Three Tech Trends to transform business in the next decade

While Covid-19 was disruptive in many ways, it didn’t actually create new trends in enterprise technology, but rather catalyze existing ones.

The result? Organizations were able to quickly create multi-year technology plans for major investments such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation and cloud. They could be completed in months or even weeks. What did the result look like? Many companies have reached their goals earlier than expected.

The future is yet to come. Our legacy will be today’s innovations. Executives must anticipate meaningful advancements and capabilities for the next decade. This will allow them to ride tailwinds and dodge headwinds and reduce, if not eliminate, interest payments on technical debt.

However, the signal-to noise ratio in most projections for future tech is poor. This creates an anxiety-inducing blizzard every year of buzzwords. Our futures research focuses on identifying emerging technologies that will improve customer experience, modernize operations, or drive competitive advantage.

There are three types of emerging tech that will transform every aspect business over the next decade: ambient computing, exponential intelligence and quantum technologies. These field notes can help business leaders gain a vision of the future and assist them in creating a future that is technology-forward.

Quantum Technologies

Nobel laureate Richard Feynman once stated, “I think that I can safely say nobody really understands quantum mechanics.”

To skip the physics lesson, quantum-powered solutions use the peculiar properties of subatomic particles to allow for us to solve seemingly impossible problems using physics rather than mathematics. Quantum is as far as digital leaps over analog.

Quantum R&D is moving from R to R, so the race between technology giants, governments and early-stage startups for commercial applications will soon be over.

There are three areas you should be paying attention to:

1. Quantum computing is able to solve complex computational problems through the processing of huge data sets in novel ways. Quantum computers can perform specialized tasks that take thousands of years to complete in just five minutes.
2. Quantum communication, a hardware-based technology, can greatly improve cybersecurity. It creates theoretically tamperproof networks that can detect attempts to intercept and eavesdropping. Quantum key distribution (QKD), a method to securely exchange encryption keys and transmit data over optical networks, will be used to secure this communication.
3. Quantum sensors are more accurate and responsive than traditional sensors and have promising applications in sectors such as energy, transport, and health care. Quantum sensors are lighter, portable, more efficient and more affordable than their predecessors.

Quantum is attractive to techies, but business leaders need to consider how Quantum can provide specific competitive advantages over discrete business requirements. Quantum’s benefits will first be shared by those who know in advance what quantum problems they must solve.

Exponential Intelligence

Traditional business intelligence solutions that were most popular included descriptive analytics, which was used to find and surface hidden correlations within data sets. Predictive analytics has been gaining popularity over the past 15 years. These algorithms can further predict what’s likely next.

Recent developments in AI-driven organizations use machine intelligence to augment and automate human thought.

The next-generation intelligence will be able to access more human behavioral data, allowing it to better understand and mimic human emotion and intent. The age of emotional or affective AI is here.

A smile, a thought pause, or a choice in words can all be data to a machine that helps an organization gain a better understanding of its customers, employees, citizens, students, and citizens. Data organizations can also use it to create automated systems that better link their ethical, financial and social goals.

The business case for these creative machines is compelling for customer service representatives, caregivers and sales agents as well as stage actors. Leaders must recognize the importance to adopt trustworthy AI practices in order to minimize any biases, explicit or tacit, in their training data, models, and resulting system. Technology Futures is a report by Deloitte, the World Economic Forum and others. It states that “We must teach digital children well, training their to do what we say, not necessarily what we have done.”

Ambient Experience

The 20 years of human-computer interaction can be summarized as an increasing number of smaller screens. We are literally surrounded with digital information thanks to powerful mobile devices and advanced network technology.

Ambient experience is a way to see the future of digital interaction beyond screens. It involves interacting with the digital world through intuitive, out-of the-way options that better suit our needs.

The future is brightened by recent advances in digital assistants and smart speakers. These language interfaces speak only when they are spoken to, and then respond in a timely manner. Devices are becoming more able to anticipate our intentions and provide help based upon their understanding of context and content.

Another side of the coin is an unlimited reality. Although virtual reality (VR), isn’t new, enterprises are increasingly turning to VR to support functions such as training, team building and remote truck driving.

These ambient experiences can drive simplicity and reduce friction in the user experience. Technology is evolving so that a glance, gesture, or voice could indicate intent and allow for the exchange of business-critical information. The digital concierges of tomorrow will be able to handle complex routines in smart cities and homes without the need for logins or any other steps.

Foresight is 80/20

These field notes from tomorrow are not a warning to abandon today’s plans for what’s ahead. They are a reminder to keep going.

Today’s investments into cloud, data and digital experiences are a foundation for quantum technologies, exponential intelligence and ambient experience.

Research shows that 80 percent of technology budgets are directed towards existing investments, while 20 percent is directed toward emerging tech. Organizations can create tech-forward strategies now to help them compete, lead and grow their businesses.