Why Bridge Builders Between Business and IT Are Indispensable

The digital gap between business and IT: a structural problem

In many organizations, there is a persistent gap between business and IT. This digital gap is one of the biggest challenges for successful digital transformation. While business departments focus on strategy, customer needs and growth, IT teams are busy with technical feasibility, architecture and maintenance. The lack of a good connection between these worlds often leads to miscommunication, inefficient projects and missed opportunities.

In this blog post, we explain why this gap arises, what the consequences are, and why bridge builders, professionals who understand and connect both worlds, are essential for modern organizations.

Causes of the gap between business and IT

The digital gap between business and IT arises from a combination of factors:

1. Language and cultural differences
   Business speaks in terms of revenue, customer value and strategy. IT uses jargon like APIs, architecture and technical debt. This difference in language and mindset causes misunderstandings and slows down decision-making.
2. Different priorities and time horizons
   Business wants to respond quickly to market opportunities, while IT focuses on stability, security and scalability. This creates tensions over deadlines and expectations.
3. Lack of shared context
   Without shared understanding of each other's goals and challenges, technical choices are often disconnected from business strategy, leading to suboptimal solutions.
4. Silos in the organization
   Departments work past each other, so knowledge and insights are not shared. This hinders innovation and slows down projects.

What are the consequences of the digital gap?

• Delayed digital transformation: Projects take longer due to miscommunication and rework.
• Inefficient investments: IT solutions do not match the actual business need, so budgets are not optimally used.
• Dissatisfied stakeholders: Both business and IT experience frustration due to unclear expectations and results.
• Limited innovation: New ideas get stuck because the translation between strategy and technology is missing.

The role of the bridge builder between business and IT

A bridge builder, also called business-IT translator, digital lead or solution architect, is someone who speaks both the language of business and that of IT. This role is crucial to bridge the gap and ensures:

• Clear communication: Complex technical concepts are translated into understandable business impact and vice versa.
• Better alignment: Business goals are linked to technical solutions, making projects deliver more value.
• Faster decision-making: Through insight into both worlds, bottlenecks can be resolved faster.
• More innovation: Bridge builders signal opportunities where business and IT can strengthen each other.

Practical examples: how bridge builders make the difference

Example 1: More efficient marketing processes

In the retail sector, a marketing department was having trouble translating their automation wishes to IT. By deploying a bridge builder, the workflows were analyzed and translated into a technical platform that supported both creativity and efficiency. The result: faster campaigns and fewer errors.

Example 2: Quick validation of new products

A startup wanted to quickly launch a new digital product, but got stuck in technical choices. A bridge builder helped translate the business case into a minimal viable product (MVP), allowing market feedback to be collected within two weeks and the product to be developed in a targeted manner.

Best practices for bridging the gap

1. Invest in joint sessions
   Organize workshops where business and IT discuss goals and challenges together.
2. Use visual aids
   Models like customer journeys, wireframes and process diagrams help make abstract ideas concrete.
3. Work iteratively and ask for feedback
   By working in short cycles and regularly collecting feedback, business and IT stay aligned.
4. Provide a dedicated bridge builder
   Make the bridge builder a permanent role within projects, so knowledge and context are preserved.

Conclusion: bridge builders are the key to successful digital transformation

The digital gap between business and IT is a structural problem that can hinder innovation and growth. By investing in bridge builders, professionals who understand and connect both worlds, organizations can digitize faster, more efficiently and with more impact. This requires attention to communication, shared context and actively facilitating collaboration.

If you want to be future-proof as an organization, it is essential to take the role of bridge builder seriously and structurally embed it in your digital strategy.

About the author: Mathijs Oggel specializes in bridging the gap between business and IT. With experience in developing SaaS platforms and enterprise solutions, he shares insights about digital transformation and collaboration between teams.