Companies are turning to new and emerging technologies in order to protect market share, a new report by professional services firm KPMG International reveals.

But more than 40 per cent of survey respondents said a lack of capable talent is the biggest challenge they face in the adoption of new digital technologies.

The KPMG Global Tech Report 2022 uncovers the views of technology leaders on the technology strategies companies are deploying to sustain digital momentum and outsmart their competitors in a time of unprecedented market volatility, and explores the traits that help strengthen transformation returns as maturity becomes the norm.

According to the report in which more than 2,200 C-suite executives were surveyed and a series of in-depth discussions conducted, despite geopolitical tensions, research reveals businesses are keen to embrace new technologies and are poised to invest in new tools, with customer value being the primary driver of all tech activity.

KPMG said survey respondents expressed a bold vision for what they could do across a broad expanse of innovative technologies – crypto, the metaverse, Web3, non-fungible tokens, quantum computing, virtual reality/augmented reality, 5G, and edge computing — with an average of 67 per cent of businesses expected to embrace these emerging platforms within two years.

The report claims that this year marks the highest confidence level in the research series to-date, suggesting that effective digital transformation is less of a differentiator than in previous years.

Key figures to note:

•Nine in ten businesses (88 per cent) indicating they are advanced in their adoption of cloud technologies

•According to the report findings, 66 per cent of businesses identify as digital leaders, with almost all businesses having successfully used digital transformation to improve their profitability or performance

•60 per cent of this group having unlocked positive return on investment from robotic process automation – ten percentage points above the market average.

“Digital transformation is no longer the mark of a digital leader, merely the logical evolution to remain competitive and deliver a better experience to customers and business users,” said Troy Dort, director, digital advisory of KPMG in Bermuda.

“Most business leaders understand the importance of a digital transformation journey for their business. In the last year, I have met with several businesses that are either on the journey or preparing the impact of their own transformation agenda.

“The key is to recognise that investments into digital strategies need to adapt with fast paced changes in the industry and may look very different in the near term, as new entries in the market move the mark using new ways to innovate.”

Businesses of every size and sector are accelerating their move to the cloud to enhance the speed, agility, security, and value of their IT investments, with digital transformation success fast becoming a baseline requirement for businesses, redefining what it means to be a digital leader, KPMG said.

However, despite positive cloud momentum, 67 per cent of companies in the survey have yet to realise significant return on investment from cloud investments and are now focused on optimisation and modernisation.

The report reveals that when respondents were asked about the challenges their organisations face in adopting new digital technologies, the top three responses all related to talent disparities, with talent and culture ranked as the top sticking points across all areas of transformation.

Specifically, 44 per cent say a lack of capable talent is the biggest challenge they face in the adoption of new digital technologies, and 30 per cent say the prohibitive cost of adding necessary talent is a top challenge of technology adoption.

Additionally, 35 per cent say insufficient talent or skills are the biggest challenge their organisation is facing or has faced on their cloud journey.