A ‘tech first’ approach (create an API) will not make this company agile. The question that the CEO of SuperRentalCorp needs to answer is ‘do we want to become

A ‘tech first’ approach (create an API) will not make this company agile. The question that the CEO of SuperRentalCorp needs to answer is ‘do we want to become a tech company?’ If yes, then start a multi year transformation starting with defining tech career ladders, a strategy how to train internals and hire externals, how to separate with those intervals that are unable to follow. Be clear and offer an opportunity for those that want to stay and be generous for those that can’t. If done correctly you will have the necessary basis for beginning a tech transform in a couple of years. If the CEO does not want to be a tech company then I’d investigate options for spinning out a service company to serve the rental market, ideally in collaboration with some competitors.