The following is a guest blog post by Michael Tae, head of strategy and M&A at Broadridge.

Nearly 80% of CEOs and their direct reports say that less than half of all innovation projects at their firms succeed. This was one of the key findings of a survey of 100 CEOs and direct reports from Fortune 1000 companies across a diverse range of industries, conducted by Broadridge Financial Solutions, and G100 Network.

The survey found that only 3% reported an innovation project success rate above 75%, with a further 20% achieving a success rate above 50%. This is a startlingly low figure. It suggests that innovation comes with significant costs and risks. The three biggest hurdles senior executives said they faced in terms of innovation in technology transformation were access to qualified talent (55%), legacy systems architecture (54%) and an internal culture of resistance to change (52%).

However, the survey also found that innovation around next-gen technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud and Digital has never been more important.

A quarter of respondents (26%) considered themselves “Innovators”, using industry-leading technology, driving enterprise-wide adoption and with multiple live use cases. Around half of CEOs (42%) consider their firms to be “Fast Followers” when it comes to adoption. This means they have yet to establish a defined approach to experimentation and implementation of emerging technology, with only a few use cases and/or point solutions. A quarter of respondents considered themselves “Experimenters”: they are piloting solutions but without mass support or resources to advance quickly.

The high proportion of innovators and fast followers suggests that adoption of these next-gen technologies is becoming more widespread and is rapidly becoming basic table stakes to compete. There is also the potential for innovators to widen the competitive gap and create self-reinforcing network effects, making it hard for those falling behind the adoption curve to catch up.

Furthermore, as a result of the worldwide health crisis, companies have been forced to accelerate and adapt their digital strategies even more quickly. No longer do CEOs have the privilege of a measured approach to digital transformation and next-gen technologies; instead, they have been thrust into digital leadership regardless of whether they are prepared.

When it comes to emerging technologies, CEOs agreed that these technologies can provide immense value across their enterprises. Survey respondents identified the biggest benefits of these technologies as: improved client experience and retention (67%), increased efficiency (67%) and new revenue opportunities (57%). It appears that while firms initially focused on using these technologies to generate business efficiencies, they are now deploying them just as frequently to enhance the client journey and create new revenue streams through new products, services and business lines.

In terms of how innovation is structured, most respondents stated that the innovation function reports to the CEO (38%), followed by the CTO/CIO (21%). While CEOs are the ultimate decision-makers for technology transformation at most organizations, their methods of driving innovation within their companies differed widely. A large majority of CEOs (68%) say they use an internal incubator and/or partner with outside innovation accelerators (67%) while over half (56%) rely on mergers and acquisitions to innovate. A further 34% leverage their corporate venture capital team for innovation.

Employing clear metrics to assess the value of innovation projects is also key. Around one in five said they have no defined method to measure the success of technology innovation at their organization. However, most CEOs (57%) say enterprise value creation is the key metric they use for the success of next-gen technology innovation projects, while over quarter (27%) say they assess direct profit/loss.

The survey results suggest that forward-thinking CEOs who embrace next-generation technology to drive their business roadmap against specific success metrics are best positioned to succeed in this rapidly evolving environment. Recent events have also highlighted the importance of new technologies including Digital and Cloud to adapt to a changing world.

Putting in place a clear strategy for next-gen technology transformation that incorporates talent acquisition, systems architecture, people and cultural factors, and a robust methodology for implementing technology and measuring its value is now key to market leadership in the new normal.

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Michael Tae is head of strategy and M&A at Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

Broadridge, a SIFMA Premium Associate Member and Strategic Partner, is a leading full-service outsourcing provider to the global financial industry, capable of meeting the most demanding requirements for efficient, secure and scalable operational support. Learn more about Broadridge and the ABCDs of Innovation at www.broadridge.com.