I’ve shared my views on the entrepreneurial opportunity to take laggard industries from physical to digital. I’ve been thinking more about what the ideal company will look like in the future in laggard industries and what the result of that will be. A few thoughts:

• Automation - Manual and inefficient processes are common in old-school industries. The result can be inconsistent and slow execution of critical tasks, which leads to a poor customer experience. Automation will be a big part of the ideal company in these industries. Efficiency, timeliness, and visibility of execution will not only improve the customer experience but also reduce costs.
• Centralized data - Manual processes and a lack of systems mean that data is often unavailable to team members and leadership. Decisions are made with subjective or anecdotal evidence. Digitization will allow ideal companies to store data centrally and use it to improve decision-making.

These are just two of many ways digitization can improve laggard (and other) industries. Overall, I believe digitization will allow companies to create more value for customers and reduce costs.