I spend my days observing innovation up close. Entrepreneurs who build, who test, who start over. Teams that solve in three months problems that century-old organizations have failed to address in ten years.
And sometimes, I look up and I measure the gap.
Our large companies — private groups, banks, public operators — are still moving cautiously on topics that the rest of the world has already integrated into everyday life. This is not a judgment. It is an observation. And above all, it is a starting point.
Because the good news is there: the resources exist. The skills exist too. What is at stake today is a matter of will and method.
What we are going through is not an ordinary crisis
For the past two years, artificial intelligence has moved from the laboratory to the office. Entire sectors are being reshaped — finance, healthcare, logistics, education. This is not just another technological trend. It is a fundamental shift, comparable to the arrival of the internet in the 90s, but ten times faster.
In this context, waiting to have all guarantees before acting is no longer a cautious strategy. Objectively, it is the riskiest position.
The data confirms it. Studies on Tunisian companies consistently show that those who adopt innovation and digital transformation outperform their peers: they are more productive, they sell more, and they expand internationally more effectively. The World Bank identifies digitalization as one of the most direct levers to strengthen our economy’s competitiveness. This is not theory. These are measured facts on Tunisian ground.
So why is it so difficult?
It is not a question of budget, nor of talent, nor even of technology. It is a question of organizational culture — and of what is, or is not, expected from internal innovators.
Some common realities I often see:
The reflex of preliminary studies. An opportunity appears. Instead of testing it at a small scale, a working group is created. A report is awaited. The decision is postponed. Meanwhile, the window of opportunity closes.
Dependence on large consulting firms. When a decision is finally made, there is an instinctive turn toward well-known names — international consultants applying methodologies designed for other contexts, at non-local prices. Meanwhile, a Tunisian startup that understands the field, the regulatory environment, and real market constraints is never consulted.
Frustrated internal talent. In almost every large organization, there are brilliant profiles who see what could be done differently. They make proposals. They are politely received, then filed away. After two or three attempts, these people leave — for a startup, abroad, or into silent resignation. It is a massive loss, and it is avoidable.
Partnerships that never happen. Collaborating with a local startup is often seen as a risk, or even as a favor granted. Validation cycles are endless. Contract requirements, designed for industrial-scale providers, crush teams of ten people. The result: the best solutions never make it through the door.
What changes concretely when a leader decides to act
I am not talking about grand strategic declarations or five-year plans. I am talking about simple decisions, made at the right level.
A leader who agrees to launch a pilot with a local startup — and protects it when results are not immediate. An HR manager who makes room for atypical profiles, those who ask uncomfortable questions and are precisely valuable for that reason. A procurement team that adapts its processes so that young, agile companies can actually respond to tenders. A top management team that decides innovation is not just another project, but a way of working.
These are the decisions that make the difference. Not conferences. Not committees. Actions.
A direct question
If a member of your team came to you tomorrow morning with a concrete idea to automate a costly process, or to test a new service using technology available today — what would happen?
Would they be given real space to experiment? Or a list of prerequisites that make the initiative impossible before it even begins?
There is no public right or wrong answer to this question. But the honest answer — the one we give ourselves — is often revealing.
This is not a generational issue. It is a decision issue.
We sometimes hear that digital transformation is the business of the young, of startups, of digital natives. That is false. Leaders who have built solid organizations in difficult environments already have exactly the qualities needed to drive this change: the ability to decide under uncertainty, to mobilize teams, and to stay the course.
What changes is the environment. And adapting to a changing environment is precisely what good leaders do.
Tunisia has everything it needs for its large organizations to become engines of innovation — not spectators. It has the talent, the ecosystem, and the regulatory framework. What still needs to be built is the bridge between this potential and the decisions that activate it.
That bridge is you.
