Reckitt [LON: RKT]

Henrique Lemos

Henrique Lemos is a seasoned IT Director with over 22 years of experience in IT and digital transformation. With extensive international expertise spanning Latin America and Europe, he is currently based in Mexico, where he focuses on positioning IT as a key driver of business performance. Lemos strives to be a trusted business partner who harnesses the power of technology, data insights, and a skilled, passionate team to drive innovation and transformation within organizations. His commitment to excellence and strategic vision empower businesses to outperform their competition in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Today, the pace of technological evolution is so rapid that a CIO can easily become overwhelmed by the latest trends. If CIOs find themselves struggling to keep up, it’s even more challenging for other executives. In my experience, executives often get excited about new technologies and are eager to leverage them for a competitive advantage as quickly as possible. While this enthusiasm is beneficial, a CIO must be bold and evaluate how and where these technologies will fit into the overall business strategy. Questions about their impact on business processes and personnel, the required investment, and the effort needed for training and commitment must be addressed.

Reflecting on the early 2000s during the dot-com boom, I recall studying the case of drugstore.com, which garnered significant attention and investment during its IPO, causing Walgreens to lose considerable stock value. However, Walgreens took the time to thoughtfully implement its strategy to transition into the online business. The outcome is well-known: Walgreens maintained its position as one of the largest drugstore chains in the U.S.

 Technology will always be an enabler for achieving business goals and can provide a competitive advantage when clearly defined, planned, and implemented. 

This example illustrates that new technological trends will always emerge. As empowered CIOs, we must guide our companies toward sustainable growth by adopting the right technologies at the right time. It may take time and effort, and we could feel intimidate by competitors moving “faster”, but if we remain focused and strategic with a clear vision and the right talent, positive and sustainable results will be inevitable.

Technology will always be an enabler for achieving business goals and can provide a competitive advantage when clearly defined, planned.

As we are currently living on the boom of Artificial Intelligence, implementing AI is not a simple plug-and-play solution; it requires a robust IT strategy aligned with business ambitions and goals, a comprehensive change management plan, wide knowledge on the international regulation and of course, the sponsorship and commitment from the C-suite.

I strongly believe that when companies that drive themselves strategically and properly evaluate technological solution instead of acting by external pressure of rushing into hyped trends, will be able to implement sustainable technologies that will act as an accelerator of momentum supporting their long-term growth.

As a motorsport enthusiast you can’t jump in a F1 car before passing by GoKarts, F3, F2 than F1 in other words you first crawl, walk, run then fly, think about it.