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Interpreting digital transformation towards Industry 5.0: paradoxical tensions among leaders in architectural consultancy practices
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DOI：10.1080/17452007.2026.2663298.png)
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Abstract
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The transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 has intensified digital transformation in Architectural Consultancy Practices (ACPs), reshaping professional roles and organisational operations. While leaders adopt digital strategies to remain competitive, these strategies are often introduced without fully recognising the contradictory, yet interdependent forces involved. This study therefore examines how leaders in ACPs experience and interpret paradoxical tensions during digital transformation. Guided by an interpretive phenomenological approach, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 top-management architects, including managing directors, principal architects, directors, and chief executive officers within Malaysian ACPs. Drawing on the theoretical lenses of learning, performing, organising, and belonging, thematic analysis revealed five interrelated paradoxical tensions: (1) integrating expanding digital possibilities with workforce learning demands, (2) anchoring professional identity while embracing multidisciplinary collaboration, (3) balancing institutional control with project-level agility, (4) balancing organisational stability while investing in future-oriented innovation, and (5) sustaining professional performance amid digital intensification. The fifth tension introduces a novel Sustaining Paradox, capturing the ongoing effort required to manage technological intensification alongside the maintenance of professional functioning and adaptability over time. Theoretically, the study extends paradox theory into the psychosocial and professional domain of ACPs by demonstrating how digital transformation generates interconnected tensions that operate concurrently rather than sequentially. Practically, the study contributes by making these tensions conceptually visible. This conceptualisation provides leaders with a clearer language to interpret their situations, rather than prescribing specific interventions. Such clarity enables more informed leadership responses during the transition to Industry 5.0.
Keywords:
Digital transformation
architectural consultancy practice
Industry 5.0
architectural design management
paradox theory
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