The Global Lighthouse Network: Driving Impact and Scale in Digital Transformation
After six years, the Global Lighthouse Network (GLN) has expanded from 16 to 189 Lighthouses, representing factory, sustainability, and end-to-end value chain categories across 33 countries and 35 subsectors—four times greater than the number of subsectors in 2018.
The latest 36 Lighthouses—awarded in October 2024 and January 2025—have not only followed the playbook but are continuing to innovate. They illuminate three leading-edge lessons:
- They are tackling the digital “scaling slump” with a mindset to assetize use cases as enterprise capabilities while partnering with their frontline workforces to localize adoption.
- They are investing in their frontline workforces, focusing on productivity and stability in equal parts. Lighthouses design a range of talent solutions specifically tailored to develop and engage each site’s local workforce.
- They are progressing toward end-to-end sustainability, building on top of the tech-enabled eco-efficiency solutions pioneered by early Lighthouses with investments in value chain data and new partnership models, which will underpin circularity in the future.
Capturing the value from gen AI through a ‘value backed’ approach
Amid the recent AI hype, Lighthouses have cracked the code on site implementation: 77 percent of the top five use cases of this year’s Lighthouses were enabled by analytical AI, and 9 percent leverage gen AI. All have unlocked step changes in performance—averaging improvements of more than 50 percent in conversion cost, cycle times, and defect rates.
Developing ongoing learning journeys
One of the driving forces of the impact of the Global Lighthouse Network lies within its name: It is a network of peers that share knowledge and insights—even among competitors—enabled by the World Economic Forum’s platform. This multistakeholder, cross-industry collaboration empowers the community to skip past pilots and focus on learning the “how” of transformation.
Technology, talent, and sustainability on the path to performance
1. Technology
Today, instead of pilot purgatory, those at the frontier of digital innovation are facing a “scaling slump” where initial pilot successes fail to translate into scalable, sustainable network impact.
2. Talent
Transformation approaches at Lighthouses are deeply rooted in people: 75 percent of Lighthouses have deployed solutions in each of five priority areas for frontline talent management—safety, skill development, skill augmentation, work augmentation, and worker experience.
3. Sustainability
Tech-enabled digital transformation is advancing sustainability ambitions and providing the platform for more holistic circularity and decarbonization innovations with real business benefits.
Trends in technology: AI hype and Lighthouse adoption
Much of the discussion around AI is still focused on potential rather than proven applications. Many lament how AI is falling short, even hindering workers’ productivity.
The next two articles in this series will explore the mindset required for making digital transformations stick and looking beyond productivity to applying AI across value chains for greater agility and sustainability.
This article is an excerpt from Global Lighthouse Network: The Mindset Shifts Driving Impact and Scale in Digital Transformation, published by the World Economic Forum on January 14, 2025.
FAQ
Q: What is the Global Lighthouse Network?
A: The Global Lighthouse Network is a collection of leading factories and sites that showcase best practices in digital transformation, sustainability, and value chain optimization.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Global Lighthouse Network has demonstrated significant growth and innovation over the past six years, expanding its reach and impact across various industries and regions. The lessons learned from the latest Lighthouses highlight the importance of mindset shifts in driving successful digital transformations, talent development, and sustainability initiatives. Moving forward, continued collaboration and knowledge sharing among Lighthouses will be key to achieving sustainable and scalable digital transformations.
