digital leaders create more shareholder value than laggards. Between 2018 and 2022, digital leaders achieved average annual total shareholder returns of 8.1% vs. 4.9% for laggards. Leaders also had a significantly better return on pre-tax tangible equity (ROTE), growing from 15.5% in 2018 to 19.3% in 2022, vs. a more modest growth from 13.6% to 15.3% for laggards.

13. Operational efficiency: Insights from IDC reveal a staggering potential - companies could curtail operational costs by 20-30% through strategic digital transformation initiatives.

14. Increased productivity: A Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report underscores that digital leaders witness a substantial 55% increase in productivity compared to their peers.

15. Enhancing customer satisfaction: According to Adobe, companies prioritizing delivering exceptional experiences boast customer satisfaction rates 1.6 times higher and average order values 1.9 times greater.

16. Many advantages of digital transformation: Executives say that the primary benefits of digital transformation include enhanced operational efficiencies (40%), accelerated time to market (36%), and heightened capacity to meet customer expectations (35%).

17. Improved customer service: Organizations adopting digital processes witness a staggering 25% improvement in customer service, embracing tech solutions across customer service, cloud services, and sustainable practices revolutionizing the operational landscape.

18. Better decision-making: As customer expectations soar, fostering innovation becomes a mandate. Embracing new ways of working coupled with modern engineering capabilities can amplify decision-making by 5 times.

Further Read: Key drivers to enable digital transformation

Best practices of digital transformation

Successful digital transformation isn't just about embracing technology but navigating a strategic roadmap that ensures seamless integration and impactful outcomes. Explore best practices derived from insightful research and real-world success stories.

19. Clear digital strategies for profitable outcomes: According to the World Economic Forum, organizations with well-defined digital strategies are 50% more likely to generate higher profits. 

20. Leader's role in transformation success: A McKinsey report found that companies led by digitally savvy leadership teams are 50% more likely to achieve their transformation goals. 

21. Integration of digital-physical strategies for competitive edge: As per a survey conducted by Alida, formerly Vision Critical, 39% of high-performing companies boast a seamlessly integrated digital-physical strategy.

22. Change from the top: In 45% of organizations, CEOs are leading in crafting a roadmap for workplace transformation, and 63% of companies actively contribute to its development. Organizations with a dedicated and involved Chief Digital Officer are six times more likely to achieve successful digital transformation.

23. Joint effort of tech and humans: According to a survey conducted by Accenture, 76% of managers concurred that organizations should prioritize bringing together people and technology, emphasizing the human aspect.

24. Employee satisfaction is key: Employees in organizations equipped with supportive workplace technology exhibit a 230% higher level of engagement and are 85% more inclined to remain with the company for over three years.

Challenges in digital transformation

25. Cultural inertia: Studies by MIT Sloan Management Review emphasize that cultural resistance is the primary reason behind digital transformation failures in over 90% of cases.

26. Leadership disconnect, vision misalignment: A Gartner survey found that 70% of digital transformation projects fail due to a lack of leadership support and engagement. A Harvard Business Review suggests that only 29% of CEOs support digital initiatives, hindering progress.

27. Skill deficiencies: A McKinsey Global Survey indicates that 82% of companies need help acquiring and retaining digital talent, leading to skill gaps across various sectors.

28. Cybersecurity threats: Cybersecurity Ventures forecasts a disturbing trend, predicting a ransomware attack every 2 seconds by 2025, signifying the accelerated growth of cyber threats.

29. Transformation is too complex: Fujitsu's survey identifies the complexity of implementation as a substantial barrier (76%), alongside challenges in acquiring talented staff (75%) and anticipating upfront costs (75%).

30. ROI measurement complexity: Nearly 29% of companies struggle with establishing data-driven ROI metrics, complicating the assessment of the success of digital initiatives.

Further Reads: How Digital Transformation and Customer Experience Are Fueling Success

Digital transformation in different industries

Digital transformation has been a driving force across industries, and it has been reshaping how business works.

a. Retail

31. Integral to retail: 71%, that is, more than two-thirds of respondents, agree that digital transformation is an essential part of retail technology, according to Fujitsu.

32. Business intelligence is vital: As per Gartner, 63% of retail businesses anticipate increased expenditures on business intelligence and data analytics, while 35% plan to allocate more funds to artificial intelligence.

33. Digital transformation a differentiator: Key drivers for digital transformation in retail include improved competitiveness (70%), reduced costs and increase in efficiencies (69%), stronger customer relationships (69%), improved revenue (67%), enhanced employee satisfaction (60%) and transformed businesses processes (53%), according to Fujitsu.

