1 Digital technology adoption drives strategic renewal for successful digital transformation Jacques Bughin a, c , Tobias Kretschmer b , Nicolas van Zeebroeck a a) iCite, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université libre de Bruxelles b) ISTO, LMU Munich, Germany c) MachaonAdvisory, Brussels, Belgium June 2021 Abstract A large focus of digital transformation has been on embedding digitization across organizational functions, but the most successful transformations are often coupled with strategic renewal. A deeper look at successful digital transformations shows that strategic renewal is facilitated by pervasive digital technology adoption, as those technologies are disruptive in nature and help shift the corporate mindset towards a less defensive posture. We derive and discuss the implications of this result for managers and organizations. Keywords: Digital Technology adoption, Strategic renewal, Digital transformation