(Photo : David Catzel )

Digital Transformation is not merely a buzzword. It is an essential strategic imperative for businesses so that they do not follow the trajectory of Polaroid and Kodac, billion-dollar companies one year and disappearing from public consciousness the next.

On the face of it, digital transformation is the leveraging of technology to optimize and then reimagine the way you do business to drive growth and revenue in both existing and new markets and to drive new value for customers, employees and shareholders.

Often overlooked, however, are the cultural aspects of transformation because digital transformation is as much a people challenge as a technology journey.

Digital transformation is important because it causes management to reevaluate how their organization operates and rethink all of the systems, processes, workflow, and culture in this process.

Workflow automation and artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML), enable companies to connect the dots on the customer journey in a way that wasn't possible before. Benefits of this digital transformation include

• Not just data collection, but business intelligence - Most businesses already collect enormous amounts of customer data. Consolidating the data estate and leveraging AI and ML converts the data into business intelligence for decision making,
• More efficient resource management - Rather than dispersed software and databases, digital transformation consolidates company resources and reduces vendor overlap.
• Data-driven customer insights - By better understanding of your customer and their needs allows you to create and implement a more customer-centric strategy. These insights can be enhanced by using both structured data (personal customer information) and unstructured data, such as social media metrics.
• Improved customer experience - Consumers expect choices, low prices, and fast delivery. The customer experience (CX) is the new battleground for brands.
• Increased profits - Increased efficiencies result from digital transformation in the short term. In the longer term, new revenue streams and new products can result.
• Increased agility - Digital transformation makes organizations more agile and improves speed-to-market and faster innovation
• Improved productivity - Technology tools can streamline workflow and improve productivity by automating manual tasks and removing data silos, and integrating data across the organization.

A sustainability strategy should be part of every digital transformation journey. David has been working with companies, helping them understand that what is good for the environment is usually good for the company, its employees, its customers, and its shareholders.

At an operational level, viewing the way you have been doing things for a decade through the lens of sustainability often helps cut costs, for example, by using water and energy more efficiently. From the C-suite perspective, a sustainability policy enables a company to meet consumer and shareholder expectations and address government reporting regulations. In addition, we are seeing institutional investors beginning to require sustainability reporting metrics, and this, in turn, can have a massive impact on stock price and company value.

Microsoft, a recognized leader and innovator, has been focused on sustainability since 2019, has a plan to be carbon neutral by 2030 and, by 2050, will have compensated for all carbon emissions generated over its 44-year existence

It has consolidated the learnings, tools, and technologies it has used on its own sustainability journey and announced its "Cloud for Sustainability," offering.... an extensible software-as-a-service solution that helps you record, report, and reduce your organization's environmental impact through automated data connections and actionable insights.

Companies worldwide are now recognizing the need for reducing carbon emissions and addressing environmental equity. To cater to environmental needs, organizations are required to undergo massive changes, which is indeed a daunting process. Measuring the overall environmental impact of an organization and risking the change is challenging. Fortunately, Microsoft's "Cloud for Sustainability" team consists of intellectual and talented individuals such as David Catzel, who is actively devising strategies to make the business go green.

David Catzel is currently deeply engaged in sustainability across the entire interconnected automotive, mobility, and transportation ecosystem, working with automotive, OEMs, airlines, airports, shipping lines, and ports. But his journey to Microsoft actually started with twenty years in the media and entertainment sector, working at the confluence of media and technology.

He is a strategic multimillion-dollar business builder who commenced his professional life as a producer at a multimedia and events production company. Later, after working in important positions at multiple organizations, including ESPM, Barnes & Nobel, and Lucasfilm, he found his way to Microsoft.

He originally joined Microsoft's Developer Platform Evangelism Team in 2010 as a lead for the entertainment industry and subsequently supported the Justice and Public Safety team with the launch of Microsoft Azure Government. He left in late 2018 to join an Israeli cybersecurity firm but returned to Microsoft in 2020 as a Lead Industry Strategist in Automotive, Mobility, and Transportation.

During this work, he has recognized that we can no longer simply view companies through the lens of a single industry. Rather, we need to widen the aperture and take an ecosystem view. Catzel believes in a strategic view of the world as an ecosystem of ecosystems. According to him, "No company exists in isolation but belongs to a larger industry, a component of and operating in an ecosystem of  intersecting ecosystems."

David Catzel's role at Microsoft requires him to collaborate with senior executives in different conglomerates to develop multi-horizon partnerships to transform their business while adhering to sustainability principles. In addition to that, he also Chairs an international, multi-industry Sustainability Working Group. This passionate individual represents Microsoft on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), whose output was debuted at COP26, the global United Nations summit about climate change and how countries plan to tackle it.

Catzel's Journey to Digital Transformation

Prior to entering the world of technology, David worked in the corporate communications industry. He formed a production company with his partner Kit Thomas in 1986- and, over the next three years, became one of the most successful and prolific music video producers in the early days of MTV.

In 1990, the partners decided to pursue different avenues, with David focusing on his interest in technology and how it was changing media. His digital transformation journey began when he was recruited by North Communications, an IBM Business Partner, to manage and execute multimillion-dollar government engagements to deploy public access and public sector interactive kiosk networks around the world. This was the pioneering forerunner for today's online citizen access to government.

Because of his growing technical expertise and innovation, he was recruited by Lucasfilm in early 1994 as Technical Director on Geroge Lucas' Luminaire Entertainment Marketplace venture. Here he built and managed a multidisciplinary cross-divisional design team to develop a $15M next-generation, modular environmental building control solution for lighting, video, signage, and theme park elements that could be 'sponsored' to offset costs and contribute to the bottom line.  

The project was shelved two years later due to a shift in focus to the three Star Wars prequels,' and David was rapidly hired by Intel, who had launched it's new consumer-focused Pentium 2 with MMX line. After securing engagements across the film and TV ecosystem, David moved over to Intel Capital to build a media industry investment strategy and lead investments in a portfolio of sports technology and content companies.

After nine years serving in senior interim business transformation executive roles with a variety of established companies and promising young ventures, he joined Microsoft's Developer Platform Evangelism team in 2010 to spearhead programs to deploy media across laptops, mobile devices and launch the media channels on Xbox for companies such as Sony, Paramount, Fox FX and others.

He took a break in late 2018 to pursue an interest in cybersecurity with an Israeli venture based out of Tel Aviv. He rejoined Microsoft in 2020 and is now focused on the future of mobility, electrification, sustainability, and the metaverse.

David is leveraging his decades of Digital Transformation skills and experience with the vision to bring in innovative solutions and reduce carbon footprint by helping accelerate EV adoption. Catzel can be labeled as a determined individual who takes his corporate social responsibility seriously.