Digital adoption professionals

2024 trends and insights

Figure 1: Increase in the number of DAP professionals

Introduction

The digital adoption platform (DAP) professional landscape has expanded rapidly since we started tracking the role in 2020. Over 7,000 professionals now include WalkMe in their titles, job descriptions, or skills, an increase of 169% from 2020.

This report analyzes survey data from nearly 500 global DAP professionals, examining the role’s impact across various factors including geography, professional experience, salary, and AI adoption. It offers invaluable insights for current professionals interested in growing their careers and organizations implementing or expanding their digital adoption strategies

01/06

DAP professionals work globally across different organizations

While North America continues to be the largest market for DAP professionals, the role seems to have caught on in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). The number of DAP professionals in EMEA has increased by close to 10% since we first started tracking the profession in 2022 and now stands at more than 22%.

DAP professionals around the world

Figure 2: DAP professionals worldwide

Figure 3: Increase in the number of DAP professionals in EMEA

The DAP professional role is popular across organizations of all sizes

Figure 4: DAP professionals work in businesses of all sizes

02/06

DAP professional experience and salaries

75.2% of DAP professionals have less than five years of experience.

This includes 13.5% with under one year of experience and another 28.3% with 1-2 years, indicating that the field is rapidly growing and attracting new talent.

This trend reflects the increasing demand for digital adoption expertise as organizations accelerate their digital transformation efforts. It also shows that there are many entry-level positions available, a positive sign for newcomers entering the profession. As these professionals gain experience, they’ll likely assume more complex roles, aiding in the field’s growth and development.

How long have DAP professionals been working with a digital adoption platform?

Less than 1 year

13.5%

1-2 years

28.3%

3-5 years

33.4%

6-9 years

17.5%

10+ years

7.3%

Figure 5: DAP professional experience working with a digital adoption platform

Figure 6: DAP professional salaries

What are salaries like for DAP professionals?

When looking at global DAP professional compensation, we see that 30% have a salary below $50,000 USD a year, 43% earn $50,000 – $100,000 a year, and 27% bring home more than $100,000.

Figure 7: Weighted salary midpoints by experience and region

There is a strong correlation between DAP professional experience and career growth.

What’s interesting is the differences in how quickly DAP professionals’ salaries increase depending on where they work. In North America, DAP professionals see significant increases in salary as early as 1-2 years into their career. In other regions, however, major salary increases only occur after 6-9 years of experience.

Figure 8: DAP salary levels by region

Digging deeper into salary differences based on region, we see that the vast majority of DAP professionals in North America (68%) earn more than the median salary. The same holds true in South America, where 90% of DAP professionals earn higher than the median income in the region. Salaries in EMEA and the Asia Pacific countries are much more evenly distributed. 60% of DAP professionals in EMEA earn more than the median salary while nearly 30% earn less. Meanwhile, more than half of DAP professionals in Asia either earn the median income or above it.

03/06

DAP professional background

Figure 9: DAP professional background

The role of DAP professional appeals to people across professional backgrounds.

Figure 10: DAP professional employment status

What’s the employment status for DAP professionals?

While the vast majority of DAP professionals are salaried employees, the role is also very appealing to contract workers. This indicates high demand for DAP professionals, as enterprises are supplementing existing teams with contract positions.

Are you interested in augmenting your digital adoption efforts with an external service provider? Check out WalkMe’s partner network.

04/06

The role of the DAP professional

What is the primary role DAP professionals take?

Figure 11: DAP professional primary role

How do enterprises manage their digital adoption efforts?

We are fully self-sufficient

34.3%

The majority of projects are managed internally

35.4%

The majority of digital adoption projects are outsourced

28.5%

We are fully reliant on a service provider

1.8%

Figure 12: Digital adoption management

While many companies seek help from experienced GSIs or other service providers to manage digital adoption initiatives, the majority are fully self-sufficient or manage most of their projects using internal DAP professionals. DAP professional roles vary from content creators to program managers, requiring ongoing skill development for career growth. Enhance your skills with free role-specific certifications from WalkMe’s Digital Adoption Institute, available to all WalkMe customers

05/06

The day-to-day of the DAP professional

Application walkthroughs/ guided tours

0 %

Task automation

0 %

Embedded contextual help/tooltips

0 %

Analytics/usage tracking

0 %

Figure 13: Digital adoption platform primary use cases

What are the primary use cases for your digital adoption platform?

