Why Structure Drives Transformation
Executive Summary
Technology companies often compete by building better products. Keysight chose a different path. As customer challenges became increasingly complex, the company fundamentally redesigned its operating model—from product divisions to customer-focused industry verticals. According to Dr. Joachim Peerlings, this organisational transformation has become just as important as technological innovation itself.
Key Takeaways
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Customer needs should shape organisational design.
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Collaboration across traditional silos accelerates innovation.
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Competitive advantage increasingly comes from solving problems, not selling products.
The Insight
For decades, many technology companies were organised around products. Individual business units developed world-class components, while customers were left to integrate them into complete solutions.
Keysight recognised that this model no longer matched the complexity of its customers' challenges. Data centres, autonomous vehicles, AI infrastructure, and next-generation communication systems increasingly require integrated solutions rather than isolated products. Instead of asking which product should be sold, the company reorganised around a different question: What problem is the customer trying to solve?
This shift required far more than a new organisational chart. Teams that had spent decades optimising individual product lines had to collaborate across traditional boundaries. Engineering, software, services, and customer support became integrated around industry-specific challenges rather than internal structures. The transformation was significant, but it allowed Keysight to engage customers earlier in the innovation process and co-develop solutions instead of simply supplying components.
The broader lesson is highly relevant beyond the technology sector. Many organisations still structure themselves according to what they produce. Customers, however, care about the outcomes they are trying to achieve. Companies that organise around customer problems rather than internal products often create a competitive advantage that competitors struggle to replicate.
Continue the Conversation
This article explores one of the key themes discussed with Dr. Joachim Peerlings, Chair Managing Director Germany at Keysight Technologies. The full conversation also covers AI, semiconductors, data centres, leadership, innovation, and managing transformation in a global technology company.