WHY IS THERE SUCH A HIGH FAILURE RATE IN BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION TODAY?

The true number of business transformation project failure is underreported. Depending on which research you follow, the figure is between 70% – 80% of business transformation projects end in failure. There is five (5) main causes in business transformation failure are – lack of stakeholder involvement, lack of senior stakeholder support, changing requirement, incomplete requirements and poor planning.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH EXISTING APPROACHES?

Nothing. They are good at the purpose they were designed for, except they are now used for a different purpose, and that is not the original purpose they were designed for. Look at TOGAF® (The Open Group Architecture Framework) for example – it’s a framework for managing ‘technology’ or ‘technology changes’. It is not surprising, it was written by a “technology standards company”. They know and understand technology. What is happening is, TOGAF® is being used in business transformation projects that the ‘framework’ to manage the ‘transformation’, but it only focuses one thing – technology. It doesn’t focus on anything else other than Technology (it almost completely ignores, the other two (2) important aspects of the organisation – People, and Process(es)). It also ignores how to transition the business from the current state, to its desired future state. It effectively put the Technology stakeholders in the drivers set, to dictate to the Business what they think they want and literally throw it over the fence to the Business for them to work out if first it is fit for purpose, and then how to use and implement it.

HOW DOES HOBA® SOLVE THE PROBLEM IN BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION TODAY?

HOBA® solves the 70% failure rate in business transformation problem by addressing the causes that problem in the first place – by putting the Business back into control, to take control back from Technology and into their own hands, using a structured process and framework that was developed WITH the Business, BY the Business, to be USED and OWNED by the Business, putting the control back into their own hands.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS AND HOW DOES HOBA® HELP?

The biggest problem with business transformation projects is firstly the name. “Business Transformation” is incorrectly called or referred to as “Digital Transformation”. ‘Digital Transformation’ is a misnomer, it is not ‘digital’ per se that is ‘transforming’, it is the ‘Business’ that is transforming, and how it does or is doing that in this period of time is via ‘digital technologies’ (if ‘technology’ isn’t already digital, what were they before?). What this intentional confusion in the marketplace is causing, is it causes is an incorrect bias and focus on the ‘technology aspect’ only of the transformation, which by doing so completely ignores the Business aspects – that’s the Business Operations Stakeholders and their concerns, and the Processes those stakeholders carry out. HOBA® helps by putting the Business back in to control, to be very clear and structured with what is the Vision, Strategy, Objectives and Measures, what stakeholders are involved and need to be involved in the transformation and their decision making authority, the process to manage those decisions, scope and risks; what are the problems they want to address or opportunities they want to take advantage of; what benefits they want to realise from the transformation and when; what the future or Target Operating Model (TOM) needs to look like to achieve their Vision and Strategic Objectives and business benefits, and how and when will the changes be implemented. Everything and nothing more, only doing what needs to be done, to transform the business, not doing what is happening in the marketplace today and that is ‘creating reams and reams of colourful models and diagrams, that while beautiful, are in reality just “interesting but (sadly) useless”.

WHAT IS THE DESIGN PROCESS?

The Design Process is the 6-Step process used to implement HOBA® and manage the transformation from the very start, to the very end, implementation.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION IN THE MARKETPLACE?

The biggest misconception in the marketplace today with business transformation is that Clients are led to believe that they need ‘reams and reams’ of pretty colourful presentations to transform your business. This is a fallacy. This only creates expensive shelf-ware. What those ‘pretty presentations’ are designed for is to enable the transformation project to keep moving toward its end goal, transforming the Business. What the Clients are led to believe is those ‘pretty presentations are the actual goal of the project, and often celebrated and hang up on the project office wall with great bravado as if they were the goal of the transformation itself! What those ‘pretty presentations’ actually need to be is two (2) things – first, is they need to be understandable, and written in a language that the Business understands, so first they can understand what it and they mean, and then they can agree to it. Then second, then they need to be useful. A lot of Consultants and Consultancy’s wanting to impress their clients with great marketing, pretty presentations and long list of impressive acronyms and latest “it” words, but this just confuses the Client. What happens is the Consultants will present their ‘ideas’ (because that’s what they are, they have had one meeting with the Client, interpreted that into their own words and perspectives, and come back to them several weeks and months later, having not consulted with them through the process, thinking ‘they know their Clients business best (they don’t, the Client does!) and play back their 300+ page power-point presentation that looks impressive), they present it to the Client, the Client has no idea what it means or says (its written in a foreign language, literally), due to the time it’s taken, and the money it has cost at that point, the Client agrees to it in the room, then walks out the room, and completely ignores everything the Consultant(s) said. The transformation goes nowhere. HOBA® solves that problem, refer to the first question above.

