When Technology Stops Being Scary: A Story About Change, Coffee, and a Little Courage

I still remember the first time I walked into a boardroom where the words digital transformation were being thrown around like confetti.

It was 9 years ago, on a Tuesday. The coffee was lukewarm. The Founder and CTO looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. And somewhere between “digital migration” and “Automation”, I realised half the room wasn’t nodding in agreement, they were nodding because they had no idea what was going on and didn’t want to admit it.

Here’s the truth no one tells you: technology can be intimidating, not because it’s complex (although, yes, it can be) but because change is. We’ve worked with teams where decades-old systems are like that one comfy pair of sneakers you can’t let go of. Reliable. Familiar. You know where all the scuff marks are. And then along comes a tech consultant talking about “automation” and “process optimisation”, and suddenly, it feels like they’re asking you to run a marathon in stilettos.

The thing is… it doesn’t have to be like that.

At Confer, we’ve seen first-hand that the most successful marketing and digital transformations aren’t the ones that start with a massive tech overhaul. They’re the ones that start with people. Listening to what they need. Understanding what slows them down. Asking them about their “What if?” moments.

Like the insurance team who thought AI would replace them, until they realised it could help them serve clients faster, freeing them up to focus on the conversations that really mattered. Or the retailer who was terrified of moving to the cloud, only to discover it meant their staff could work from anywhere, even at their daughter’s netball game.

Technology isn’t here to make life harder. It’s here to make it better, smoother, for all of us. But that only happens when the strategy is tailored to your business, your culture, and your people. So, next time someone starts talking about automation, AI, or the cloud, don’t picture a cold, robotic future. Picture your team with more time. Picture your customers getting answers faster. Picture that same CTO from my Tuesday meeting, sipping hot coffee this time, smiling because everything just works. That’s the future we build at Confer and it starts with one conversation.