Mobile technologies for customer engagement represent the most strategically important series of technology CEOs are focusing on today, according to PwC’s 18th Annual Global CEO Survey.
The report states that “the number of mobile phone users globally was expected to total 4.55B in 2014 – nearly 70% of the world’s population – with smartphone users totaling 1.75B. The volume of mobile traffic generated by smartphones is now about twice that of PCs, tablets and routers – despite having only surpassed them in 2013 – and is predicted to grow ten-fold by 2019.”
Digital technologies dominated several of the key takeaways in the report. Consider the following:
- Most CEOs think that digital technologies have created high value for their organizations. CEOs cited areas including data and data analytics, customer experience, digital trust, and innovation capacity as key areas where digital technologies are delivering value. Operational efficiency (88%), data and data analytics (84%), and customer experience (77%) are the top three priorities that CEOs are concentrating today.
- 86% of CEOs realize they must champion the use of digital technologies for their enterprises’ digital investments to succeed. Taking control and driving change management deep into their organizations by championing digital technologies is the most effective strategy for making digital investments pay off.
- 81% see mobile technologies for customer engagement as the most strategically important in 2015.
- 80% see data mining and analysis technologies as the most strategically important, followed by cybersecurity (78%), Internet of Things (IoT) (65%), socially-enabled business processes (61%) and cloud computing (60%).
- Over-regulation (78%), availability of key skills (73%) and government response to fiscal deficit and debt burden (72%) are the top three threats CEOs are most concerned about.
PwC interviewed 1,322 CEOs in 77 countries, with 28% of the interviews conducted by telephone, 59% online and 13% via mailed questionnaires.