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Insights & Perspectives CNBC International Published Quarterly

Insights & Perspectives

Thinking that
drives transformation.

Published perspectives on enterprise transformation, digital strategy, customer-centricity, AI in business, and Private Equity value creation — drawn from 30+ years and 65+ markets of frontline delivery.

Dan Collins
Global Chief Transformation Officer · CNBC International

— All Perspectives

More transformation thinking.

Business Transformation

Why Most Enterprise Transformations Fail — And What To Do About It

After 30 years and more than 55 transformation programmes across 65 markets, I have reached a conclusion that most organisations find uncomfortable: transformations do not fail because of poor strategy. They fail because of poor execution, inadequate accountability, and the persistent illusion that a well-constructed slide deck constitutes a plan.

The organisations that achieve sustained transformation share three characteristics: they treat the transformation leader as an operator (not an adviser), they co-design the future state with the team that will operate it, and they measure success by what remains active in the organisation two years after the engagement concludes — not by what was delivered at programme close. That is the only measure of transformation that matters.

Dan Collins8 min readBusiness Transformation
Digital & AI Transformation

AI Is Not a Transformation Strategy. Here Is What Is.

Organisations are investing billions in Generative AI, LLMs and automation. Most will not see a material return on that investment — not because the technology is inadequate, but because technology deployment without strategic alignment to commercial outcomes is not transformation. It is expensive capability acquisition.

The organisations that will realise the value of AI investment are those that answer three questions before they deploy a single model: what specific commercial outcome does this enable, how does it change the customer experience, and what organisational capability is required to sustain it? Without clear answers to all three, AI becomes another line on the IT budget rather than a driver of competitive advantage.

Dan Collins6 min readAI · Digital Transformation
Customer Transformation

Customer-Centricity as an Operating Reality, Not a Principle

Every organisation I have ever worked with claims to be customer-centric. Almost none of them are. Customer-centricity is not a value statement or a brand positioning. It is an operating discipline that requires the customer to be the primary reference point for every strategic decision, every process design, and every investment allocation across the organisation.

The difference between organisations that say they are customer-centric and those that actually are is measurable in financial outcomes: retention rates, acquisition cost, lifetime value, cost-to-serve. At BellSouth, rebuilding operations around the customer delivered $150M+ in Year 1 savings alongside a 40% customer satisfaction improvement. Those two outcomes are not in tension — they are the same thing.

Dan Collins7 min readCustomer Strategy · CX
Private Equity

The Private Equity Transformation Playbook: What Works and What Destroys Value

Private Equity operates on a fundamentally different timescale to corporate transformation. The 100-day plan is not a metaphor — it is the period during which the transformation trajectory is set and the investment thesis is either validated or undermined. The decisions made in those first hundred days have a disproportionate influence on the multiple achieved at exit.

The most common value destruction pattern I see in PE-backed transformations is the appointment of a transformation lead who is operationally credible but strategically limited, combined with a consulting firm that is strategically credible but operationally absent. The result is a well-designed programme that is never properly executed. The antidote is a single senior resource who can operate at both levels simultaneously — and who is accountable for the commercial outcome, not the consulting deliverable.

Dan Collins9 min readPrivate Equity · Value Creation
Transformation Advisory

After McKinsey: Why Organisations Are Moving Beyond Tier-1 Firms on Complex Mandates

I have been selected over McKinsey, Deloitte, Accenture, KPMG and Bain on more mandates than I can readily count. In almost every case, the selection was made by an organisation that had already worked with one or more of those firms and found the experience wanting — not in intellectual quality, but in execution accountability and commercial result.

The Tier-1 model is structurally challenged in transformation contexts because it separates the people who diagnose and design from the people who deliver, creates incentives around scope expansion rather than outcome delivery, and removes senior involvement once the engagement is mobilised. These are not criticisms of individuals — they are structural features of a model that was designed for a different era of consulting.

Dan Collins8 min readTransformation Strategy · Advisory

— Media & Commentary

CNBC International
Commentator.

Dan Collins is a regular contributor to CNBC International — appearing as a subject-matter expert on Fortune 500 business performance across Technology, Automotive, Telecommunications, and Financial Services.

He serves as a dedicated weekly commentator for CNBC Arabia — translating complex global business dynamics, market movements, and geopolitical developments into actionable insight for business leaders across the Middle East.

His public profile as a trusted authority on corporate strategy continues to grow alongside the Experience Transformation practice.

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