2024 is set to be a year of mass disruption as long-standing business models are tested by the rapid pace of technological advancement, causing economic upheaval around the world. In the last great technological leap, we saw traditional businesses such as Blockbuster, Tower Records and Kodak disappear as Netflix, Spotify and Instagram came from nowhere to dominate.
We expect 2024 to have a similarly seismic impact on long-established businesses as the fourth industrial revolution ignites. In 2024, it will not only be consumer-facing, high street businesses which feel the pinch of digital transformation. As you'd expect, blue collar jobs will continue to face increasing competition from automation while white collar jobs, which once seemed irreplaceable, are increasingly augmented or replaced by artificial intelligence-enabled technologies, in particular generative AI.
Over the coming year, we anticipate many opportunities for businesses willing to embrace change. These businesses will be leaner and more agile, with technology replacing many non-core roles. As a result, these companies will be able to free up their key people to focus on high-value strategy, research & development, and client-facing work.
Conversely, companies which bury their heads in the sand are going to find themselves in a cumbersome position — slow to adapt, and carrying unnecessary headcount in comparison to their more innovative counterparts.
Troublingly, the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report suggests that fewer businesses in Thailand were actually investing in technology in H2 2023 (60%) than in H1 2023 (47%). This national data stands in stark contrast to global trends suggesting widespread increases in technology investment, especially around AI.
To compound matters, serious Thai economists predict with “90% confidence” that the economy will run into a financial crisis in 2024 akin to the catastrophe of 1997, due to low levels of income growth and high levels of public and private debt.
Grant Thornton in Thailand has produced this document as a roadmap for your business to navigate through this transformative epoch. Within Grant Thornton is an experienced team of business transformation experts, alongside a full team of professional service personnel, many of whom have contributed to this report.
For companies seeking to adapt and grow, we’ll provide advice on refining existing systems, optimising processes, integrating technology, and maximising human resources. We’ll be taking a holistic approach to assess the present state of your enterprise, while suggesting areas of improvement to create leaner, more agile businesses. We’ll also be looking at ways to fix inefficiencies, identify bottlenecks, remove redundancies and incorporate new technology wherever possible.
With a clear sense of your ideal processes and optimal organisational structures, opportunities around AI can be explored to enable greater agility in the core fabric of business operations, ensuring that companies are not merely prepared for these changes, but are at the forefront of adopting them.
A highly focused and streamlined org chart unlocks many opportunities for augmenting existing functions via outsourcing. From marketing to recruitment, tax and accounting, and technology, we’ll be recommending that your key people are laser focused on your core business, with fractional teams handling non-core activities. This approach not only simplifies complex processes, but also provides a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving business environment.
In summary, this document encapsulates our commitment to guiding businesses through a year of mass disruption. In the coming chapters, we’ll explore technology, process, risk, talent, key demographics, and more in order to provide you with a multipronged approach to business transformation.
This article is part of an ongoing series entitled The Essential Guide to Business Transformation in 2024
To read the next article in the series, click here
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