Build Business Advantage with Real-time Decision-making

Unprecedented volatility and hyper-competitiveness are current pressures across almost all industries. While generative and agentic AI technologies dominate headlines, the true competitive advantage lies not in the technologies themselves but in fundamentally reimagining how organizations operate.

Our research reveals a critical insight: The ability to operate as a real-time business (RTB) — that is, have the data available to allow employees to make decisions and take action in real time — has become a defining characteristic of market leaders. In our global study, we found that companies operating in the top versus the bottom quartile of “real-time-ness” achieved a remarkable performance premium — more than 50 percent higher revenue growth and net margins. We defined "real-time-ness" as the organizational capability to immediately respond to changing conditions through a combination of digitized operations, empowered employees and real-time data access, all operating within appropriate governance guardrails.

Companies like United Airlines have made great strides in becoming RTBs. Their transformation has enabled them to achieve industry-leading growth and profitability, with double the customer satisfaction compared with competitors.

Please select this link to read the complete article from MIT Sloan Management Review.