By Bain & Company

Welcome to the New Technology Economy

Technology-fueled growth across all sectors is poised to accelerate .

By David Crawford

I’m proud to introduce Bain’s second annual global Technology Report.

Although Covid-19 remains a global threat, we’re in a period of ex- traordinary economic growth. Government stimulus programs and a pent-up desire to “get back to the office” have piqued expectations of growth and innovation. The technology sector has led theway with strong equity values. Part of that growth story has to do with the extensive and
far-reaching penetration of technology in all sectors of the economy. One indication of this is the interest in last year’s report from executives not only in the technology industry, but also in retail, consumer products, industrials, financial services, telecommunications, and more. In response, about half of the initial distribution of this year’s report will include client executives from outside the technology sector.

This year’s report retains last year’s organizing principle built around three themes. The first section, value evolution, takes an analytic view of how equity values and profit pools are developing. The second section offers a general manager’s view of major competitive battlegrounds in the technology sector. The last section showcases innovation that creates advantages through the operations of the enterprise itself, including talent, culture, process, and infrastructure. As we look across this year’s technology landscape, three broad forces stand out.