HOBA® is trusted by the UK Government, FTSE-100 companies and start-ups to both set up, and also turnaround their failing transformations. HOBA® is used by thousands around to transform their business, and was made public for the first time in late 2018, after over 10+ years in use with private clients, published in The Business Transformation Playbook – How to Implement Your Organisations Target Operating Model (TOM) and Achieve a Zero-Percent Failure Rate Using the 6-Step Agile Framework’, reaching bestseller on Amazon in 6-categories including Project Management and Consulting, and made it onto the Best Business Strategy eBook List of All Time by BookAuthority, at no.30 (March 2021). See News for details.

CAN I READ A PREVIEW OF THE BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION PLAYBOOK?

Yes, you can download a FREE preview to The Business Transformation Playbook here.

2025: The Year the Business Transformation Ecosystem Moved | HOBA Tech

By Heath Gascoigne
January 5, 2026
AI Transformation, Business Design, Business Transformation
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⚠️The Harsh Reality of AI Transformation

Much like how Accredible described 2025 as the year the credential ecosystem truly came alive, 2025 marked an inflection point for the business transformation industry. What once existed as isolated consulting engagements, scattered methodologies, and theoretical frameworks evolved into a dynamic, interconnected ecosystem where verified expertise, practical application, and AI-enabled delivery converged to reshape how organizations transform.

This year, HOBA Tech didn’t just witness this evolution—we helped drive it.

As we close out 2025 and look toward 2026 (just days away), we’re reflecting on nine years of relentless innovation, a year of unprecedented milestones, and a future that promises to disrupt the transformation industry once again.

Use the Table of Contents below to navigate directly to the sections that matter most to you.

In this blog, we’ll cover:

What You’ll Learn in This Guide:

Nine Years of Building the House

HOBA Tech was founded in 2016 with a singular mission: to bring structure, repeatability, and proven outcomes to an industry plagued by a 70% failure rate. Nine years later, that mission hasn’t changed—but our reach, impact, and capabilities have grown beyond what we imagined.

Since 2016, we’ve:

Published The Business Transformation Playbook: How to Implement Your BAO and Architecture Using Agile — a 6-time Amazon bestseller that became the definitive guide for transformation practitioners worldwide
Reached tens of thousands of practitioners and hundreds of organizations including the UK Government, who use HOBA as their transformation framework of choice
Stocked our book in retail stores across two continents:

But 2025 was different. This was the year everything accelerated.

2025: A Year of Milestones and Movement

🏆 Recognition: Digital Transformation CEO of the Year 2025

In November, I was honored to be named Digital Transformation CEO of the Year 2025 by CEO Monthly. This recognition isn’t just personal—it reflects the collective impact of our team, our community, and the thousands of professionals who have embraced HOBA as their transformation methodology.

The award validates what we’ve always believed: transformation isn’t about following trends—it’s about building capabilities that deliver measurable outcomes.

🌍 Global Expansion: Australia & New Zealand

After 15 years away, HOBA Tech returned to Australia and New Zealand in September 2025, launching our ANZ expansion with founding team recruitment and regional partnerships.

The ANZ market represents a strategic growth opportunity where demand for structured, outcome-driven transformation is accelerating. We’re bringing the full HOBA ecosystem—consulting, training, certification, and soon, HOBA Pro AI—to the region.

👏 "AI transformation isn't about the technology—it's about the business problem you're solving. Start with 'why,' not 'how.' 🎯 #AITransformation #BusinessFirst #HOBA 💡🤖⚙️📈

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

🎓 Nine Scholarships for Nine Years

To celebrate our 9-year anniversary, we launched an initiative unlike anything we’d done before: 9 full scholarships to our Certified HOBA Business Transformation Architect program.

We received thousands of applications from across the world. To ensure transparency and fairness, we ran a live draw using a HOBA-branded spinning wheel, selecting nine winners from diverse backgrounds, industries, and geographies.

These scholars aren’t just receiving training—they’re joining a global movement to professionalize transformation and raise the success rate above the industry’s dismal 70% failure benchmark.

🌐 First Translation: Spanish Edition Launched

Transformation is global, and so is HOBA. In 2025, we launched the first translation of The Business Transformation Playbook into Spanish, making our framework accessible to millions of Spanish-speaking professionals across Latin America, Spain, and beyond.

This is just the beginning. More translations are in development as we continue democratizing access to proven transformation methods.

💼 Real-World Impact: FCA Collaboration

We don’t just teach transformation—we deliver it. In 2025, HOBA Tech completed three successful transformation projects with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), supporting:

These aren’t theoretical case studies. They’re real operating models, governance frameworks, and organizational capabilities that are now embedded in one of the UK’s most critical regulatory bodies.

