We are living through a period of unprecedented technological advancement. The rise of AI, intelligent automation, and cloud-native platforms has redefined what’s possible for organizations across industries. Digital transformation is no longer about simply modernizing IT—it’s about radically improving how work gets done to drive agility, efficiency, customer satisfaction, and long-term growth.
For forward-thinking organizations, the benefits of digital transformation are massive:
✅ Streamlined processes that eliminate manual work and speed up operations
✅ Higher efficiency and smarter resource allocation
✅ Significant cost savings through automation and reduced rework
✅ Enhanced customer experiences that build loyalty and drive growth
✅ Greater business agility to adapt quickly to market shifts
Unlike any other time in history, we now have the tools—AI, process discovery, task mining, automation, and real-time analytics—to align people, processes, and technology seamlessly. The opportunity is huge.
Yet despite the promise, most digital transformation initiatives fail. Studies consistently show that 70% to 80% of transformations fall short of their goals, wasting trillions of dollars globally. The root causes are systemic and impact every function—from Sales and Finance to Procurement, Supply Chain, and beyond.
One of the most devastating missteps is failing to deeply understand current-state operations before designing the future state.
👉 As detailed in The Unseen Costs of Ignorance: Why Understanding "As-Is" Processes is Critical to Technology Transformation Success, this blind spot leads to:
📉 Over $2.3 trillion has been wasted globally on failed transformations, largely because initiatives focus on the technology and not the people and process elements.
📉 Rework costs can eat up 30-50% of project budgets—with 70-85% of that due to requirements errors stemming from poor discovery.
📉 Only 2.5% of organizations fully complete all their transformation projects on time and on budget.
These challenges don’t just affect IT—they ripple across every function, derailing well-intentioned transformation programs in Sales, Finance, HR, Procurement, Supply Chain, Travel & Expense, Customer Support, and beyond.
ClearWork takes a radically different, people-centric approach to transformation:
✅ Captures real-time user activity and process flows across every department
✅ Maps actual “as-is” work—including informal steps and workarounds
✅ Highlights bottlenecks, friction points, and automation opportunities
✅ Generates validated requirements for the future state
✅ Guides users with an in-browser AI Co-pilot during and after go-live
✅ Continuously monitors for improvement opportunities
Let’s explore how ClearWork’s approach transforms each major function by solving these systemic challenges.
Sales transformations often focus on CRM upgrades or new enablement tools without addressing how reps really work.
📉 CRM adoption lags because data entry feels like a burden
📉 Reps use shadow tools or manual workarounds to meet targets
📉 Sales cycles drag due to redundant steps and disconnected tools
These problems stem directly from a lack of understanding of “as-is” selling behaviors. Transformation efforts designed on assumptions rather than facts fail to drive adoption or revenue impact.
✅ Captures how reps work across CRM, CPQ, content tools and more
✅ Maps workflows to identify bottlenecks and wasted effort
✅ Provides reps with AI-guided support to close deals faster
👉 Explore Sales Transformation
Finance transformations often center on ERP upgrades but fail because they overlook daily realities.
📉 Manual reconciliations persist despite new systems
📉 Compliance risks arise from inconsistent processes
📉 Close cycles stay slow due to hidden inefficiencies
Without deep current-state visibility, automation misses the mark and rework drains budgets.
✅ Maps real finance workflows to expose inefficiencies
✅ Generates requirements for automation-ready processes
✅ Guides teams in meeting compliance and close deadlines
👉 Explore Finance Transformation
HR transformations stall when new systems don’t match the complexity of actual work.
📉 Onboarding/offboarding is inconsistent and manual
📉 Change management processes are poorly adopted
📉 Employees face friction at key moments
Without understanding the “as-is” experience, HR tools fail to deliver on promises of better engagement or compliance.
✅ Captures lived experience of HR processes
✅ Highlights gaps and friction points
✅ Guides HR teams and employees through smoother workflows
Procurement teams face slow cycles and compliance gaps due to poor visibility into actual processes.
