Has It Taken Shape Yet?

Has It Taken Shape Yet?
Concepts such as Digital Transformation, Industry 4.0, and Artificial Intelligence are still awaiting to “take shape” for many organizations. But how does this transformation really happen? I’d like to share a practical approach that I believe could serve as a guide and provide answers to some of the questions in your minds.

Has It Truly Taken Shape?
I’ve always liked the expression “to take shape” – it’s something I often rely on in my efforts to reach more tangible outcomes. I was curious and looked it up; the Turkish Language Association defines it as “to animate.” In essence, it reflects our desire to bring concepts in our minds to life—to make them real.

At a recent global event I attended, the hot topic was Generative AI (GenAI) and its organizational impact. An interesting data point was shared: while 2023–24 has been the experimentation phase for companies, 2025–26 is expected to be the adoption phase. Out of 37 GenAI POCs (Proof of Concept), only 5 advanced to the next phase, and only 68% of those succeeded. These numbers clearly show the need for more concrete implementations. It's clear that companies will seek more tangible outcomes for GenAI projects in the coming years and work harder to improve these ratios.

But this issue is not limited to GenAI. Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0 also fall under the umbrella of concepts that need to “come to life.”

Digital Transformation excites us with its promise to integrate collaborative, holistic, and cultural approaches within organizations.

Industry 4.0 excites us with its vision to shape the future by blending next-generation technologies like IoT, AI, and GenAI with production processes and data.

I’m sure many of us follow these topics and feel inspired at events. But when we return to work…

We step onto the production floor and realize:

We can’t access information about which work order will be processed at which station,

Downtime and maintenance logs are still paper-based,

And our limited forecasting capabilities make us question the accuracy of our decisions.

Nothing seems to have changed.

That’s when we begin to search for real, tangible implementations of these concepts.

Surely, we are not the only ones facing these problems. So:

Who has solved them?

At what cost?

Did leadership believe it was worth it?

Does it really work, or did it remain just a POC?

Are there concrete examples showing what was improved and how?

It’s only natural to ask these questions. But the answers?

We aim to find them through a practical approach we've developed based on our own experiences

From Generic to Tailored: Let’s Head to the Workshop!
Use cases are our biggest allies in making complex topics easier to understand. As consulting firms, solution providers, or integrators, we often begin projects by introducing our company and competencies in a meeting, then present use cases based on past experiences.

But most executives have already encountered many of these concepts at other events or from peers. During the meeting, they try to figure out what makes us different. This communication style is useful and effective.

However, if you'd like to go a step further—if you want to explore these topics with a perspective unique to your company, to turn generic use cases into specific solutions addressing your pain points—then a different kind of collaboration begins.

In a workshop format we frequently use with strong results:

We spend a day with stakeholders from different departments working together, discussing target metrics and pain points within a defined framework.

This process first creates alignment across teams:

On one side: the true owners of the pain points.

On the other side: architects of the technologies expected to solve these problems.

On one side: processes causing time and cost losses.

On the other side: technologies expected to solve them.

On one side: overused theoretical frameworks.

On the other side: tested and value-proven use cases.

Although they may seem like opposing sides at first, everyone eventually converges. Collective wisdom takes over, and together, we start producing tangible, company-specific solutions.

The result?

More than just creating a tailored use case:

Everyone listens to and understands each other.

There's alignment on what's most important—priorities become clear.

The big picture becomes more visible to all parties, especially IT and OT teams.

And of course, at the end of this focused and intense day, we leave with a bonus package full of rich notes for future action.

In short, moving from generic to tailored and co-creating not only delivers a solution, but also boosts team alignment and motivation.

As Q1 ends, it might feel like there's still a lot of time ahead, but the year will fly by quickly.

Before things get too hectic, this could be a great time to go on a discovery journey together. Setting aside just one day could make all the difference in turning your transformation vision into reality.

Wishing you a productive journey already!