34. Very few early adopters: Fujitsu's findings show that 9.5% of retailers consider themselves very early adopters, while 27% identify as somewhat early adopters. Additionally, 37% state they do not fall into either category, indicating neither late adopters nor early adopters.

b. Banking

35. Full-fledged automation: McKinsey predicts that by 2025, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies will automate 25% of the insurance industry.

36. Exponential growth: Between 2009 and 2029, the percentage of EU citizens using online banking increased two-fold. The number of online and mobile bank users will be around 6 billion by 2024.

37. Huge cost savings: According to a report by Juniper Research, global operational cost reductions from chatbots in banking are projected to reach $7.3 billion by 2023, up from an anticipated $209 million in 2019

38. Customer is king: Global financial executives prioritize enhancing customer experience as the top priority for digital transformation. According to a report by PwC, 76% of financial executives identify investing in customers, while 16% prioritize productivity and reducing operational costs. 

39. Banks ready for digital transformation: 75% of banks and credit unions have initiated a digital transformation initiative, and an additional 15% intend to formulate a strategy for digital transformation, as reported in the What's Going On in Banking study by Cornerstone Advisors.

c. Healthcare

40. Fast adoption of telehealth: Using digital tools for health support among consumers witnessed a 15% increase during the pandemic. As per McKinsey, 37% of consumers are likely to adopt telehealth.

41. Increased spending on virtualization: McKinsey proposes that around $250 billion of the current healthcare spending in the United States, constituting 20% of the total expenditure, could be allocated for virtualization.

42. Huge revenue opportunity: Statista predicts that in 2025, the global digital health market will surpass 500 billion US dollars, with the healthcare AI market expected to reach 34 billion US dollars.

d. Other industries

43. Manufacturing industry: Digital Transformation in manufacturing is expected to reach $767 billion by 2026 and work at a growth rate of 19.48% over the forecast period 2021-2026, according to Mordor Intelligence.

44. Widespread use in HR and administration: Business and HR leaders worldwide, according to data gathered by Statista, use AI to assist workers in their organization; 58% of them claimed that the primary use of AI in this context was to improve consistency and quality and a further 26% stated that AI is used to assist workers through improving productivity, with the remaining 16% using it to improve insights.

45. Services and technologies: Global spending on services and technologies allowing digital transformation can be estimated at $2.3 trillion.

Further Read: Document AI Use-cases for Retail and Commercial banking in 2024

How is digital transformation streamlining workflow automation?

In modern business operations, the integration of digital transformation in document processing and workflow automation stands as a game-changer. The strategic implementation of these technologies enhances efficiency and significantly impacts organizations' bottom line.

46. Market growth: Grand View Research forecasts that the workflow automation market will soar up to $37.7 billion by 2028, indicating a significant surge in adoption across diverse industries.

47. Financial services leading the way: Various sectors, including finance, healthcare, and manufacturing, are rapidly adopting workflow automation. Deloitte's research highlights that 53% of financial services companies have already implemented workflow automation to streamline operations and mitigate manual errors.

48. Enhanced Efficiency and Cost Savings, Labor Cost Reduction: Research from AIIM indicates that organizations can save an average of $20 in labor costs for every document that undergoes automated processing. According to Forrester, companies embracing workflow automation witness a notable 30% increase in productivity. 

49. AI key to workflow automation: Market Research Future predicts a substantial AI in workflow automation market valuation of $5.1 billion by 2027.

50. Robotic process automation (RPA): Gartner projects that by 2024, 40% of enterprises will adopt robotic process automation (RPA) to augment their document processing capabilities, signifying a significant leap in automation adoption.

Document processing and workflow automation emerge as cornerstones in organizations' digital transformation journey. The blend of automated workflows and evolving technologies enhances operational efficiency and paves the way for future advancements, propelling industries toward unprecedented efficiency and competitiveness.

The insights and statistical data underscore a clear trajectory - the increasing integration of automation technologies and their transformative impact on organizational workflows and document management practices.

To conclude, using digital transformation can uncover secrets, challenges, and promising trends. While specific trends can change within the industry, the underlying themes of adaptability, innovation, and a human-centric approach will continue to guide successful transformations.

This transformation can offer many possibilities and solutions, from embracing digitization to unlocking efficiency in document processing and workflow automation.

Further Read: How do you measure the impact of digital transformation?