One on One with Cognizant's Paul Roehrig

The impact of the digitization of the workforce has been nothing short of resounding. Everything, from how data is collected and analyzed to how work itself gets done is rapidly changing, and no industry is unaffected. Cognizant recently surveyed more than 2,000 global top executives for a unique look into the changing landscape of work in the digital era, producing a report called The Work Ahead. Nearly every respondent agrees that jobs and required skills will be significantly impacted by digital transformation. Consulting caught up with Paul Roehrig, the Global Managing Director of Cognizant's Center for the Future of Work, to talk about how digital will continue to shift the business world beneath our feet.

Consulting: How will the emerging digital economy change work as we know it?

Roehrig: In looking at the results of The Work Ahead holistically, there are a few themes that emerge. First, we may think we understand "digital" and how big it's going to be, but frankly we don't. Executives we surveyed expect new technologies to impact about $770 billion in revenue per year. We found that the impact of digital transformation on these industries between 2015 and 2018 alone could be up to $20 trillion. We also learned that AI is no longer in the laboratory. We found that virtually every business leader, from every corner of the world, recognizes that AI, coupled with big data and analytics, will be the number one driver of business change over the next three years.