Real transformation isn’t about shiny tools — it’s about putting people first, fixing processes and letting tech follow.
When most people think about digital transformation, they imagine sleek enterprise platforms, AI-powered dashboards or agile teams in glass-walled offices. But one of the most powerful lessons I’ve ever learned about digital transformation didn’t come from a boardroom. It came from the dusty lanes of rural India.
Several years ago, I worked on a project with Gramin Healthcare, an organization that provides primary healthcare to underserved communities. Our task was deceptively simple: build a digital system to support nurses who delivered care at the village level. But what I discovered was that success had very little to do with the technology we built — and everything to do with the people and processes surrounding it.
That project became my living classroom for what I now call the PPT theory of digital transformation: People, process and technology — in that order.
Lesson 1: Start with People
When we first arrived at the villages, it was clear that the nurses were the backbone of the system. They were trusted by the community, but most of them had limited exposure to digital tools. Asking them to suddenly adopt tablets and enter patient data into a platform would have been setting them up for failure. I was told by my team that they have tried giving them some apps earlier, but the team is not ready to learn and understand these apps. However, one thing I realized was that everyone was using smartphones and was using WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, etc. I told my team that if they could master social media apps, then the barrier wasn’t the capability; it was relevance and design.
The only thing is that we have to do is to build an app for them and not ask them to use my app.
So instead of starting with “Which technology should we use?” we began with “Who will use it, and what do they need?”
We spent weeks shadowing the nurses, understanding their routines and observing how they interacted with patients. What we realized was that the technology couldn’t just be functional — it had to be intuitive, almost invisible. It had to fit seamlessly into their workday, without disrupting the trust they had built with their patients.
Not only this we also conducted sessions with the nurses to teach them the basic concepts of digital technology like email, messaging etc. This gave them both information and confidence to use something coming for them in the future.
This reinforced a lesson I now carry into every enterprise project: Digital transformation fails when it overlooks people.
As highlighted in “8 reasons why digital transformations still fail,” one of the most common reasons for digital transformation failure is “shortchanging the people problem.” Even when technology is solid, transformation flops if it fails to respect existing workflows and human behaviors.
So often, systems are thrust upon users — not built for them. And this leads to this resistance to change.
For Gramin Healthcare, the “people-first” approach meant starting small, co-creating with the nurses and making them feel like owners of the change.
Lesson 2: Redesign processes before adding tech
The next step was to look at processes. At first, we thought digitizing existing workflows would be enough. But what we discovered was that many of the processes were themselves inefficient or inconsistent.
For example, record-keeping varied from nurse to nurse. Some used notebooks, some scraps of paper, some nothing at all. If we had simply built a digital tool to replicate this, we would have digitized chaos.
Instead, we worked with the nurses to create a simple, standardized process for patient intake and follow-up. We created a complete process map with the nurses as to what happens when one visits a healthcare facility. We co-created the complete patient journey in a physical setup. Only once this process was agreed upon, we mapped the journey to design the user screens to give them the same experience. Not only this, when we wanted to roll out the system in the field, we again got all our nurses to recall the entire manual process and showed them step by step on the digital platform.
This sequence — process before technology — became another cornerstone of my PPT theory. Too often, organizations do the opposite. They buy technology first and then try to retrofit their processes. The result? Resistance, confusion and wasted investment.
At Gramin Healthcare, by co-creating the processes before introducing the platform, adoption became much smoother.
Lesson 3: Technology as the enabler, not the driver
Finally, we got to technology. And here’s where many organizations trip up. Technology is powerful, but it is only as effective as the people and processes it supports.
The platform we built wasn’t flashy. It was deliberately simple: Easy forms, local language support and offline functionality for areas without connectivity. But it worked because it was built on a foundation of people and processes.
The nurses not only used it — they embraced it. Patient data became more reliable. Follow-ups were more consistent. Supervisors gained visibility. Most importantly, the community began to see healthcare delivery improve tangibly.
This taught me that technology should be the last step in the transformation journey, not the first. It’s an enabler, not the driver.
Global studies confirm this lesson: Success depends less on the tool, more on the context.
A recent peer-reviewed study on eHealth initiatives emphasizes that technology success depends far less on the tools themselves and far more on the human and organizational context. It highlights the need to critically consider the sociocultural context, education and training, organizational and institutional aspects, regulatory frameworks and, most importantly, user involvement when implementing digital initiatives. Disregarding these crucial elements can render digital programs inefficient or even counterproductive.
This is exactly where most transformation efforts go wrong: systems are often given to people, rather than being built for and with them.
Lesson 4: Data as the foundation of transformation
One of the most powerful outcomes of building systems around people and processes is the quality of data that emerges. With digital workflows in place, the data generated was not only faster to access but also more reliable and consistent. Unlike manually compiled records — which are often delayed, error-prone or incomplete — the system created a single source of truth for internal analysis and decision-making.
I firmly believe that data generated from well-designed digital systems carries far greater authenticity and value than data aggregated manually. In the Gramin Healthcare case, this meant management could identify bottlenecks more quickly, measure impact more accurately and make decisions with greater confidence. Ultimately, technology is not just about automation; it’s about creating trustworthy data that enables smarter strategy and continuous improvement.
Bringing it back to the enterprise
What does a rural healthcare case have to do with enterprises? Everything.
In my experience with working with multiple organizations, I see the same mistakes organizations make:
- Buying tools before fixing processes.
- Assuming employees will “adapt” instead of co-creating solutions.
- Treating technology as the strategy rather than the enabler.
The results aren’t that different. Instead of a nurse abandoning a tablet, you have employees resisting CRM systems. Instead of digitized chaos in patient records, you have duplicated data across ERP platforms.
The context changes, but the principles don’t.
The PPT theory in action
The Gramin Healthcare project crystallized my view that successful digital transformation must follow the sequence: People → process → technology.
- People. Understand the users, their motivations and their capabilities. Build trust. Create ownership.
- Process. Simplify, standardize and test before digitizing. Technology should enhance good processes, not automate bad ones.
- Technology. Select tools that fit the people and processes — not the other way around. Keep it simple, scalable and purpose-driven.
This is what I now call the PPT Theory, and it continues to guide my work with enterprises.
Final reflections
When I look back at my time with Gramin Healthcare, I realize that the lessons from rural India are universal. Whether you’re running a village clinic or a multinational corporation, the formula for digital success doesn’t change.
Technology is tempting. It’s exciting. But it’s also the last step.
If we want digital transformation that sticks — that truly changes how organizations work and deliver value — we must start where it matters most: with people, then processes, and finally, technology.
That dusty lane in rural India taught me something I now carry into every boardroom:
Digital transformation is not about the tools you buy. It’s about the future you build — and that future is built by people.
My gratitude to Ajoy Khanderia, founder and CEO of Gramin Healthcare, for not only allowing me to share this case study but also for his inspiring work in making dignified and affordable healthcare accessible to those at the bottom of the pyramid.
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