Governance in the Digital Age

CHAPTER 4 Building Insights and Just-in-Time Strategies

At Intuit, we were constantly thinking about artificial intelligence and machine learning and how to apply those technologies to finances to make smarter products and easy-to-use customer experiences. For example, we worked to free up accountants by automating tasks that were repetitive so they could find time to delight their customers.¹

— Merline Saintil

As companies examine the aspects of digital disruption that can harm them, like cyber attacks, they’re concurrently focusing on the technological innovations that can propel their businesses forward. Take blockchain,² for instance. Employing this new method for transactions means potentially opening up internal networks to vendors and other third parties, with a degree of risk. But the benefits blockchain could bring to settlements, payments, smart contracts, and supply chain tracking might make the risks worth it — and competitive pressures might necessitate such a move forward.

Conversations about risk have been converging with conversations about strategy, coalescing into an overall need to balance both for future growth and value.

Strategy has been defined as “a science and an art,” “a careful plan or method toward a goal,” and “adaptations (such as behaviors and structure) that serve an important function in achieving evolutionary success.”³

It is a concept with roots in military operations. In today’s business battlefield, strategy is often the tactical means ...