Clarity Before Technology: The Turning Point Most Transformations Miss

InnovationClarity Before Technology: The Turning Point Most Transformations MissByHari Sonnenahalli,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)Jun 01, 2026, 07:45am EDTHari Sonnenahalli is a thought leader and seasoned enterprise architect at NTT Data Business Solutions (NDBS). getty​A global manufacturing company had just completed a rigorous vendor selection process for a multimillion-dollar transformation. The leadership team was aligned, the road map was ambitious, and the chosen solution stack included AI-driven planning, a modern ERP core and a scalable cloud platform. The program had everything that defines a strong start: executive sponsorship, funding approval and a sense of urgency to move fast. By all conventional measures, this was a transformation set up for success.Six months into the project, the stakeholder meeting room felt different. The conversations had shifted from vision to frustration. Timelines were slipping, integration challenges were escalating and the business teams were beginning to question the value of what was being built. The technology itself wasn't failing; most components were being delivered as designed. However, the program was losing momentum in ways that were difficult to explain.I've seen this pattern more times than I can count over the past two decades: projects that begin with confidence and alignment often lose direction midway. This is because intent was never fully established. The clarity of intent should always precede the technology. In most cases, the urge to leverage technology to get ahead of the digital race doesn't go as planned, and this was no exception.In this case, the turning point came during a routine workshop when a senior business leader asked a simple question: "What exact decision will this AI model improve for my team on a daily b...