Volker Pfirsching
Volker is a pioneer in digital shift and has deep expertise in comprehensive and successful digital transformation.
Areas of Focus
Education
University of Regensburg
Diplom-Wirtschaftsinformatiker (Business Information Systems)
University of Regensburg
Graduate of Intercultural Negotiations
Volker A. Pfirsching is a Partner at Arthur D. Little based in Munich. He is a member of the Central European Management Board and heads the global Digital Competence Center.
As a thought leader in Digital Disruption, Volker is engaged in many large-scale transformation projects, touching business and technology alike. He is founder of the Arthur D. Little Digital Center of Excellence and organizer and facilitator of Arthur D. Little digital roundtables, bringing together top executives to exchange in digital challenges.
After his studies, Volker joined the company in 2002 and has been a Partner since 2012. He has led a large number of client projects in Europe and abroad, focusing on successful and holistic digital transformations covering all aspects from strategy, business, technology and the essential “human factor”.
Beyond systems
Digitalization has become embedded within large businesses, with recent advances in AI accelerating the process even further. While we still need more progress, the fusion of business and IT functions is ever present, as “softwarization” of companies proceeds apace. IT functions need to recognize this pace of change and evolve toward being true strategic advisers to the business, driving innovation. In this Viewpoint, we examine some practical approaches for CIOs to bring about change.
The AI-amplified telco
AI represents a game changer for the telco industry. Although first movers have already embraced AI, separating hype from opportunity remains challenging. Becoming an AI-amplified telco calls for more than being fascinated by the technology’s potential and piloting use cases. This Viewpoint focuses on the necessary building blocks to exploit AI’s 5%-7% EBITDA potential and outlines how to achieve lasting success by analyzing the full picture, including technology, AI governance, and culture.
11 technology trends for post-crisis success
Breakthrough innovations for future competitive advantage
Achieving excellence in insurance claims management
CLAIMS MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
In today’s mature and hypercompetitive insurance market, insurance companies’ growth within their core business is often limited to winning customers from other insurers. Therefore, as this growth strategy results in high customer acquisition costs, it is critical for insurance companies to boost loyalty to ensure profitability.
Unleashing innovation in IT
IT is still often seen as inflexible and costly
Digitalization has been at the top of the strategic agenda for over a decade (see Figure 1). IT assets, and the function that manages them, are usually seen as the backbone of the digitalization effort.
RPA: Robotic Process Automation
Executive Briefing Series
An 8-part series to be updated weekly from July to September 2019
RPA is changing the way processes are automated. In the following guide we will give insights what RPA is, what can be expected by RPA – now and in future - and how to enable a fast operationalization and scaling of process automation by RPA.
The flywheel concept – A powerful foundation for a successful digital shift
Today’s corporate world requires companies to look for a clear purpose for their business ventures, other than solely maximizing profits. This purpose, or in other words, the “why”, is essential for future success in an ever-changing and more and more digital business environment – to convince not only customers of the company’s offerings, but also investors of opportunities and employees of the company’s strategy.
Managing IT Value
Die IT ist Dreh- und Angelpunkt der Digitalisierung. Dies zu erkennen und die IT darauf auszurichten, stellt für die meisten Unternehmen eine Herausforderung dar. Es stellt sich die Frage, wie man gezielt den Wert der IT verstehen und steuern kann. Die Briefing-Serie „Managing IT Value“ zeigt über mehrere Wochen hinweg praktische Konzepte und Projektbeispiele, um die volle Digitalisierungskraft der IT zu erreichen:
Executive Roundtable: Digitalization
Arthur D. Little’s sixth executive roundtable on “Digitalization” focused on implementation examples of technology-hype topics in different industry contexts, with emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), robotics process automation (RPA) and blockchain. The cross-industry discussions revealed that certain AI and RPA applications have reached “ready-to-use” maturity and are almost standard in some industries, while they are hardly dealt with in others.
Volker A. Pfirsching is a Partner at Arthur D. Little based in Munich. He is a member of the Central European Management Board and heads the global Digital Competence Center.
As a thought leader in Digital Disruption, Volker is engaged in many large-scale transformation projects, touching business and technology alike. He is founder of the Arthur D. Little Digital Center of Excellence and organizer and facilitator of Arthur D. Little digital roundtables, bringing together top executives to exchange in digital challenges.
After his studies, Volker joined the company in 2002 and has been a Partner since 2012. He has led a large number of client projects in Europe and abroad, focusing on successful and holistic digital transformations covering all aspects from strategy, business, technology and the essential “human factor”.
Beyond systems
Digitalization has become embedded within large businesses, with recent advances in AI accelerating the process even further. While we still need more progress, the fusion of business and IT functions is ever present, as “softwarization” of companies proceeds apace. IT functions need to recognize this pace of change and evolve toward being true strategic advisers to the business, driving innovation. In this Viewpoint, we examine some practical approaches for CIOs to bring about change.
The AI-amplified telco
AI represents a game changer for the telco industry. Although first movers have already embraced AI, separating hype from opportunity remains challenging. Becoming an AI-amplified telco calls for more than being fascinated by the technology’s potential and piloting use cases. This Viewpoint focuses on the necessary building blocks to exploit AI’s 5%-7% EBITDA potential and outlines how to achieve lasting success by analyzing the full picture, including technology, AI governance, and culture.
11 technology trends for post-crisis success
Breakthrough innovations for future competitive advantage
Achieving excellence in insurance claims management
CLAIMS MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
In today’s mature and hypercompetitive insurance market, insurance companies’ growth within their core business is often limited to winning customers from other insurers. Therefore, as this growth strategy results in high customer acquisition costs, it is critical for insurance companies to boost loyalty to ensure profitability.
Unleashing innovation in IT
IT is still often seen as inflexible and costly
Digitalization has been at the top of the strategic agenda for over a decade (see Figure 1). IT assets, and the function that manages them, are usually seen as the backbone of the digitalization effort.
RPA: Robotic Process Automation
Executive Briefing Series
An 8-part series to be updated weekly from July to September 2019
RPA is changing the way processes are automated. In the following guide we will give insights what RPA is, what can be expected by RPA – now and in future - and how to enable a fast operationalization and scaling of process automation by RPA.
The flywheel concept – A powerful foundation for a successful digital shift
Today’s corporate world requires companies to look for a clear purpose for their business ventures, other than solely maximizing profits. This purpose, or in other words, the “why”, is essential for future success in an ever-changing and more and more digital business environment – to convince not only customers of the company’s offerings, but also investors of opportunities and employees of the company’s strategy.
Managing IT Value
Die IT ist Dreh- und Angelpunkt der Digitalisierung. Dies zu erkennen und die IT darauf auszurichten, stellt für die meisten Unternehmen eine Herausforderung dar. Es stellt sich die Frage, wie man gezielt den Wert der IT verstehen und steuern kann. Die Briefing-Serie „Managing IT Value“ zeigt über mehrere Wochen hinweg praktische Konzepte und Projektbeispiele, um die volle Digitalisierungskraft der IT zu erreichen:
Executive Roundtable: Digitalization
Arthur D. Little’s sixth executive roundtable on “Digitalization” focused on implementation examples of technology-hype topics in different industry contexts, with emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), robotics process automation (RPA) and blockchain. The cross-industry discussions revealed that certain AI and RPA applications have reached “ready-to-use” maturity and are almost standard in some industries, while they are hardly dealt with in others.
More About Volker
- University of RegensburgDiplom-Wirtschaftsinformatiker (Business Information Systems)
- University of RegensburgGraduate of Intercultural Negotiations