Business Transformation

It’s essential – even for companies that are doing well. BCG helps clients unlock their full potential, accelerate performance, and create more value

01 · The Challenge

Over 85% of executives are leading or planning a business transformation, yet many fail to achieve core, long-term change

Unclear priorities mean teams pursue initiatives without a clear link to the business results they need to achieve

Teams work separately, without coordinating decisions, resources and dependencies

Technology is added to old processes, while the way people work and make decisions stays the same

Problems are spotted too late because progress reports track completed activities without showing whether performance is improving

The Hidden Cost of Inattention: How Boards Can Stop Transformation Value Leakage

02 · Our Services

Our Business Transformation Services

We partner with clients to improve business performance and build lasting competitive advantage through transformations tailored to their priorities, from revenue growth, cost reduction and cash improvement to technology, organisational change, turnaround and restructuring. The 50 largest transformations BCG supported over a recent five-year period delivered 15% higher total shareholder return than relevant stock indices

Set the ambition

Set the ambition

Identify where performance can improve, and build a plan with clear priorities, expected benefits and investment requirements

Accelerate performance

Accelerate performance

Combine BCG’s industry and functional expertise with data, AI and engineering capabilities to improve processes, support better decisions and deliver measurable financial and operational results

Make change last

Make change last

Develop leadership and employee skills, embed new behaviours and ways of working, and equip your teams to sustain improvements after the program ends

Harnessing the Human Side of Transformations

How to create value with AI

Creating value with AI means changing how people work as well as the technology they use. BCG’s 10–20–70 approach focuses 10% of the effort on algorithms, 20% on technology and data, and 70% on people and processes across all three approaches below

The Leader’s Guide to Transforming with AIThe Formula for Agentic AI Value

Deploy

Improve everyday work

Use AI to save time and improve quality in everyday tasks, such as finding information, drafting documents and supporting decisions

Reshape

Redesign how work gets done

Use AI to redesign end-to-end processes, including roles and decisions, across sales, operations and customer service to improve speed, quality and cost

Invent

Create new growth

Use AI to develop new products, services and business models, such as AI-powered advisory services or personalised products that generate new revenue

03 · How We Deliver

Only 1 in 4 transformations capture both short and long term value

Sustained results need both The What and The How

The WhatImprove business performance

The HowMake improvements happen and last

The What: strategy, revenue growth, cost reduction, improve balance sheet
The How: desired culture, leader enablement, people engagement, executional certainty

The what focuses on making the right improvements in operations and processes, including:

  • A holistic strategy to uplift end-to-end business performance, supported by a transformative approach covering the entire business
  • Revenue growth driven by actions such as pricing optimization and salesforce activation and effectiveness, all tied to metrics and KPIs
  • Cost reduction realized through cost excellence, organizational simplicity, capital efficiency, and other measures, also tied to metrics and KPIs
  • An improved balance sheet from optimizing working capital and liquidity management

The how sets up a company for sustained success through:

  • Desired culture. The culture is aligned to the transformation vision, and leaders role-model target behaviors. Teams exhibit these same behaviors, which are embedded throughout the organization’s structures, processes, and policies
  • Executional certainty. All efforts are coordinated through a transformation office and backed by financial tracking, a defined transformation structure, and rigorous processes and tools to embed and reinforce change
  • Leader enablement. Leaders agree on what needs to change. They’re motivated to deliver on objectives, accountable for results, and lead by surrounding themselves with teams of champions
  • People engagement. People feel seen, supported, and understand what is happening and why. They’re energized by the vision, motivated and enabled to contribute, and upskilled to support their growth

Harnessing the Human Side of Transformations

KEY by BCG

Our transformation management platform brings initiatives, milestones, risks and financial impact into one place, helping your teams track progress, spot issues early and keep delivery on course

04 · Examples

Our Clients’ Success in Business Transformation

Telecommunications

Returning a South Asian telecom operator to profit after 17 years of losses

A three-year transformation combined network modernisation, commercial improvements and stronger execution across more than 30 business units. The program delivered approximately US$365m in EBITDA improvement, 10% revenue growth and a return to profit after 17 years

Energy

Unlocking data-centre growth for an Australian energy infrastructure company

A market assessment combined commercial due diligence, gas-supply modelling and site-level feasibility analysis to identify a 2–2.3GW serviceable data-centre opportunity. BCG helped prioritise a first site with the potential to deliver power around two years faster than a grid connection, potentially generating more than $3bn in additional EBITDA per GW for the client’s customers over those two years

Financial services

Transforming a Southeast Asian bank through technology, customer journeys and AI

A bank-wide transformation modernised technology, redesigned customer journeys and deployed generative AI across five functions. The bank achieved 15% return on equity, compared with 10% for peers, and reduced average contact-centre handling time by more than 50%

Consumer products

Unlocking savings to fund growth at a global consumer goods company

A business-led procurement transformation combined supplier negotiations, AI-enabled simplification and more than 300 initiatives to reduce costs and free up capital for growth. BCG helped mobilise teams, accelerate delivery and build capabilities to sustain improvements. The program established an approximately US$3bn savings pipeline and delivered approximately US$850m in incremental savings in year one

05 · Get Started

Three ways to get started, tailored to your priorities and how far your transformation has progressed

Considering a transformation

Identify where performance can improve, agree priorities with leaders and build a business case for change

Preparing to launch

Turn agreed priorities into a practical delivery plan, with clear owners, resources, milestones and measures of success

Already transforming

Review progress, identify what is holding back results and agree the changes needed to improve performance

What a full transformation involves

  1. Phase 1 (6 weeks) Rapid assessment

    ObjectiveComprehensive sizing and summary of opportunities supporting ambitious but achievable overall plan

  2. Phase 2 (16 weeks) First 100 days

    ObjectiveDetail-out initiatives, with initiative owners and concrete roadmaps across the organization; start deployment

  3. Phase 3 Full value

    ObjectiveMaximize benefits of transformation through execution and acceleration of initiatives, with ongoing governance ensuring that the changes stick

Source: BCG analysis

One BCG team, working with yours

The Transform team combines our experience in shaping and running transformations with BCG’s wider industry, functional, and technology expertise. We work alongside your teams and relevant partners to set priorities, implement changes and track results

The expertise we bring
  • Industry and functional expertise
  • Transformation planning and delivery
  • Design, engineering and AI
  • Leadership and organisational change
Your Asia Pacific Transform leadership
  • Abhay Varma
    Asia Pacific
    Abhay Varma
    Asia-Pacific retail leader | Senior Partner & Managing Director
  • Rahul Aggarwal
    Asia Pacific
    Rahul Aggarwal
    Managing Director & Senior Partner at BCG
  • Hamish Harten
    Asia Pacific
    Hamish Harten
    Partner and Associate Director at BCG
  • Whitney Merchant
    ANZ
    Whitney Merchant
    Managing Director and Partner at BCG
  • Thomas Zou
    Greater China
    Thomas Zou
    Managing Director and Partner at BCG
  • Srihari Chakrarajan
    Southeast Asia
    Srihari Chakrarajan
    Managing Director and Partner at BCG
  • Tadamitsu Nishida
    Northeast Asia
    Tadamitsu Nishida
    Managing Director and Partner at BCG
  • Saurabh Verma
    India
    Saurabh Verma
    Managing Director and Partner at BCG

Get in touch with the Asia Pacific Transform team