Over the last ten years, Johan Hogsander, part of the management team at Transform, has had a career that has spanned the digital age. The internet, social media, and mobile technology have all developed beyond recognition, and the knowledge industry continues to change and challenge him. In his career Johan has taken organisations on journeys from being almost non-digital to completely enabled, overcoming the major barrier of the mindset of an organisation to create innovative digital solutions.
What’s the strength of consultancy in the UK?
“The UK is pretty cutting edge in many ways when it comes to the adoption of IT and I really think we could make more of it. We are a nation that’s relatively well evolved in terms of embracing new technology and we have a strong industry that develops games and apps, so we have a really good opportunity to stay at the cutting edge of the knowledge and IT industry. The UK really has the basis for something great.”
How can getting their digital offering right change a business?
“For organisations, getting digital operations right can be life changing. But the challenge for business doesn’t end with getting the technology in place.
“It’s also about using the data digital gives you. Quite a few companies are sitting on a treasury of customer data, but often don’t have the tools to collect it. Even if they do collect it they don’t sift through it and if they do sift through it they don’t have the skills or abilities to see what it means.
“More companies could use digital data to make absolutely amazing predictions about their customers, which would change their entire business. They could have their fingers on the pulse of their customers, segmented down almost into a segment of one, and serve them much better. It gives you a way of engaging with your customer that has never been there before.”
What will be the next big thing in digital?
“Dual screen usage, it hasn’t happened too much so far, but we’re seeing it much more. We’ve increasingly started building dual screen use tools, for example for sporting events. So while you sit and watch the Six Nations rugby tournament, you can do things on your tablet or iPhone that tie into the game in real time.”
What tips do you have for a young consultant who is just starting out in the digital sphere?
“In the current environment I would probably tell them to tweet as much as they can, use as much social media as possible, try to find good blogs to read, especially tech blogs, and start following the market.
“One of the great things right now about being a young consultant is that things are moving so fast that people turn obsolete quite quickly. That opens up an opportunity for newcomers to be a superstar by the age of 25, if they focus on something specific. For example, with mobile healthcare, it’s such a new concept that there aren’t really any superstars. If you really cared about health care and technology, you could build yourself up into something very impressive.”