In this Q&A, discover how Hull’s MSc in Digital Transformation prepares future leaders to manage change, risks, and opportunities in the digital era.
Digital transformation is reshaping industries and redefining the skills leaders need to succeed. Organisations are looking for professionals who can bridge the gap between technology and business strategy, understand the risks of digital change, and lead teams through complex, high-stakes projects.
In this Q&A, Programme Director Dr Dionysios Demetis explains why the University of Hull’s MSc in Digital Transformation is so relevant in today’s market. He shares how the course prepares students for leadership roles, the skills they gain, and the digital trends that future leaders must be ready to navigate.
Dionysios: I think it's important to state that most of our students are in working positions. We’ve been delighted to see their progression and see them getting promotions within their organisation.
I'd say that there's a lot of complexity in today's technological systems, and a lot of business disasters happen daily. Just recently, the Co-op, a famous UK supermarket chain, announced that it lost 6.5 million customers’ data records, including personal addresses. Whether it’s a cyber-attack or a different technological complexity, the bottom line is that technology must be managed from an organisational and business perspective.
To manage technology but also yield its potential for digital transformation, we must be familiar with how it impacts organisations from a business standpoint.
In their organisations, many of our students act as a bridge between senior management, the board of directors, operations and technology teams. They can do this because they understand both the potential of technology and the associated risks they must account for.
To adjust our programme and ensure that it’s relevant to the global job market, we’ve introduced modules like Digital Strategy, for example. We've also introduced a module on customer-led disruption.
No matter what a company seeks to achieve, they must reflect on a crucial question. What are their customers willing to do to engage and buy services or products from that company?
To address these shifts in customer behaviour, the entire organisation must be supported with various technologies. And of course, in many cases, one of these technologies could be AI.
We’ve positioned our programme to support the whole organisation of this system. And we’re seeing our students benefit from this when they advance in their careers.
Dionysios: The MSc in Digital Transformation is about leadership. It's about moving people who might have some managerial exposure to positions that are higher up in the organisational hierarchy.
There's always excitement about digital changes. But in business, people always ask, "What’s in it for me? Show me the money”, because we see major businesses losing a lot of money on technological implementations that go wrong for various reasons.
For example, Lidl lost half a billion euros trying to implement a SAP ERP system, and the whole project turned into a catastrophe. Unless we understand the nature of technology and how it impacts business, we're setting businesses up for major problems.
That is the type of preparation we aim for: a leadership-level understanding of technology, no matter which technology it is. Our students have explored digital transformation in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, specific applications and platforms, cloud computing, and blockchain analytics.
Students can specialise in whatever technology and business area they like. This could be regulatory-related compliance for technology, reg-tech, fintech – whatever their interest is. And that's why our students come from a wide variety of industries.
Dionysios: One of the most significant emerging trends is the use of generative AI in business processes. We are seeing companies automate customer service through chatbots, streamline content creation, and apply AI in other operational areas.
For future leaders, there are two critical questions to consider:
The answers will vary greatly depending on an organisation’s industry, operations, and risk appetite. There have been high-profile examples of AI going wrong, such as chatbots from major companies like Microsoft responding inappropriately to customers, which highlight the risks involved.
Despite these risks, AI will inevitably become part of daily business life. That is why strategic planning and risk assessment for AI adoption are essential. In our MSc Digital Transformation, we address these issues with particular attention to cybersecurity, and more specifically information security management.
Businesses are increasingly dependent on digital data, with no manual fallback systems, making the responsible management of AI and other technological integrations a core leadership duty.
Another exciting development is the rise of AI-enabled no-code platforms. These have the potential to democratise access to advanced technologies for non-developers. However, to use them effectively, leaders must understand both the architecture and the underlying principles of these tools, as well as be clear about the outcomes they want to achieve.
Ultimately, managing the complexity and unintended consequences of technology is one of the biggest challenges for future leaders. As autonomous systems become more integrated into organisations, risk management, governance, security, and customer experience must all be addressed from a holistic business perspective.
As Dr Dionysios Demetis has explained, the MSc in Digital Transformation equips you with both the strategic insight and the technical understanding to guide organisations through complex change. You’ll learn to connect business goals with technological capabilities, manage risks, and lead digital initiatives that deliver real value.
To explore the course in more detail, including modules, entry requirements and how to apply, visit our MSc Digital Transformation course page: