Welcome to the Age of Instinct. Where foresight is 20/20

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

These words are often attributed to Charles Darwin, and while they draw from his ideas, they actually were first said by Leon C. Megginson, a professor of business management at Louisiana State University, in a speech delivered in 1963.

In truth, the aspiration for enterprises to become instinctive has been deeply ingrained in the art of business for generations. However, it is only recently – with artificial intelligence (AI) now poised to fundamentally redraw the business landscape – that companies are beginning to truly realize their potential and evolve into instinctive enterprises, able to predict and adapt in real time, to anticipate and ultimately exceed the needs of their customers.

Just as the fittest creatures rely on instinct to thrive, so will the next generation of advanced businesses.

With AI serving as their neural wiring, the next generation of advanced businesses are primed to become instinctive enterprises, symbiotically connecting people, processes, and domain knowledge to adapt instinctively, making accurate, proactive decisions for the benefit of their customers.

We’ve run thousands of intelligent operations and processes for hundreds of Fortune 500 companies across industries, and the globe, for more than 20 years. In our work with these industry leaders, we have observed three hallmarks that characterize companies on the path to becoming instinctive enterprises.

• Connected ecosystems – Embracing business and technology partnerships while tearing down functional silos, an instinctive enterprise is an agile organization, willing to cross boundaries in a relentless pursuit to improve customer experience.

• Predictive insights – Analyzing vast volumes of internal and external data, informed by industry knowledge, an instinctive enterprise makes prediction ubiquitous. It identifies patterns and enables people and systems to act before others can see what’s coming.
• Adaptive workforce – An instinctive enterprise empowers its technology-enabled workforce to shift from functional roles to more fluid, purpose-driven career paths that not only embrace uncertain environments but thrive in them. It also looks for, and actively nurtures, the best talent for the task at hand, no matter where they are or what function they serve.

The instinctive enterprise is a vision of the enterprise of the future, and is only now coming into view for those companies that have gone down the path of digital transformation. When a company can evolve and tear down silos to connect ecosystems, manage data to create predictive insights, and foster an adaptive workforce, the next step is connecting it all, intelligently.

Bringing together connected ecosystems, predictive insights, and adaptive workforces, with the power of AI, gives the instinctive enterprise the power to move markets, reinvent business models, and amplify human potential. Learn more about the instinctive enterprise at genpact.com/instinctive-enterprise.