Figure 14: Digital adoption platform implementation challenges

Integrating the platform with existing software

26.8%

Customizing the platform for your unique needs

22.3%

Lack of employee awareness

19%

Lack of buy-in from senior management

15.5%

Insufficient change management programs

8.4%

Data privacy concerns

2.9%

What has been the biggest challenge with implementing a digital adoption platform?

Figure 15: Digital adoption platform management challenges

Integrating with apps/systems

28.8%

Creating/maintaining content

24.3%

Lack of resources/bandwidth

24.3%

Customizing the platform for your unique needs

8.2%

Data privacy concerns

4.6%

What has been the biggest challenge with managing a digital adoption platform?

Get the resources you need to successfully roll out and manage your digital adoption platform with WalkMe’s Champion Toolkit

Figure 16: DAP professional team size

What is the typical DAP professional team size?

How many applications do you manage with a digital adoption platform?

Figure 17: Applications managed with a digital adoption platform

Figure 18: Digital adoption professional team size and applications managed with DAP

With 70% of enterprise executives prioritizing digital adoption as a KPI, the size of DAP professional teams is crucial for meeting strategic goals. The positive link between team size and applications managed – 68% of DAP professionals on a team of 1-5 manage 1-5 applications and 63% of DAP professionals on a team of 10 or more manage more than 10 applications – highlights the need for executives to expand their teams to maximize digital adoption benefits.

Figure 19: Cross application workflows managed with a digital adoption platform

How many cross-application workflows do you currently manage with a digital adoption platform?

Figure 20: Digital adoption professional team size and cross-application workflows managed with DAP

There is a similar correlation between DAP professional team size and cross-application workflows managed with DAP. As the number of business processes continues to increase, organizations will want to grow their DAP professional teams to ensure their workflows are managed and utilized effectively.

06/06

GenAI and DAP professionals

Do you use AI solutions to facilitate digital adoption?

Figure 21: AI-facilitated digital adoption projects

Close to 60% of DAP professionals use AI products or solutions to help facilitate digital adoption projects.

This indicates that tools like AI copilots are likely to have a profound impact on both the DAP professional role and digital adoption efforts as a whole.

Regional GenAI usage

Figure 22: Digital adoption professional AI adoption rates by region

88% of DAP professionals in South America use AI products or solutions in their daily work.

This is well ahead of North America, where 66% of DAP professionals use AI tools; EMEA, where 59% use AI solutions; and APAC, where only 45% use AI. Notably, 47% of DAP professionals in APAC have an interest in using AI, indicating significant room for growth.

How do you think AI might best be used in your organization?

There are plenty of areas DAP professionals can explore when using AI in their role, most notably task automation and streamlining workflows.

Task automation

0 %

Streamlining workflows

0 %

Application walkthroughs/ guided tours

0 %

Change management programs

0 %

Embedded contextual help/tooltips

0 %

Analytics/usage tracking

0 %

Employee onboarding

0 %

Other

0 %

Figure 23: Recommended organizational GenAI usage

What percentage of your organization uses GenAI tools?

We do not use GenAI

15.3%

Below 25%

38.3%

26%-50%

26.5%

51%-75%

11.9%

76%-100%

Figure 24: Organizational GenAI usage

Organizations aren’t adopting GenAI at the same rate as DAP professionals.

38% of DAP professionals say that less than a quarter of their organization uses GenAI. Another 15% say that no one in their company uses GenAI.

What are the roadblocks to successfully using AI in your organization?

Figure 26: Roadblocks to successful organizational AI usage

Are you using digital adoption solutions to facilitate AI usage at your organization?

Figure 25: Digital adoption solutions to facilitate AI tool usage

What's next for DAP professionals?

The role of DAP professional continues to evolve, with significant growth in numbers, global reach, and impact across organizations of all sizes. As AI technologies become more prevalent, DAP professionals are at the forefront of integrating these tools into organization-wide workflows. The diverse backgrounds of DAP professionals, coupled with the increasing demand for their skills, suggest a bright future for this still emerging field.

Connect with fellow DAP professionals

WalkMe’s Customer Community is the largest network of DAP professionals. Join thousands of industry leaders to ask questions, submit product ideas, and join the DAP Pro Show virtual event series.

Explore the Digital Adoption Institute

The Digital Adoption Institute is the go-to resource for growing your digital adoption skills. Get comprehensive self-paced training to take your program to the next level.

Meet the top 100 DAP Professionals of 2024

Celebrate the individuals who champion digital adoption innovation and excellence. Nominations close August 9th, voting closes September 6th, and the final list will be announced September 24th!