As barriers to entry change and profits consolidate to fewer companies, CEOs are under increased pressure to pioneer new products, services and business models. According to Gartner’s Digital Enterprise 2020 survey, 68 percent of CEOs plan to increase their investments in digital capabilities, while 67 percent agree that their organization must become significantly more digitized to maintain their competitiveness. Digitization—the process of applying digital technology to conduct an activity that had previously been done through analog means—has become a corporate imperative.

For general counsel, growing corporate digitization means legal departments must change. Where once general counsel served in a pharmaceutical, retail, financial services, or manufacturing company, they now also provide counsel to a technology company. Legal departments must support traditional industry concerns and understand the changes that technology brings to markets, value, risk and processes. To support their companies, legal departments will need to ensure that they are digital-ready.

Understanding the Nature of Digital Business