From Asia and the Americas to Europe and Africa, I've worked with many talented people who do great technical work: highly skilled, strong leaders, and people who get things done. The more I work with these people, the more I realize how small and immature I am.
However, seemingly not many people can question fundamental assumptions behind their work. What are we trying to change through this project? For whom are we working? Why do we need this particular tool given our specific situation? Why X, not Y? Why AI? And so on.
Technological trends and market demands evolve fast. Hence, capitalist-minded organizations often jump onto externally defined visions and take simplistic routes rather than examining the problem statements themselves.
In technology development, this leads us to a series of cheap, unsustainable "AI" or "digital transformation" work; without considering local contexts and longer-term implications, organizations and governments blindly believe these initiatives bring net-positive impacts.
Do not overlook the bigger picture here.
Digital transformation: Where to begin
For instance, if you're tasked with organization/nation's digital transformation, the first step is to know what that truly means in your context. On the contrary, I've seen many "experts" who immediately start talking about specific tools, policies, and frameworks.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) defines digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation separately.
- Digitization is to replace analog with digital, like shifting pen and paper to keyboards and Word/Excel documents.
- Digitalization aims to establish digitally-assisted processes, which require behavioural changes of those who interact with the tools.
- Digital transformation concerns how organization thinks and tackles new problems with digital tools and processes. It needs mindset shifts holistically, in every single step of business activities from ideation and design to delivery and monitoring.
Without questioning basic assumptions, what naive experts do today does not go beyond digitalization; some believe digital transformation is complete as long as tools are in place, while you might think the number of automated processes is a KPI. All are important yet insufficient because true transformation requires fundamentally redefining how people think and act in the information era.
Make the change tangible
Think of an AI transformation initiative through organization-wide adoption of an AI chatbot, such as ChatGPT.
Digitization concerns whether the tool is available. So, when your IT team sends a bulk email one day, saying "You now have access to ChatGPT Business" with login details, that counts as success in digitization.
Digitalization, in the meantime, goes one step further, turning the tool into an operational workflow; the IT team may organize internal onboarding workshops, provide helpful documentation, and set up the Skills and system prompts to better integrate into business operations. It's all about ensuring people are willing to accept the new tool and can actually use it.
Notice that users have been passive consumers of the technology up until this point, and this is where digital transformation initiatives begin: mindset shifts.
Designing a new project, delivering a solution at greater scale, building custom workflows, and knowing when not to use the tool. If users can proactively and critically use the tool to create new ways of achieving their goals, that's digital transformation. It must be a drastic change in users' problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
And to get there, we need to answer fundamental WHYs with a deep understanding of local contexts, because this change is bottom-up; if you didn't consult with potential users in advance, how could you change their mind?
Remember: You cannot change things that you don't know.
Know how to "slow down"
Digitization and digitalization are "straightforward" as it's almost always a matter of technology itself. But, in reality, the hardest part is in human factors. Meeting with potential users and interviewing them about their daily workflows and pain points can feel almost inefficient. However, the step-by-step, participatory approaches are necessary to achieve a true transformation.
The same principle applies when thinking of the digital divide. The global challenge consists of three layers: (1) access, (2) skills, and (3) outcomes, and the juiciest part is in the third, where we need to turn technical foundations into humans' capacity to thrive.
That is, since technology development is ultimately a humanity problem, learning from end-user voices is a time-consuming yet essential step we must not overlook.
That's why, in Malawi, I even learned their local language and spent as much time as possible with locals. While it wasn't part of my job description, I had to take these steps to lead digital transformation, not digitization or digitalization, in a local organization.
So, please stop oversimplifying your role as purely technical. Rather, start by questioning fundamental assumptions and realities if you want to make a sustainable change.
This article is part of the series: Altruistic Byte: Real-World Insights for Tech-Driven ChangeSupport
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See also
- October 2, 2026
- Why Do We Need Inclusivity?
- September 1, 2026
- "Copy and Paste" in Development
- August 1, 2026
- The State of Development Data
Author: Takuya Kitazawa
I am a product builder, mentor, and advocate for sustainable technology development with a decade of experience in AI/ML products, data systems, and digital transformation. Based in Canada and originally from Japan, I have lived and worked globally, including part-time residence in Malawi, Africa. Visit my portfolio to learn more about my work, or reach out to me at [email protected].
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