twomeows / Moment / Getty Images Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Digital transformation success is a fast-moving target. Smart CIOs collaborate with business peers to define outcomes. These outcomes are tracked and traced across multiple variables. Digital transformation success remains an elusive target. Just as you've completed one challenging project, demands for another initiative -- whether prompted by the board's interest in AI or fast-changing customer requirements -- rear their head. For the CIOs charged with delivering these complex projects, digital transformation is a never-ending process. Yet project management is just one concern, and IT professionals must also be able to demonstrate the benefits of their approach. Also: No ROI in AI yet? Try these six proven tactics for creating real business value So, how can digital leaders measure digital transformation success? ZDNET attended the recent DTX Conference in London and discovered five tips from the experts. 1. Be cute about deliverables Richard Corbridge, CIO at property specialist Sergo, told ZDNET that IT professionals and their line-of-business peers must collaborate closely on clear organizational objectives. Corbridge said it can be difficult to track the true value of a project. He gave the example of explorations into generative AI and his company's attempts to use Microsoft Copilot. The CEO will want a precise definition of value. Stating that the benefit is that staff will have an extra 30 minutes in their day due to cutting the administrative burden won't work unless you can quantify real, tangible benefits -- and that's an important lesson for all CIOs. "We've got to be a lot cuter at the very beginning when we're creating the value case about the difference we're going to see when we've done this work, rather than just saying a project is going to boost productivity," he said. "The benefits of these projects might accumulate together to make us a more efficient organization. But each of the tools we deploy independently won't necessarily have an immediate impact that a chief executive can see on the bottom line." Also: A minority of businesses have won big with AI. What are they doing right? Corbridge said digital leaders must focus on translating the art of the possible into terms the business understands, using a clear storytelling process that defines how technology provides solutions to challenges. "We need to translate the potential for each part of the organization, and the different cultures that exist," he said. "For me, that skill is a core thing that CIOs need to develop." 2. Track and trace progress Amit Thawani, CIO for insurance, pensions, and investments at Lloyds Banking Group, said his organization has three simple guiding principles for transformation project success: pace, productivity, and predictability. "We use these three pillars to drive some KPIs," he said, suggesting that one of those indicators could be, for example, the time it takes to bring a product or service to market. Thawani recognized that measuring KPIs quantitatively can be a challenging task. His organization uses what he referred to as industry standards to track and trace progress. "There are a lot of KPIs," he said. "What you need is a consistent way of measuring your performance." Also: AI use is up, but organizations still aren't seeing gains, Atlassian study finds Thawani said measuring these indicators also relies on a common language that is understood by IT professionals and employees across business functions. "Silos can still exist, but they should be talking the same language," he said. "We've developed that approach in Lloyds Banking Group. When we talk to people in different silos, we speak the same language, and I think that really helps." 3. Link outcomes to purpose Shruti Sharma, chief data and AI officer at Save the Children UK, said it's important to create a tribe mentality if your team is going to deliver strategic outcomes. "As humans, we like the sense of belonging," she said. "Creating a tribe that has a sense of purpose, and that purpose can be linked to your performance objectives and the values of an organization, is a fantastic approach." Sharma said some professionals work in sectors that are comfortable operating in the Wild West, and the nonprofit sector is one of those places. "We love the haphazard -- the legacy systems, the cyber challenges, and thinking about what success looks like for the organization," she said, before outlining how her charity has linked its outcomes to a sense of belonging. "For us, at Save the Children UK, it's about becoming an insight-driven organization, using the data analytics and AI strategy that we embedded last year." Also: Is AI even worth it for your business? 5 expert tips to help prove ROI Sharma said this transformation journey forces people who would naturally work in silos with their own data sets -- such as fundraising, marketing, finance, and risk -- to come together because there is a clear goal. "That's an overarching strategic outcome that has been shared and embedded within the organization," she said. "When we're talking about collaboration and organization, that outcome needs to be baked in from the senior leadership." 4. Focus on baselines and behaviors Charlotte Bemand, director of digital futures at Hottinger Brüel & Kjær, said two considerations are crucial to measuring success: baselines and behaviors. In terms of baselines, her organization checks that targets are met on an ongoing basis. "We did a data AI maturity assessment last year, and we will absolutely be running that next year," she said, explaining how her organization monitors the progress of emerging technology initiatives in both quantitative and qualitative terms. "This approach means we've started baselining at an organizational level, where our colleagues and our leaders think we're moving -- and that's not just in terms of KPI measurement, but also as a subjective measurement." When it comes to behaviors, Bemand said it's vital to recognize that revenue is likely to be the most important performance indicator for most organizations. If targets aren't being hit, people will start to lose patience and interest. Also: Relaxing matters - 6 business leaders share their strategies for work-life balance "When we're working on those revenue-generating projects, I know if we're collaborating successfully and we're moving in the right direction, because my stakeholders turn up to the meetings. They've done their work. They come with high energy," she said. "They say, 'Charlotte, how can we follow up on that?' And I know very quickly if it's not working because they don't turn up to the meeting, or they avoid your call, and you'll have to course-correct and pivot. So, successful measurement must consider the behavioral element." 5. Evaluate tactics that work Renzo Procaccini, CIO at Assured Partners International, is another digital leader who pointed to the importance of behavioral considerations. Quantitative values will give you some sense of the impact of change, but managers should also reach out to professionals to gauge how they believe a project is progressing. "We will have something as simple as saying, 'Okay, how is everybody feeling today?'" he said. "People don't need to explain. They don't need to justify. There's no punishment. But the answers to that simple question give senior managers an idea of how everything's going, so they can say, 'Okay, how do we actually manage those concerns?'" Also: 7 trends shaping digital transformation in 2025 - and AI looms large People armed with this information can then dig deeper and ask more questions to uncover what's happening beneath the surface, which will help the business identify why projects aren't having the anticipated impact. "You can do one-to-ones, surveys, and even create opportunities outside the office," he said. "But you need to measure. You need to find out what works in your team." Get the morning's top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter.