Digital transformation is the hottest trend and spend in technology circles these days. But how can employees possibly transform a business that they don’t fully understand?

Companies may have ample tech skills, but functional experts often fall short when asked to be strategic difference makers. That is a major problem with most grand-scale initiatives.

Digital transformation risks being the latest, frustrating “IT project” remembered for inflated promises, cost overruns, and few results. Executives and tech leaders can rewrite that narrative by realizing that success depends far more on how they develop people than how they deploy technology.