Yes, Every Company Is Now a Tech Company

Recently, the Wall Street Journal’s technology reporter Christopher Mims wrote an article entitled: “Every Company is Now a Tech Company.” His point and examples were all timely, but I also think he stopped short of proposing what I think is the long-term and logical outcome of this statement.

Through my last ten years working for Chariot Solutions and leading TechGirlz and Women in Tech Summit, this idea has been a central experience of my life. The nature of work has forever changed and technology is a component of nearly every job or company.

At Chariot, our work as software developers brings us into contact with many companies across all different types of industries that need our help to deliver technology solutions as part of a new product or to give them a competitive edge over their competitors. These companies were not just the technology companies that we currently think of.

You may think of Fedex as a delivery service, but in reality it is a logistics company heavily dependent on technology to make it business run. For companies with vision, technology is no longer relegated as a cost center but rather considered a source of profit.

Mr. Mims focused on the need for companies to have a technical “co-founder”, especially those who have not traditionally seen themselves as technology companies. He points out that having a technology visionary as part of the leadership team is crucial to long-term success. He uses the example of Jet.com to make the point. Through an acqui-hire of the Jet.com team, Walmart propelled themselves into competition with Amazon.

While an acqui-hire is a perfectly reasonable strategy to add capability and talent, it is not a realistic strategy for everyone. The missing second point to Mr. Mim’s article was that as our society and workforce becomes more technology reliant, we must invest in training this talent and building a tech-capable workforce.

You’ve likely heard that argument from me before, but only because it’s true. By 2020, there will be 1 million job openings in the tech field. Our colleges cannot keep up with the growing need for employees with technology skills, and more than just coding talents. It’s more than companies like Walmart getting online or Fedex creating more effective logistics software, it’s manufacturing companies using connected devices to help them predict machine maintenance or agricultural companies using robotic pickers to harvest their crops more efficiently. The examples are endless.

To fill this forecast gap, we have to invest in both our current workforce and tomorrow’s. Companies can make investment in staff, management and executive teams to level up existing skills in current and future tech. More than acqui-hires, this is an easy place to begin because your teams already have a familiarity with the company and rapport with one another. .

But we cannot stop there. To truly meet future workforce needs, we must train the next generations. And given the size of the projected shortfall, this cannot just be those that traditionally opt for tech careers or self-select. We must work harder to reach and provide opportunities for those that are traditionally disenfranchised from technology careers.

Nonprofits like Creating IT Futures, ZipCode Wilmington or our own TechGirlz are working to train people who have not been traditionally seen in the IT industry as technology workers: wounded veterans, women, people of color, and others. These programs are making an impact, but they are just a start.

If as Mr. Mims says, “every company is now a tech company,” then every company must invest in training tech workers. Beyond acqui-hires, that requires commitments of time and money from every stakeholder in the chain of influence. Companies, colleges, high schools, municipalities and nonprofits must work together through programs that create awareness early, offer apprenticeships, ongoing training and more.