Transformation insights based on real conversations with leaders between July 2026 and September 2026
Over the past quarter, BIE has been speaking with senior leaders across a range of large, complex organisations. The conversations have been confidential, but the themes are consistent. Boards are no longer debating whether transformation is needed; they are asking how to execute it properly, at pace, with the right capability, and without creating another expensive programme that struggles to land.
The strongest signal is that the market has shifted from strategy to delivery. Many organisations have already completed the first round of design work: new structures, target operating models, technology roadmaps, shared service concepts and cost-reduction cases. The challenge now is turning those designs into operational reality. That means building service catalogues, simplifying processes, cleaning data, clarifying ownership, and creating delivery rhythms that work beyond the programme slide deck.
One theme keeps appearing, regardless of sector or transformation type: organisations are struggling less with defining the destination than with creating the conditions for delivery.
The traditional boundaries between finance, technology, operations and people change are becoming increasingly blurred. Programmes that once sat within individual functions are now being viewed as connected enterprise transformations, with operating model, data, process, capability and adoption decisions addressed together.
As a result, demand is growing for transformation leaders who can connect strategic intent with practical execution and influence outcomes across organisational boundaries. Functional expertise remains important, but it is increasingly valued alongside delivery credibility, commercial judgement and the ability to build internal capability.
Another noticeable shift is the premium placed on first-hand experience. Organisations are looking for leaders who have navigated complex change before, can anticipate where programmes stall, and can create momentum without losing sight of long-term value.
Technology Enablement Depends on Organisational Readiness
Technology remains central, but clients are increasingly clear that technology alone is not the answer. ERP modernisation, AI enablement, platform change and workflow automation are only valuable if the organisation underneath is ready to absorb them. In practice, this means the same familiar pressure points keep appearing: process variation, poor data quality, unclear governance, limited internal bandwidth and a shortage of people who can bridge business operations, finance, technology and change.
Global Business Services Are Being Reframed
A second theme is the renewed focus on global business services and functional operating models. Several organisations are reassessing whether historic shared service centres are truly service-led, or simply lower-cost locations carrying out fragmented work. The next generation of shared services is being framed less as labour arbitrage and more as a platform for standardisation, performance visibility, automation and continuous improvement. That requires a different calibre of leadership: people who can build the model, run it, and change the culture at the same time.
Hybrid Transformation Talent Is in Short Supply
The third theme is talent scarcity. Clients are finding that the profiles they need do not sit neatly in traditional job families. The strongest transformation leaders are often hybrids: commercially astute, technology-literate, operationally credible and comfortable working with ambiguity. They can challenge a consultancy, partner with internal teams, and leave capability behind after go-live. Demand is particularly high for leaders who have personally delivered complex programmes, not just advised on them.
Engagement Models Need Honest Market Calibration
Cost and engagement models are also becoming more complicated. Clients want ownership, continuity and value for money, but the market for proven transformation talent remains tight. Many of the best operators are used to outcome-led interim work, while organisations often prefer permanent or fixed-term models to secure longer-term commitment. The result is a growing need for honest market calibration: what capability is genuinely required, what the market will pay for it, and where compromise is possible without weakening delivery.
People, Capability and Culture Are Core Delivery Workstreams
Finally, leaders are recognising that transformation is now as much a people challenge as a technical one. New systems, AI-enabled processes and redesigned operating models require different behaviours, decision rights, skills and leadership habits. The organisations that will move fastest are those that treat adoption, capability and culture as core delivery workstreams, not communications activity at the end.
The market is not short of transformation ambition. It is short of practical, experienced capacity to convert ambition into execution. Over the next 12 months, the organisations most likely to make progress will be those that simplify faster, make sharper capability choices, and put proven delivery leaders into the moments that matter most.
Written by Simon Cordrey, Managing Director in BIE’s Transformation Leadership Practice
If any of the themes explored in this quarter’s insights resonate with your organisation’s priorities, challenges or transformation agenda, we’d be pleased to continue the conversation.
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