The document summarizes a Financial Times breakfast meeting that discussed how digital technologies and customer experience are driving change in businesses. Topics at the meeting included how customer needs are evolving and how companies can adapt, the role of IT in remaining strategically relevant, and debates around the Chief Digital Officer position. It was generally agreed that digitization will continue accelerating and companies must pay attention to digital developments and customers' changing needs to remain competitive.

1. SUMMARY REPORT
8 April 2014
The Saxon Hotel
Johannesburg
The Convergence of Digital
and the Customer Experience
Driving Change Across
the Business

2. Agenda
Driving Change Across
the Business
08:00 Guest arrival and welcome refreshments
08:15 Welcome remarks
Andrew England, Southern Africa Bureau Chief, Financial Times
08:20 Guest introductions and first course is served
08:30 Discussion begins: The Convergence of Digital and Customer
Experience: Driving change across the business.
• In what ways are customer needs changing, and how are you adapting your business
accordingly?
• What is driving this increased customer empowerment?
• How does the IT function need to reinvent itself in order to be strategically relevant in respect
of the customer?
• How is your organisation addressing the issues and opportunities associated with multiple
channels?
• How can we prepare for next-generation advances, such as the Internet of Things and
augmented reality?
• To what extent could the use of analytics help to make the business more customer-centric?
• How can you get support from the board for customer experience initiatives, and ensure that
it is considered a priority?
• The rise of the Chief Digital Officer – what could this mean for your institution?
09:55 Concluding remarks
Andrew England, Southern Africa Bureau Chief, Financial Times
10:00 Breakfast concludes

3. Summary Report
By Andrew England
The FT Live breakfast, hosted in association with HP in Johannesburg provided robust
and engaging debate about how companies best harness digitisation and technological
developments to meet the ever evolving needs of their customers.
The attendance was excellent, with a diverse group of representatives from finance, the
telecommunications industry and state-owned enterprises.
Topics discussed included how customer needs are changing and how companies should, and
are able, to adapt - ensuring the IT function remains relevant to the customers’ requirements
and that companies stay up to speed with the latest technologies.
From the outset it was agreed that companies of all types have to take IT developments
and digitisation increasingly seriously as growing numbers of customers look to use digital
platforms to perform their daily business. It is happening in South Africa and across the
continent, with the growth in the middle class being accompanied by the proliferation of mobile
phones, smart phones and tablets.
It was agreed that the challenge for companies is keeping pace with technology, with one
participant raising the travails of Kodak and its failure to adapt to the rapid growth of
digital photography.
There was also debate about the value of the Chief Digital Officer – a relatively new position
- and how companies are able to quantify their return on investment in IT and digital
transformation, which can be less tangible than in other areas of the business. At least one
participant suggested that groups should not agonise over the matter as it was necessary to
continue to adapt, keep abreast of latest developments and ensure that firms are meeting
customers’ changing needs.
Ultimately, the consensus seemed to be that the returns will be seen and those not paying
sufficient attention to the digital world will suffer.
There were also comments to suggest that Chief Digital Officers and Chief Marketing Officers
are being treated with mounting importance by company executives, in line with the general
trend towards digitalisation, whether in the private or public sectors. This was described as
a relatively new and emerging trend with CDOs and CMOs enjoying greater influence, which
reflects the fact that companies are adapting to the new era.
A broader issue raised was how South Africa compares with other African nations in terms of
the speed and cost of broadband availability and whether the government and private sector

4. Driving Change Across
the Business
are doing enough to ensure that they are able to compete with continental peers. It was noted
that both the governments of Rwanda and Kenya have been pushing IT development as part
of the next wave of industrialisation and there were some concerns that South Africa risks
lagging behind competitors.
There was also discussion about how technology can be used to help African states leapfrog
various stages of development, with the example of the huge success of M-Pesa mobile phone
banking in Kenya raised.
But it was also emphasised that companies need to be able to deliver good content and quality
products whether it is on a digital or other platform, with an understanding of the customer and
their requirements.
The meeting concluded with general agreement that digitisation is playing an increasing role
in how businesses operate and engage with their customers, and that this is only likely to
accelerate as new and cheaper technologies are developed and increasing numbers of people
have access to IT.
This will be especially critical in Africa’s developing, fast growing markets.

5. BIOGRAPHIES
CHAIR
Andrew England
Southern Africa Bureau Chief
Financial Times
Andrew England is the Financial Times’ Southern Africa Bureau
Chief based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has held this
position since May 2011 and previously he was Abu Dhabi Bureau
Chief for three years. Prior to this, he was the Middle East and
North Africa Correspondent, appointed in 2007. He joined the
Financial Times in 2004 as East Africa Correspondent.
Before joining the FT, Mr England was East Africa Correspondent for the Associated
Press, and prior to that he was a freelance journalist in Nairobi. He started his
journalism career as a reporter on Investment Week Magazine.
Mr England has a BA (Hons) in Politics and History from the University of the West of
England, and a postgraduate diploma in Newspaper Journalism from City University.

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7. Driving Change Across
the Business
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