The Age of Digital Disruption
Introduction By Capgemini Consulting’s Editorial Board

These are uncertain and
challenging times for
traditional organizations
across every industry. The digital
economy is turning the traditional
rules of the game upside down, as
a scan of business press headlines
illustrates. “Since 2000, 52% of
companies in the Fortune 500
have either gone bankrupt, been
acquired or ceased to existi
”.
“Uber Valued at $40 Billion in
$1.2 Billion Equity Fundingii.”
“Is Silicon Valley the Future of
Finance?iii” “How Bitcoin can and
will disrupt the financial systemiv.”
This small sample of recent press
headlines reveals why the leaders
of traditional organizations might
feel a strong sense of disquiet.
Disruption can happen at any
time, in any sector, and its effect
on traditional organizations can
be fundamental. Against this
backdrop, this seventh edition of
the Digital Transformation Review
is dedicated to three themes:
• Understanding more about the
nature and context of digital
disruption, from assessing
where disruptors gain their
competitive advantage to the
emerging disruptors of the
coming years.
• Examining how collaboration
and engagement can help both
incumbents and disruptors. 

• Assessing the most effective
strategic response to existing
disruptions with an analysis
by Capgemini Consulting of
incumbents’ winning strategies.
Digital Disruptions –
Making Sense of It All
Working with a global panel
of industry leaders, venture
capitalists and academics (see
Figure 1), we have built a detailed
picture of the digital disruption
phenomenon, probing the key
questions that organizations need
answers to:
• How can we plan for the
emergence of disruptors?
• Why are we seeing so many
disruptions?
• What shape are these
disruptions taking?
• Which startups are likely to
emerge to disrupt sector value
chains over the coming years?

How can we plan for the
emergence of disruptors?
We open the Review with Rita
Gunther McGrath, a professor at
Columbia Business School, who
is a globally recognized expert on
strategy in uncertain and volatile
environments. “It is important
to understand that most digital
disruptions don’t happen suddenly.
They take place over time,” she
explains. “Most companies often
get so caught up in everyday
operations that they don’t take a
step back to think about what the
future might hold.”
Why are we seeing so many
disruptions?
Philippe Lemoine, who recently
authored a report for the French
government on the digital
transformation of the country’s
economy, outlines three factors
driving disruption: automation,
dematerialization (substitution of
physical products and processes
with digital alternatives) and
changes to the value chain

What shape are these
disruptions taking?
Rachel Botsman is a global
thought leader on one of the
emerging business models of
the disruptive segment: the
collaborative economy. “The
collaborative economy drives a
shift from centralized asset-heavy
organizations to decentralized
asset-light networks and
marketplaces,” she explains. “It
typically does this by creating
business models that enable
underutilized assets - from spaces
to skills to “stuff” - to be used more
efficiently.” She believes there are
five key drivers of disruption –
wastage of resources, redundancy,
complexity, limited access and
broken trust. Each of these areas
creates new opportunities for
startups and incumbents alike.

Which startups are likely to
emerge to disrupt sector value
chains over the coming years?
Brian Solis is a digital analyst,
anthropologist, and futurist at
Altimeter Group. He studies the
effects of disruptive technology
on business and society. He
identifies a select set of startups
that he believes will start hitting
the headlines in 2015. The eclectic
list spans companies from the
sharing economy, virtual reality,
3D Printing and more.
Collaboration Redefi ned
– Engaging with Potential
Disruptors
Understanding the nature and
context of disruption is the first step.
Crafting a response is the second,
and collaboration and engagement
are important approaches that 

many large firms are often
ignoring. There are, however,
some traditional incumbents that
understand that they do not have
all the answers and are partnering
with startups across sectors. We
spoke to two individuals who are
closely associated with startups to
understand how incumbents can
engage with startups at an early
stage of their lifecycle. This allows
the incumbent and potential future
disruptor to cooperate rather than
simply compete.
David Cohen is the founder,
Managing Partner, and CEO of
startup accelerator Techstars. The
Techstars network has so far funded
484 companies and it works with
large corporates to run mutually
valuable mentoring initiatives.
“Techstars runs the program and
is also the investor. The corporates
don’t take direct equity in the
startup; they don’t take rights to 

Digital Transformation Review