Back then, a survey we conducted found that the top 10 per cent of companies leading in technology (the Leaders) were performing twice as well as the bottom 25 per cent (the Laggards). My guess is, had the pandemic never happened, the performance gap would have continued at that pace.

But, fast forward to 2021, and the Leaders that doubled down on technology innovation during COVID-19 are getting an extraordinary reward.

These Leaders are now growing revenue five times faster than lagging adopters – significantly extending their growth advantage over competitors.

COVID-19 was obviously the central catalyst of this substantial acceleration in performance.

Businesses were forced to adopt digital technology fast, and the Leaders who already had a digital foundation were better positioned to scale key technologies such as cloud and AI, which helped them absorb impacts quickly and refocus on growth.

In sharp contrast, during the pandemic, many Laggards invested in newer technologies for the first time just to keep their companies operational.

It was less about strategic, long-term gain than it was just “keeping the lights on”.

So, what comes next? We must take advantage of this opportunistic time to rebuild as a leading digital economy on the world stage, and when we rise, we must rise together.

We have come too far now to revert to pre-Covid business-as-usual levels, where embracing digital was optional.

In 2021, digital is mandatory – the customer demands it and our workforces demand it, so there should be no Laggards.

Meet the Leapfroggers

Out of the pandemic has come a new force - The Leapfroggers.

This group brings together one in five (18 per cent) companies who learned to compress their digital transformations into timeframes of a matter of months, rather than years, and are now deploying aggressive and progressive technology strategies that are rapidly converting the challenges of the past year into business opportunities and advantage.

These businesses are now growing revenue four times faster than the Laggards.

Cloud has been commonly espoused as the bedrock of digital transformation during the pandemic.

But to me, what made the Leapfroggers so successful was their mindset change. They viewed potential downturns as opportunities to innovate with new technology, and actively shifted their IT budget from being operations-led to innovation-led.

They reduced redundant technology and disconnected data across the IT stack and focused on building new capabilities.

In 2017, 80 per cent of Leapfroggers globally had adopted some form of cloud technology – by 2020, it was 98 per cent.

How to move up the pack

In a post-Covid world, a robust digital strategy will be a core tenet of business success, directly enabling companies to not just survive, but seriously thrive during one of the most disruptive times in history.

In a world that is now accustomed to remote working, technology will be a driving factor in employee wellbeing and retention.

In a more socially conscious world, it will also play an important role in helping businesses up the ante on their sustainability initiatives.

The difference between the Laggards and the Leapfroggers are those who are enabling access to new digital tools across all their internal business functions and for all employees.

They go the extra mile by providing personalised employee upskilling, and proactively look to improve workforce mental health and wellbeing by enabling ease of flexible working.

In fact, during the pandemic, the CIO, traditionally the custodian of the organisation’s digital initiatives, became the key change agent – playing a critical role in maintaining the resilience and mental wellbeing of staff as they transitioned to remote working models.

We are on the verge of a digitally led economy in Australia.

Businesses that want to thrive in the post-pandemic world must embrace the opportunities that new technologies provide in helping them “leapfrog” towards their strategic goals – from reaching sustainability targets, to employee retention and satisfaction, to revenue growth and increased M&A.

Digital transformation is at the forefront of Australia’s recovery, and will be the key factor that determines which businesses, and nations, survive and lead in the post-Covid world.

Scott Hahn leads Accenture’s technology practice in Australia & New Zealand.