MIT SMR's spring 2026 issue includes articles aimed at helping leaders better manage and benefit from the seemingly endless amounts of data underlying their digital transformation efforts. Research shows that the key to getting strong returns from digital initiatives like AI implementations is having a 'digitally dexterous' workforce and a culture of learning. Employees must have the ability to manage and use these new technologies for an organization's digital transformation to succeed. We are firmly in the digital age, awash in data generated on every surface and in every layer of every business. Yet, despite decades of investment in technology, time, and effort, many organizations are still not seeing meaningful returns. A global survey of over 4,200 business and technology leaders conducted by research firm Gartner in late 2024 found that only 48% of digital initiatives had met or exceeded targeted business outcomes. Other surveys have had similar results, and the view is even more discouraging when studies focus on AI investments. For instance, 60% of respondents to a 2025 global survey from BCG said their investments in AI have delivered little material value, either in increased revenue or lowered costs....

The Leadership Initiative at Harvard Business School, led by professor Linda A. Hill, has been exploring essential leadership mindsets, behaviors, and competencies for leading in the digital era. The authors' qualitative and quantitative research provides valuable insights into the evolving nature of leadership in an increasingly digital era. 'The same patterns of relationships emerged consistently across four years of surveys, roundtable conversations, and longitudinal case studies, lending confidence to this narrative about what it takes to build a digitally dexterous workforce, even though the cross-section nature of some of the data does not permit proof of causality. Leaders who are making the most progress on digital transformation go beyond implementing new technologies or educating their workforce to enhance their digital literacy. They are transforming the way people work to build a digitally capable workforce. Researchers have identified four practices for leaders who want to build and lead a digitally dexterous workforce: reframing the challenge, engaging from the top, bridging people and perspectives, and sustaining long-term commitment....

The raise represents a 40% increase compared to Fund VIII, which itself was 68% larger than Fund VII. In an environment where fundraising momentum has stalled for many managers, the scale of the close stands out. New York-based Veritas invests in companies providing essential software, data, and technology-enabled services across aerospace & defense, national security, healthcare, education, infrastructure, energy, and financial technology. These sectors, the firm notes, are driven by regulation, public policy, and structural innovation rather than short-term economic cycles. Since closing Fund IX, Veritas has continued deploying capital across both its Flagship and Vantage strategies. Through its Flagship platform, the firm acquired GHX, expanding its position in healthcare supply chain software. The transaction included significant co-investment participation from global institutional partners. Meanwhile, its Vantage strategy acquired MetroStar, an AI-enabled digital transformation provider serving US defense and national security agencies....

Think about the career of a great athlete. They perform at the highest level. Unlike one-time wonders, they improve over time. They are single-minded, and they sustain that improvement. What makes this possible' Training, especially interval training, where intense sprints are alternated with strategic rest to achieve peak performance. A few companies are now drawing on the principles of interval training as they seek to reverse the long-term trend of failed transformations. Research dating back to the 1990s keeps finding that only about 30 percent of transformations succeed, defined as both improving operating performance and sustaining improvement over time.1John P. Kotter, Leading Change, Harvard Business Review Press, 1996; 'What successful transformations share,' McKinsey, March 1, 2010; 'How to gain and sustain a competitive edge through transformation,' McKinsey, October 16, 2023. In 2023, our Rewired research found that 90 percent of organizations were undertaking some form of digital transformation, efforts that generated less than one-third of the planned impact....