Editorial
Digital fluency matters more than basic digital literacy; I established that in my previous piece. Fluency enables employees to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing workplace. But digital fluency isn’t just about tools and platforms, it’s also about connecting work to business strategy.
A 2025 Axios HQ report on Business Performance revealed an eye-opening gap: 27% of leaders believe their staff are entirely aligned with organizational goals, while only 9% of employees agree. The finding exposes a leadership blind spot, where leaders assume their vision and goals are clearly understood and embraced by their teams.
This disconnect means that most employees are making decisions without strategic context. When employees don’t see the bigger picture, even well-intentioned digital initiatives can fail, which puts AI initiatives at risk. It's critical to close this gap by developing business acumen, across both business and technology professionals, so AI can become an advantage, rather than a liability.
It Isn’t Just Knowledge, It’s Discernment
Business acumen consistently ranks among the top three development priorities for individual contributors, managers and senior managers alike, said Kathryn Marston, executive director at Ouellette & Associates, the Leadership Development Division of Technology Partners, Inc. She bases this insight on 2024-2025 TechLX program data covering five core IT leadership competencies.
Building business acumen is hard because it requires not only understanding how a business operates, but also the ability to apply that knowledge in context so the business can succeed. It’s a blend of mindset, knowledge and judgment that traditional training does not address. True business acumen is cross-functional and situational, enabling employees at every level to make decisions that create value for the business.
We can see the application of business acumen in everyday decisions, where judgement goes beyond technical know-how to consider financial, operational and strategic impact:
- A product manager delays product launch to protect profit margins and cash flow.
- A nonprofit board evaluates compliance risks before starting a new fundraising campaign.
- A retail company invests in AI-driven inventory optimization instead of a service chatbot because it drives long-term revenue and reduces operational waste.
- A business leader chooses a slightly more expensive platform because it simplifies cross-functional workflows, integrates with existing systems and meets regulatory standards.
Dimensions of Business Acumen
Business acumen provides a lens for decision-making. It combines three dimensions that position employees to act with speed and confidence in an AI-driven business environment, rather than waiting on hierarchy. These dimensions work together to support holistic, future-ready decisions.
- Financial: Go beyond basic ROI calculations and cost-benefit analysis to include digital value metrics such as automation-driven savings and data monetization. Link technology investments to key performance indicators (KPIs) like revenue growth, margin improvement or customer retention. Use predictive analytics and scenario modeling to forecast financial impact before committing resources.
- Operational: Understand how initiatives reshape processes, workflows and supply chain dependencies. Evaluate the impact on efficiency, employee and customer satisfaction before implementing automation or new systems. Operational acumen now contains fluency in change management and digital adoption strategies, ensuring smooth transitions and minimizing disruption.
- Strategic: Shift from static planning to dynamic strategy informed by real-world insights. Track industry trends, competitive moves and emerging technologies to anticipate market shifts. Strategic acumen addresses risk through cybersecurity, compliance and ethical considerations, especially around AI governance and responsible data use. This dimension ensures long-term resilience and positions the organization to pivot quickly in response to external forces.
How to Start Building Business Acumen
Developing business acumen across the workforce is an ongoing, intentional process. Investment in cross-skilling opportunities, data-powered tools and mentoring help employees create value.
Organizations can start by exposing employees to cross-functional areas for strategic awareness. Rotational programs across adjacent departments such as finance, marketing and operations help employees understand how decisions ripple across the business. Scenario-based micro-learning modules with business simulations and case studies allow employees to practice judgment in real-world contexts. Gamified strategy challenges make learning immersive and engaging.
Beyond skills, organizations need structured tools to make business acumen learning personalized and actionable. Visual Balanced Scorecard and KPI trees align initiatives with strategic objectives measuring performance across financial and operational dimensions. Digital ROI calculators quantify the value of technology investments, supporting data-driven decisions. Integrated performance frameworks like these drive stronger alignment between strategy and execution.
Finally, pairing employees with mentors provides access to strategic insights and practical experience. Mentoring addresses the fear of failure by creating a safe space for employees to ask questions, test ideas and build confidence. Knowledge-sharing communities amplify this effect. Additionally, advisory boards offer external perspectives on market trends and risk, helping organizations stay competitive and resilient.
These development tools represent the new networking currency, connecting employees to ecosystems of expertise and influence.
Scaling Business Acumen
To extend the impact, organizations must measure key indicators. Leaders can identify gaps and refine training by continuously evaluating whether employees can link projects to business results; tracking decision-making speed and accuracy against quality or compliance; and using surveys, performance reviews and benchmarks to gauge confidence and capability across teams. Competency assessments are also available from the Business Acumen Institute.
These measures reveal whether you are building a culture of curiosity to drive sustainable business success.
Turning Acumen Into Strategic Advantage
By combining intentional investment with rigorous assessment, you build a workforce that not only understands the business, but also drives it forward. Business advantages grow significantly when acumen is grounded in digital literacy, enabling employees to interpret data, leverage technology and exercise discernment in an intelligent workplace. As AI reshapes workflows, discernment ensures decisions balance speed with financial, operational and strategic impact.
Next, we’ll explore Experience Intelligence, the ultimate differentiator in a digitally fluent organization. We will focus on how to design and optimize human-centered experiences that elevate personal and business impact.
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Editor's Note: What other skills should we be building in our workforce?
- These 6 Soft Skills Will Be Critical in the Future Workforce — Taking decisive action now to develop these six soft skills will position your organization to meet future challenges.
- Waking Up to Our Power: Digital + Human Capabilities for a Future-Ready Workforce — Beyond technical know-how, the future-ready worker needs a new blend of human and digital skills — anchored in awareness.
- Balance Intuition and Data to Master the Art of Decision Making — Rather than viewing intuition and data as rivals, we should view them as allies. Here's why.
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