Christophe Derdeyn On The Future Of Business Consulting: Embracing Agile Transformation
Business transformation might be one of the most overused promises in corporate life. Companies invest heavily in such initiatives only to find that months or even years later, very little has changed in how the business actually works.
Author:Daniel BarrettJan 06, 2026750 Shares15K Views
Business transformation might be one of the most overused promises in corporate life. Companies invest heavily in such initiatives only to find that months or even years later, very little has changed in how the business actually works. Markets now shift faster than traditional transformation models can keep up with, yet many organizations are still locked into programs designed for a slower, more predictable environment. Executives still need long-term direction, but they also need proof, early and often, that change is delivering real value.
“The expectations today are that you come with very quick and tangible results. That drives what we can and should do in how we consult,” says Christophe Derdeyn, Managing Director at Icon Consulting Group. Having led and advised large-scale transformations across global enterprises, including multi-country ERP programs, Derdeyn argues that transformation should focus first on changes that improve how the business actually operates today, and be introduced at a pace teams can realistically adopt.
Redefining Transformation Around Speed And Relevance
Speed matters because it allows organizations to test whether change is working while it still counts. “If you only realize after two years that something isn’t working, you’ve already lost too much time,” Derdeyn says. “You need feedback early, while you still have room to adjust.” In older consulting models, that test came late, after large, multi-year engagements designed to prioritize stability and reduce risk for firms and clients alike. Those models assume a pace of change where outcomes can afford to wait, an assumption that no longer holds.
Businesses still need strategy and structural improvement, but they can no longer afford to wait years to validate direction. Detailed future-state designs matter less if they are disconnected from immediate operational improvement. The central question has become whether transformation can create momentum early while still pointing toward something sustainable.
Delivering Impact Through Layered Transformation
Meeting these expectations requires a different rhythm of work. Rather than attempting to understand everything upfront, Derdeyn advocates starting with focus. “In three weeks you can align on a high level and say: these are the areas where things are not great, and this is where we believe value can be driven much faster,” he says. The emphasis is on interviews, industry expertise and pattern recognition rather than exhaustive documentation.
From there, initiatives naturally fall into layers. Some are genuine quick wins. For example, small system adjustments or targeted reporting improvements can often be delivered within weeks or a few months, usually with modest investment and visible impact. Other challenges are structural. Data is the most common example. “Data is almost always disjointed,” Derdeyn says. “Very few organizations have a good handle on how it flows.”
Addressing that reality isn’t quick, but it is essential. These initiatives may take nine months or more, yet they enable better decisions and future improvements across the business. Larger transformation topics such as application consolidation or operating model redesign come later. They require deeper study and longer execution, but by then organizations commit with greater confidence because earlier phases have already delivered tangible results.
Trust And Culture Determine Transformation Success
For Derdeyn, the most underestimated element of agile transformation is trust. Agility across regions is built through human connection as much as through frameworks. “You can do a perfect design and a technically amazing implementation,” he says, “but if people don’t trust each other, the migration will be very difficult.” In one global shared services transformation spanning nine countries and thousands of users, friction emerged when teams in different countries were asked to use the same systems without a shared understanding of how each other worked or what constraints they faced.
Instead of redesigning processes on paper, the program focused on changing how people worked together. People were moved between locations, asked to collaborate on real problems and encouraged to spend time together beyond formal meetings. “As long as someone is just an abstract person on the other side, it’s easy to blame,” Derdeyn says. “When you know them, the conversation changes.”
An Inflection Point For The Consulting Industry
This new reality exposes a structural tension within consulting itself. “Traditional consulting builds hours,” Derdeyn says. “Agile means doing less work, but making it more relevant.”Large engagements offer revenue certainty and predictable utilization, which explains their appeal to established firms. Outcome-driven engagements work differently. They depend on trust, repeated delivery and the ability to prove value quickly. For organizations built around stability and long planning cycles, that shift is not just uncomfortable. It challenges how success has traditionally been measured. External forces are accelerating it regardless. Technology cycles are shorter, modular architectures have replaced monolithic platforms and artificial intelligence is automating work that once absorbed days of consultant time. “What used to take days, you can now do in half an hour,” Derdeyn says, even accounting for validation.
Where Consulting’s Real Value Will Be Created
None of this is to say that consulting is becoming less important, only more focused. As automation handles routine execution, value moves upstream toward judgment, experience and industry understanding. “The true value is not in implementing a system,” Derdeyn says. “It’s in understanding the business and drawing the right conclusions.” For leaders, that means choosing partners who bring perspective rather than capacity, and who can distinguish between quick wins that endure and fixes that merely postpone deeper problems. Agile transformation, at its best, is not about speed alone. It is about aligning short-term action with long-term intent, and recognizing that sustainable change is as much human as it is technical.
Daniel Barrett
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Daniel Barrett is a tech writer focusing on IoT, gadgets, software, and cryptocurrencies. With a keen interest in emerging technologies, Daniel offers expert analysis and commentary on industry trends. Follow him for authoritative insights into the latest tech innovations.
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