📚 Books 2 & 3: The Architects Series Expands

We’re not stopping at one book. Two major publications are coming in 2026:

The Architects of Change: A C-Suite Guide to Agile Transformation with HOBA (Book 1 in the series)
A strategic guide for executives leading transformation at the enterprise level
The Transformation Architects: Developing Internal Capabilities with HOBA (Book 3 in the series)
A practical playbook for building transformation capabilities within your organization

Together with The Business Transformation Playbook, these books form a complete transformation library for leaders, architects, and practitioners at every level.

🎙️ Top 10 Podcast Recognition

Our Business Transformation Podcast was recognized as one of the Top 10 Business Transformation Podcasts for 2026, joining conversations with transformation leaders, practitioners, and innovators from around the world.

If you haven’t tuned in yet, you’re missing deep dives into:

Real transformation war stories
Emerging AI and technology trends
Practitioner perspectives on what actually works
Exclusive insights from HOBA-certified architects

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

📈 Media Features & Thought Leadership

Our insights reached new audiences in 2025:

Heath Gascoigne featured in COO Insider on high-ROI operational efficiency improvements, showcasing a justice-sector Target Operating Model that cut 53 locations down to 3 contact centres, reduced headcount by 75%, and boosted both collections and service levels
Multiple speaking engagements, webinars, and industry panels where we challenged conventional wisdom and shared what actually works in transformation

🚀 The Big One: HOBA Pro AI is Coming

Here’s the headline you’ve been waiting for: HOBA Pro AI Private Beta launched in Q4 2025.

For nine years, we’ve taught the HOBA framework through consulting, books, and training. Now, we’re embedding that framework into software—and not just any software. AI-powered software that guides you through transformation step-by-step.

🚀 "The real question with AI isn’t what tool to use, it’s what business problem you’re solving. Strategy comes first, technology follows" 🎯🤖 #HOBAtech #AIstrategy #BusinessTransformation

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

What is HOBA Pro AI?

HOBA Pro AI is the world’s first AI-enabled business transformation platform that operationalizes the HOBA framework. It’s not a project management tool. It’s not a documentation repository. It’s a transformation copilot that:

✅ Guides you through HOBA’s proven 6-step methodology
✅ Automates artifact creation (Vision Maps, SOWs, Organization Maps, Stakeholder Maps, and more)
✅ Provides real-time recommendations based on your inputs and industry best practices
✅ Integrates with your existing tools (Project management, CRM, data platforms)
✅ Learns from your organization to deliver contextualized guidance
✅ Tracks transformation progress and outcomes across your portfolio

Private Beta: The Foundation is Live

In late 2025, we launched HOBA Pro AI Private Beta with three core blueprints:

Statement of Work (SOW) — Define scope, deliverables, and success criteria
Vision Mapping (Vizom) — Align strategy, objectives, and measures
Organization Mapping — Design optimal structures and capabilities

Beta users are already seeing results:

Faster artifact creation (hours instead of weeks)
Higher quality outputs (AI-guided best practices baked in)
Better stakeholder alignment (visualizations that actually communicate)

Public Release: January 2026

The wait is almost over. HOBA Pro AI will launch to the public in early January 2026—just days from now.

Join the waitlist now to be first in line for public access.

Looking for the Best Training to deliver your Business Transformation? Search no more!

👏 “AI isn’t the strategy. It’s the final step of a structured one. Businesses that win with AI eliminate waste first and think human-first—not tech-first."#BusinessLedTransformation #AIforBusiness #4plus1AI #HOBATech #FutureOfWork #AgileTransformation 💼🧠⚠️🛠️

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

What's Next: Major Releases Throughout 2026

We’re not stopping at three blueprints. Throughout 2026, HOBA Pro AI will release:

Additional blueprints (Stakeholder Mapping, Change Management, Business Case Development, and more)
Advanced AI capabilities (Predictive analytics, risk assessment, outcome forecasting)
Enterprise features (Multi-project management, portfolio dashboards, governance workflows)
Integrations (Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Asana, Salesforce, and more)

Each release will be a step-change in capability—just as The Business Transformation Playbook disrupted the industry when it was published, HOBA Pro AI will disrupt transformation delivery again.

Looking Back: Perspectives from the HOBA Blog

Throughout 2025, we shared perspectives that challenged conventional wisdom and called out the industry’s hard truths:

The 70% Failure Rate Will Worsen in 2026

In our recent blog post, Business Transformation Predictions for 2026, we warned that the 70% failure rate isn’t improving—it’s getting worse. Why?

AI-induced complexity without foundational capabilities
Rushed digital transformations without business architecture
Tool proliferation masking as strategy
Lack of structured methodology leading to wasted investment

Our prediction: Organizations that adopt AI without transformation fundamentals will fail faster and more expensively than ever before.

