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If you feel like the pace of technology is speeding up, you’re not alone. AI was a buzzword just a few years ago and now it’s everywhere. It’s expected to account for $243 billion in spending in 2025 and grow to $826 billion by 2030.
Businesses today are investing in new tools and strategies to stay current and streamline processes to future-proof their organizations for long-term viability. Technology is part of the solution, but it goes beyond that.
What Is Future-Proofing and Why Is It So Important?
Future-proofing your business means being prepared for whatever comes your way. Creating an agile and flexible approach, powered by data, automation, and technology, can help you stay ahead of the competition and ensure you’re ready for what’s next.
It’s about looking forward and building the skills and processes for resiliency and sustainability.
Why does future-proofing matter? Things are changing rapidly. Consumers continue to demand more (and they have more options than ever before). Global competition continues to grow and government policies continue to shift. Lately, rising prices have had a significant impact on profit margins. Economic uncertainty and political unrest can spring up at any time.
History is littered with companies that failed to adapt. Despite 65 million customers and 9,000 stores, Blockbuster ignored streaming media. Despite inventing the digital camera, Kodak never capitalized on it. MySpace didn’t have a scalable and flexible structure, losing out to Facebook. The list goes on and on.
What Practices Should Companies Adopt to Prepare for the Future?
Tomorrow’s successful businesses are investing in future-proofing now to handle anything that comes, finding efficiencies, and employing best practices to build strong, resilient organizations.
Focusing on Outcomes
As you consider the investments you want to make — both resources and spending — think about the outcomes you are trying to achieve. While your checklist might look different, here is an example of where many companies are focusing their efforts to future-proof business:
- Increasing productivity – a top goal for cost containment
- Enhancing employee experience – key to attracting and retaining top employees
- Improving adaptability – making sure you have the tools you need to support flexible and agile business practices
- Delivering better visibility – ensuring you have near real-time insight into all of your processes, especially when it comes to spending and expense management
- Reducing risk – minimizing cyber risks and fraud
You can go in-depth on these strategies in our eBook, The 5 Most Important Business Outcomes for Finance Leaders and How to Maximize Them,
Embracing Automation
Every process you can automate frees up your team members to take on tasks that create more value for your business. Forrester Consulting in its new thought leadership paper commissioned by SAP Concur, Empower the Future of Work with Intelligent Travel and Expense Solutions, reports that more than three-quarters of decision-makers say increasing automation to improve efficiency and productivity is a high or critical priority.
Training, Upskilling, and Reskilling
Upskilling and reskilling your workforce will be critical to future success. Harvard Business Review estimates that about 60% of a company’s future roles can be filled by current employees if the right technology and training programs are put in place.
An analysis from the Conference Board agrees, recommending businesses focus on:
- Prioritizing upskilling on forward-looking technologies and skills
- Strengthening education pipelines and technology-enabled pathways
- Targeting technology research and adoption of cutting-edge tools
- Ensuring top business leadership is engaged and supportive of efforts.
Upskilling needs to happen at every level of your organization, including those managing finance departments.
Prioritizing Data Literacy
As artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms, and predictive analytics become embedded in organizations, data literacy will become more important. Modern systems are empowering team members and reducing reliance on IT teams, using natural language processing (NLP) and drag-and-drop tools.
Data-driven decision-making takes the guesswork out of forecasting and predicting. However, team members must be comfortable working with these tools to optimize their impact. This goes beyond training as well. For example, nearly two-thirds of business leaders say they are under pressure to manage costs, but lack the visibility and data they need to do so effectively. Without adopting new solutions, organizations are falling behind competitors and will not be prepared for the future.
AI is transforming job roles and entire industries and companies are investing heavily. A SAP Concur survey of CFOs showed that 51% are investing in AI tech.
Why Is a Flexible Organizational Culture Important?
“In this world,” Benjamin Franklin wrote, “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Ole Ben forgot to add change to that list. We live in a perpetual state of change these days. Without an emphasis on future-proofing your business, you are at risk.
Why is a flexible organizational culture significant?
Adaptability to Change
A flexible culture encourages open-mindedness and innovation, enabling you to pivot strategies when necessary. Organizations with rigid structures are often slower to adapt and risk losing their competitive edge.
Managing Modern Workplaces
Modern workplaces can include remote, hybrid, and flexible work hours. Such work arrangements can improve access to talent pools and enhance job satisfaction. However, they can also lead to fragmented communication, delayed decision-making, and challenges with accountability.
Future-proofing businesses means supporting all of these workflows and enabling both synchronous and asynchronous workflows for a collaborative approach.
Focus on Continuous Learning
Continuous learning fosters creativity, collaboration, and adaptability. By investing in training programs and encouraging a growth mindset, you can empower employees to embrace change and excel in new roles.
Proactive Trend Spotting
Organizations that actively monitor emerging trends can stay ahead of the curve. Predictive analytics, scenario planning, and market research are essential tools for identifying opportunities and risks early.
Leveraging Technology
Digital tools play a crucial role in enabling flexibility. For example, SAP Concur solutions streamline expense and travel management, allowing employees to focus on strategic initiatives instead of administrative tasks.
Futureproof Your Expense and Travel Management With SAP Concur Solutions
SAP Concur solutions help you future-proof your organization, providing the travel and expense management tools you need to drive efficiency, reduce risk, and stay agile.
- Streamline processes with automation – Automate manual tasks like expense reporting, invoice approvals, and travel bookings to save time, minimize errors, and boost productivity.
- Enhance employee experience – Enable employees to manage expenses and travel from any device with intuitive, mobile-friendly tools, digital capture, and automated reporting.
- Gain near real-time visibility – Access insights into spend and compliance with powerful analytics to make better decisions.
- Ensure policy compliance and reduce risk – Use built-in tools to automatically enforce company policies, detect anomalies, and safeguard against fraud.
- Support flexible work environments – Integrate with cloud systems to empower remote and hybrid teams, ensuring seamless collaboration.
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