RBC Trends · RBC Trends · April 2021

The Pandemic as an Accelerator of Business Digital Transformation

Transformation requires developing people's competencies and a culture of change within the company. Many participants noted that before completing the programme they understood the importance of digital transformation but had no comprehensive picture of it.

— Elina Isagulova, VP at Mail.ru Group

2020 as a Turning Point for Business

The COVID-19 pandemic accomplished in a few months what years of effort had not: it moved digital transformation from the "desirable" category into "survival." A 2021 Google and RANEPA study found that the pandemic became the main trigger for the mass digitalization of Russian business, government, and society. Companies with digital channels survived. Those that hadn't moved online lost customers and revenue.

Elina Isagulova, who was leading the digital transformation division at Mail.ru Group during this period, found herself at the center of this process: the holding was simultaneously helping businesses move online and launching new tools at a pace impossible under pre-pandemic conditions.

Why Transformation Starts with People

The main lesson of the pandemic according to Isagulova: digital transformation is impossible without transforming management thinking. 62% of senior executives at major Russian companies named the lack of digital skills in leadership as the main barrier (PWC data). This is exactly why Mail.ru Group launched the free Executive Digital MBA programme:

• 300+ applications for 50 places — a competition of 6 per seat
• 2.5-month programme, later expanded to 4 months
• 90% of participants completed the course in full
• Separate tracks for large and small business

Culture of Change as a Competitive Advantage

Isagulova consistently distinguished between two concepts: "digital tools" and "digital culture." The first encompasses CRM systems, advertising platforms, cloud services. The second is the ability to make data-driven decisions, quickly test hypotheses, and abandon approaches that don't work. Without the second, the first becomes expensive decoration.

Programme participants developed digitalization roadmaps for their companies. Unilever used the proposed frameworks in its strategic planning for 2021 — practical results, not abstract knowledge.

The Pandemic Ended — the Acceleration Remained

By 2021 it was clear: there would be no return to pre-pandemic tempos. Companies that had built digital infrastructure and upgraded management competencies gained a structural advantage. The pandemic provided the impulse — but from there, each company chooses for itself: maintain the pace or slow down.