Agents of Transformation emerging post-pandemic

In the wake of the pandemic, a new class of technology leaders has emerged to drive the reimagining of applications and digital services delivery, according to Cisco AppDynamics.

A survey of technology leaders found that just 10% have reached the status of “Agents of Transformation” — leaders capable of adapting to rapid change and taking advantage of the emerging ‘experience economy’, a new study published by the company found.

According to the survey, 74% of technology leaders report that their experiences through the pandemic have accelerated their careers, and 88% now consider themselves to be business leaders.

But the elite few classed by Cisco as Agents of Transformation have gone above and beyond and are reimagining and delivering high-value applications and services. The focus is on creating the always-on, secure, and exceptional user experiences now demanded by end users and customers, according to the report.

“The bar continues to rise, and over the last year we have seen a redefinition of what it means to be an Agent of Transformation,” Cisco AppDynamics EVP, Chief Strategy Officer and GM of Applications Liz Centoni said.

“These leaders are looking to better understand how issues in their respective domains impact the total experience of users and applications, adapting to change with solutions that positively affect the overall business.”

The survey also found that 88% of respondents believe that what it means to be a technologist has changed following the pandemic, 84% say the skills that define an Agent of Transformation have evolved and 66% believe it is now more difficult to achieve this status.

Conversely, one in four respondents say their organisation remains stuck in reactive, ‘fire-fighting mode’ amid the rapidly evolving economic climate.

In response to these developments, 77% of respondents believe it will be important to invest in application security over the next 12 months, 71% expect their organisation to invest in observing cloud-native applications and infrastructure, and 85% say full stack observability is core to sustainable transformation, the report found.

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