Modern businesses face diverse and complex challenges when investing in new technologies. The delicate balance between fostering innovation while managing challenges and risks cannot be underestimated. Change management emerges as a key piece of the puzzle, helping to unlock the vast potential of technological advancement without hindering business operations, negatively impacting people and opening organizations up to unwanted regulatory and compliance implications.

Ishneet Kaur is director of innovation at National Grid, where she imparts her passion for driving progress towards a sustainable future through the development and implementation of innovative solutions in utilities. During the last five years, she has driven change culture at the organization by informing innovation strategy, bridging the industry with best in class startups and supporting scale up of innovation projects.

Kaur will be speaking on day one of All Access: Change Management for Business Transformation, PEX Network’s free webinar series. Ahead of her session, we spoke with Kaur about the important role change management plays in the successful adoption of new and evolving technology.

PEX Network: How important is effective change management when companies invest in new technologies?

Ishneet Kaur: Effective change management is the key for any successful technology adoption. I would even say that investing in new technologies without the buy-in from the key stakeholders and without bringing your organization along is a waste of resources, as there’s only so much you can do to push things forward. We often hear from startups about being stuck in proof of concept (POC) purgatory. This exists because sometimes companies like to try new technologies to get exposure, and tech adoption can only happen when we move away from exploration mode and define the outcomes we want from our innovation projects. Define a transition plan into business-as-usual once the technology proves to be successful.

READ: Why empathy is key to managing business change and transformation

PEX Network: What are the key factors for successfully managing the technology adoption process?

IK: If I can devise the recipe for successful adoption of technology, it would be working backwards and starting with the end in mind.

1. Assessing the materiality of the problem from the relevant leaders and key business stakeholders. It’s not just important to get buy-in but to actually define why something is important to the business. While this may sound obvious, it may be disregarded as too basic. Clear definition and alignment on the problem lays the foundation for all other factors.
2. Defining the business outcomes from the technology. This leads to defining the success metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs) and benefits of the technology.
3. Communication and an open environment. Adoption of new technologies is bound to cause uncertainty and friction within any organization, so encouraging open, transparent dialogue is key.

PEX Network: What are the biggest challenges of technology-focused change and transformation?

IK: Technology adoption, especially at a large scale, requires a broad, almost enterprise-level understanding of the WHY. Technology can seem alien to us – like when we say artificial intelligence (AI), it has the word artificial inside it. So, I’d say the biggest challenge is sharing the why and the benefits of technology adoption, while focusing on the benefits it will bring, for example by making current resources more productive.

READ: 5 ways to measure business change and transformation

PEX Network: What roles do regulatory and compliance issues play in technological innovation?

IK: For those of us playing in the regulatory space, regulatory and policy strategy is at the core of our operations. We think about technology as run, grow and transform the business. Running the business and operating today is the most pressing priority for any utility. National Grid’s leadership has been at the forefront of leading the clean energy transition and adopting best-in-class startups to help us achieve that goal in a safe, affordable, efficient and equitable manner. We have been working with our peer utilities, regulators and customers to showcase innovation projects and to share how we can all work together to bring together a just transition.

Register for All Access: Change Management for Business Transformation 2024