In today’s hyper-digital era, companies are sitting on vast reserves of untapped assets—data. Whether you’re a startup or a multinational, the sheer volume of information you generate every day represents an incredible opportunity. With AI rapidly transforming business landscapes, the time has come to start “digging digital wells” and turning raw data into strategic gold.

When Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski mentioned during a quarterly investor call that his company was planning to use AI to shut down Salesforce and Workday, he had no idea of the storm it would create. Klarna, a buy-now-pay-later platform, is reported on the cusp of filing for a $1 billion-plus IPO so investors are watching closely to get a sense of how AI is impacting the cost of operating a business, with a focus on business software and SaaS.

During my 15 years at Amazon, I witnessed firsthand how the company repeatedly turned ambitious ideas into category-creating and leading products at a pace unmatched by most competitors. From AWS and Prime to Kindle and Alexa, Amazon has built an impressive portfolio of billion-dollar businesses that seem to defy the conventional wisdom about large companies being unable to move fast and innovate consistently.

How we built revolutionary voice recognition technology at Amazon Alexa

A technology roadmap is a commonly misunderstood term in business. For the most part, CEOs, Boards of Directors, and Investors see a roadmap as a plan for a business to grow. A technology roadmap is different. Because of the complexities of building great technology products and infrastructure, a technology roadmap must be more carefully designed and implemented than a broader company roadmap.