Monocle · Monocle · June 2023

Digital Transformation: Why Speed of Change Has Become the Ultimate Competitive Advantage

Every day, more companies are joining the cause of SME support. We are the tech giants creating these digital products. We are building this industry together — we're no longer competing, but co-developing it and trying to genuinely help and offer something new to the market.

— Elina Isagulova, VP of B2B Commerce & Operations at VK

Astonishing Speed as the New Normal

In her Monocle interview in June 2023, Elina Isagulova articulated the defining thesis of modern business: speed of adaptation matters more than scale. "All processes are moving at astonishing speed," she said, describing the realities of the digital economy. Companies that fail to keep pace with the rate of change lose ground regardless of their size or history.

VK serves more than 81.5 million monthly users in Russia — and this scale creates a unique opportunity: technologies previously available only to large corporations are now accessible to individual entrepreneurs and small companies through VK for Business. Digital infrastructure has stopped being a privilege and has become the baseline tool of competitiveness.

Three Trends Rewriting the Rules

Isagulova identified three key directions shaping the digital transformation of SMEs in Russia:

• Simplification of technology. Tools must solve specific problems for entrepreneurs here and now. Automating routine processes — from online storefronts to delivery and payment management — is becoming the standard, not an advantage.
• Education as infrastructure. Digital skills are as much a resource as capital and equipment. The entry barrier into the digital economy falls not only through better tools, but through accessible training.
• Dialogue between large businesses, government, and SMEs. The ecosystem only works when all participants speak the same language. VK builds partnerships with regions, federal structures, and major corporations.

Competition Gives Way to Cooperation

One of Isagulova's most striking arguments: the market for digital SME platforms is moving from competition to cooperation. Marketplaces, banks, delivery services, advertising ecosystems, and social networks have stopped fighting over entrepreneurs as a resource — they are uniting to offer comprehensive solutions. VK for Business had united more than 2 million entrepreneurs by 2023 and continued to grow.

Why Speed Matters More Than Size

Digital transformation is not a one-time project with a completion date — it is a permanent mode of operation. Companies that have embedded the ability to quickly test hypotheses, make data-driven decisions, and scale working models into their culture gain a structural advantage. In conditions where markets change faster than strategies, the key asset is not yesterday's achievements but today's speed of response.