Five forces of digital transformation: What will shape the digital workplace in the years ahead
Information technology has been evolving continuously since the advent of the first computers. In recent years, however, that development has gained significantly in speed and scope. Technologies that were long discussed mainly as research topics or visions of the future have entered everyday working life – or are already being actively prepared for.
Generative AI is the most visible example: In the Future of Jobs Report 2025, 86 percent of the employers surveyed by the World Economic Forum expect AI and information-processing technologies to transform their business by 2030. At the same time, IT teams are already preparing for the next technological challenge: NIST and the European Union are driving the transition to post-quantum cryptography to prepare today's systems for the future capabilities of quantum computers.
The change therefore extends far beyond individual applications. Ways of working, security concepts and technological foundations are evolving at the same time. For digital collaboration, we see five forces as particularly influential: Artificial Intelligence, Regulation, the API Economy, Digital Sovereignty and Zero Trust.
For companies, this means that their digital infrastructure must meet today's requirements while being designed to evolve as those requirements change.
1. Artificial Intelligence: Automation becomes part of everyday work
AI has become part of many workflows. Documents can be automatically summarized, translated, reviewed or classified. At the same time, new capabilities bring new requirements: companies need clear rules governing which data AI systems may access and how sensitive information is processed.
AI is also changing the security landscape. The UK National Cyber Security Centre expects AI to further accelerate and scale existing attack methods through 2027. These include vulnerability research, social engineering and exploit development. At the same time, AI can also support cyber defence, for example by detecting threats more quickly and helping automate the response to them.
2. Regulation: Requirements are becoming more complex and dynamic
With NIS2, DORA, the Cyber Resilience Act, the AI Act and other rules, the regulatory framework for digital systems is expanding. Risk management, resilience, auditability and the management of service providers are gaining in importance, while the EU and Germany in particular continue to develop this legal framework.
In this article, the regulatory framework refers to the body of legal, supervisory and industry-specific requirements. Regulation describes the process through which such requirements are created and amended.
For most companies, what matters in day-to-day operations is being able to implement new requirements within their existing IT structures wherever possible. Digital solutions should support change rather than make a fundamental system change necessary whenever new requirements arise.
3. API economy: Digital collaboration becomes more connected
Applications today rarely operate as isolated solutions. Data and processes move continuously between business applications, cloud services, platforms and automated workflows. APIs connect these systems, help eliminate data silos and enable end-to-end workflows.
Digital collaboration, for example in a virtual data room, must also fit into this infrastructure. Alongside the functionality of the application itself, what matters is how securely and reliably it can be integrated into existing processes and systems.
4. Digital sovereignty: Control becomes a selection criterion
Where is our data stored? Which jurisdiction is a provider subject to? What dependencies arise from a particular platform or infrastructure? Questions like these are playing an increasingly important role in IT decisions. The European Commission has also made technological sovereignty an explicit focus of its digital strategy, linking it to control over key technologies, data and infrastructure and to reducing strategic dependencies.
For companies, digital sovereignty means being able to make key decisions about their data and technical infrastructure themselves. This includes transparent data flows, clear responsibilities and realistic ways to limit dependencies – for example through migration strategies and data storage that remains under the company's control.
5. Zero Trust: Trust must be verified
Zero Trust assumes that a user or system should not be trusted solely because of its location or affiliation – for example, with a "trusted" company. NIST accordingly describes the concept as a shift away from protecting static network perimeters and towards protecting individual users, systems and resources.
Identities, permissions and access are therefore checked deliberately and limited to the specific use case. This is particularly relevant when working with external partners, advisers, customers or transaction participants. The more distributed collaboration becomes, the more important granular permissions, secure authentication and traceable activities are.
What connects these five forces
AI is accelerating the processing of information and changing the security landscape. New regulation is increasing the demands placed on companies and their IT. APIs are connecting more and more applications and processes. Digital sovereignty is making control over data and technological dependencies an important selection criterion. Zero Trust reflects the fact that collaboration has long since moved beyond clearly defined corporate networks.
This is also changing the role of the virtual data room. Sensitive information today needs more than secure storage and sharing. It is edited collaboratively, integrated into different processes and used by changing groups of internal and external participants. A modern data room provides a secure digital workspace in which companies can retain control over data, access and collaboration.
These are the requirements guiding the continued development of netfiles. We are renewing our technological foundation, expanding existing functionality and creating the conditions to respond more quickly to new requirements. It is impossible to predict every technology and regulation that will shape everyday work several years from now. But the technical foundation can be prepared for change today.
Collaborate securely – today and in the future
What requirements does your company have for secure digital collaboration? Talk to us about your processes and challenges and make netfiles your partner for digital collaboration. Or try netfiles Data Room for yourself – free of charge for 14 days with no obligation.