It’s Not About the Framework—It’s About the Transformator

We also published Business Transformation Isn’t About the Framework—It’s About the Transformator, arguing that success depends on who applies the framework, not just which framework you choose.

The best framework in the world fails without skilled practitioners. That’s why we’re investing heavily in:

Certification programs (Certified HOBA Business Transformation Architect)
Community building (Facebook groups, live Q&As, peer networking)
Continuous education (Webinars, podcasts, case studies)
AI-enabled training (HOBA Pro AI as a learning platform, not just a tool)

🔥 Is Your Organisation Ready for AI? Don’t Guess—Get the Facts.

🤖 "70% of AI projects fail because they ask 'How can we use AI?' instead of 'What business problem are we solving?' Wrong question = wrong solution. 🎯💡 #AIFail #BusinessFirst #ProblemSolving" ⚙️📈

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

The Ecosystem Moved—And We Helped Move It

Much like Accredible’s observation that digital credentials “went truly social” in 2025, business transformation went from isolated engagements to an interconnected ecosystem where:

✅ Verified credentials (like our Certified HOBA Business Transformation Architect) signal real capability, not just attendance
✅ Community-driven learning replaced siloed consulting engagements
✅ AI-enabled delivery made proven methods accessible to organizations of all sizes
✅ Global reach connected practitioners across continents, industries, and experience levels
✅ Outcome-focused measurement replaced activity-based metrics

This ecosystem didn’t move by accident. It moved because practitioners demanded better, organizations invested in structured methods, and innovators like HOBA Tech built the tools to make it scalable.

Ready to Transform Your Organization?

Get the same methodology that helped BP Oil & Gas, MHRA Government, and Cigna Healthcare achieve successful AI transformations.

Join HOBA Academy

👏 "You wouldn’t build a house without clearing the land first. Why would you build AI on broken processes? The HOBA 6-Step Process gives you the foundation to scale smart."#AIReadiness #TransformationLeadership #HOBAMethod #OperationalExcellence #ProcessBeforeTech 🏗️🧱📊🤝

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

What's Next: 2026 and Beyond

As we enter 2026, our roadmap is clear:

Q1 2026: HOBA Pro AI Public Launch

Q2-Q4 2026: Rapid Product Evolution

Books 2 & 3 Publication

Global Expansion

Community Growth

Join Us in 2026

The transformation industry is at an inflection point. AI is here. Complexity is increasing. The stakes have never been higher.

Will you be ready?

Here’s how to join the HOBA ecosystem in 2026:

Join the HOBA Pro AI Waitlist — Be first to access the platform when it launches in January
Enroll in Certified HOBA Business Transformation Architect Training — Gain the skills, frameworks, and credentials that separate transformation professionals from transformation amateurs
Read The Business Transformation Playbook — Understand the methodology behind the software (available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, and Gladwell’s)
Subscribe to Our Podcast — Get weekly insights from transformation leaders and practitioners
Follow HOBA Tech on LinkedIn — Stay updated on product releases, industry insights, and transformation trends

A practical guide to applying AI with the HOBA® agile framework so you deliver transformation faster, with less risk and more ROI.

🤖 “Stop treating AI as the complete solution. It's one of four levers: people, process, technology, and data. Master all four or join the 70% failure rate. ⚖️ #AITransformation #FourLevers #TransformationFail" 💡⚙️📈

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

If this resonated with you, discover how to make Business Transformation a reality—with less stress, fewer resources, and faster results. Explore our award-winning agile Business Transformation Framework, trusted by organizations worldwide, from the UK Government and FTSE-100 companies to innovative start-ups. Ready to begin your transformation journey? Start here.

Curious why The Business Transformation Playbook is hailed as the “Business Transformation Bible”? See what readers are saying in the Amazon reviews.

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Let us know in the comments what stood out to you or what topics you’d like us to cover next. If you found this valuable, share it with others who could benefit!

Thank You

To every practitioner who’s trusted HOBA, every organization that’s implemented our framework, every student who’s earned certification, and every reader who’s supported our mission—thank you.

2025 was the year the transformation ecosystem moved. 2026 will be the year it accelerates.

Let’s build the future together.

Heath Gascoigne
Founder & CEO, HOBA Tech
Digital Transformation CEO of the Year 2025
Author, The Business Transformation Playbook

P.S. — Still not on the HOBA Pro AI waitlist? Join now. The future of transformation launches in days, not months.

Heath Gascoigne

Hi, I'm Heath, the founder of HOBA TECH and host of The Business Transformation Podcast. I help Business Transformation Consultants, Business Designers and Business Architects transform their and their clients' business and join the 30% club that succeed. Join me on this journey.

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