Irving Wladawsky-Berger, former IBM executive and MIT visiting lecturer, examines how companies turn technology strategy into practice once it leaves the boardroom. This session from MIT's ESD.57 Technology-based Business Transformation course focuses on the external factors that shape execution, including shifting markets, competitors, and customer behavior. Wladawsky-Berger gives particular weight to market experimentation as a discipline, arguing that firms need structured trial-and-error in real markets rather than relying solely on internal planning. He also covers end-user innovation, drawing on examples of customers and communities driving product development ahead of corporate R&D. The talk fits into the course's broader arc on how large organizations adapt business models around new technologies, with reference to IBM's own transformation experience. Running about 76 minutes, it is a working lecture aimed at MBA-level students studying technology strategy, heavier on frameworks and reasoning than on slides or visuals.