BCG launches 3,000-strong tech build & design unit: BCG X
This month has seen the official launch of BCG X, Boston Consulting Group’s new global tech build & design unit which is home to nearly 3,000 of the firm’s worldwide tech professionals.
Following months of preparation (and a soft launch in major markets), global strategy giant Boston Consulting Group has formally unveiled its new tech build & design unit by the name of BCG X, which is backed by a multidisciplinary team of technology consultants and professionals worldwide.
The new practice is effectively a grouping of established wings BCG Digital Ventures, BCG Platinion, and BCG Gamma under the single roof, with plans to significantly expand its headcount in the coming three years.
“Many CEOs I speak with are grappling with the challenge of delivering their business strategy through major digital transformations,” commented Boston Consulting Group’s global CEO Christoph Schweizer. “To tip the scales, we are doubling down on BCG X, (which) will turbocharge BCG’s deep industry and functional expertise to enable innovation at scale and deliver successful end-to-end digital transformations.”
To support the official launch of BCG X, the consulting firm released the findings of a new research survey conducted among almost 2,700 executives driving digital transformations at companies around the world, including Australia. Despite more than half of the companies intending to increase their spend next year, the survey revealed a number of key challenges hampering the successful establishment and execution of digital transformation agendas.
Among the issues for businesses were making the right choices as to disruptive technologies, with artificial intelligence, blockchain and IoT the most commonly cited areas. Other roadblocks included recruiting suitable talent, managing the cost and ROI uncertainty, and quickly reaching scale with new solutions.
More than three quarters of the respondents also complained of cumbersome coordination across vendors and cookie-cutter solutions.
BCG believes BCG X can help address these pain points, in blending the expertise of BCG Digital Ventures, the firm’s corporate innovation and business building wing, together with AI and machine learning unit BCG Gamma and BCG Platinion, the latter which works on designing and building IT architecture and platforms.
Boston Consulting Group argues that most digital transformation goals can’t otherwise be achieved by consultants or vendors alone.
“As the market continues to evolve and demand for support accelerates, the formation of this new business unit will strengthen BCG’s ability to work on the largest and most complex digital transformation projects,” said Paris-based senior partner Sylvain Duranton, who has been tapped to lead the new unit. “Under the BCG X roof, we will further enhance collaboration among diverse disciplines to serve clients in an even more integrated and seamless way.”
Altogether BCG X houses close to 3,000 technologists, scientists, programmers, engineers and designers across more than 80 cities, with BCG already intending to extend that number to 5,000 over the next few years. Duranton stated that nearly half of BCG’s business was now being driven by digital client work, making the firm a “natural home for the world’s best technology talent who want to work the world’s largest and most complex organisations.”