📉 Manual vendor follow-ups slow PO approvals
📉 Sourcing workflows are undocumented or inconsistent
📉 Compliance risks hide in informal processes
These issues originate in a lack of “as-is” process understanding, as Why Most Digital Transformation Projects Fail explains.
✅ Maps sourcing, approval, and vendor workflows end-to-end
✅ Identifies automation opportunities and compliance gaps
✅ Supports teams with AI guidance for faster, safer procurement
👉 Explore Procurement Transformation
Supply chain digitalization struggles when system changes aren’t rooted in operational reality.
📉 Siloed planning and fulfillment processes
📉 Manual interventions that delay delivery
📉 Disconnect between systems and day-to-day work
Poor current-state understanding leads to transformation designs that don’t hold up in the real world.
✅ Maps end-to-end supply chain workflows
✅ Highlights delays, manual work, and inefficiencies
✅ Provides data to design smarter, connected supply chains
👉 Explore Supply Chain Transformation
T&E programs frustrate employees and create compliance risks when they’re designed without real workflow data.
📉 Clunky, manual expense reporting
📉 Out-of-policy spend slips through
📉 Slow reimbursements harm morale
Without understanding how employees actually submit and approve expenses, new systems often fall flat.
✅ Maps T&E workflows to spot friction and compliance gaps
✅ Supports employees with AI-guided submissions
✅ Speeds up approval and reimbursement
👉 Explore Travel & Expense Transformation
Support teams struggle when tools don’t fit actual workflows.
📉 Slow response times due to manual processes
📉 Inconsistent service across channels
📉 Repetitive tasks eat up agent time
The root cause? A lack of insight into “as-is” support activities.
✅ Maps how agents work across CRM, chat, and ticketing
✅ Identifies automation candidates
✅ Supports agents with real-time AI guidance
👉 Explore Customer Support Transformation
Digital transformation programs often fail to connect new systems to real work.
📉 Misaligned tools that don’t solve real problems
📉 Automation that misses manual work
📉 Disconnected initiatives that create silos
These challenges, as detailed in Why Most Digital Transformation Projects Fail, stem from skipping the hard work of understanding the current state.
✅ Captures cross-functional workflows and user activities
✅ Highlights where systems, people, and processes disconnect
✅ Provides AI guidance to support seamless adoption
👉 Explore Digital Transformation
✅ Rooted in real-world data, not assumptions
✅ Tailored to the unique needs of every function
✅ Embedded AI support for users during change
✅ Continuous visibility for ongoing improvement
👉 Request a Demo to see how ClearWork drives sustainable transformation, function by function.
👉 Explore our deep-dive posts and use cases to see how we help Sales, Finance, HR, Procurement, Supply Chain, T&E, Customer Support, and cross-functional initiatives succeed.
Advances in AI, automation, process discovery, task mining, and cloud-native platforms have converged to make transformation faster, more accurate, and more scalable than ever before. Organizations now have the tools to align people, processes, and technology seamlessly, enabling agility, efficiency, and stronger customer experiences.
Despite the promise, 70–80% of digital transformation initiatives fall short of their goals. The leading causes include poor understanding of “as-is” processes, misaligned strategies, budget overruns from costly rework, and low user adoption. Studies show rework can consume 30–50% of budgets, with most stemming from missed requirements during discovery.
Deep current-state analysis ensures that solutions address real pain points and align with how employees actually work. Without it, projects risk misalignment, poor adoption, and rework. Capturing workflows—including informal steps and workarounds—provides the ground truth needed to design automation-ready processes and accurate future-state requirements.
ClearWork eliminates the blind spots that derail traditional transformations by:
ClearWork supports transformation across every function, including:
Digital Transformation is not an IT first challenge. Transformation starts and ends with the business leaders responsible for delivering on their function. Let's chat about how to adopt technology to drive transformative change for your business.
Enjoy our newsletter!
