Management Perspectives

Senior business leaders and executives have a lot on their minds right now—including supply chain issues, inflation, recession, and political conflict—and the rapid changes in the marketplace are showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Every year, I look ahead and identify the key tech trends for the coming year—the biggest things businesses must address now to remain competitive.

What should CEOs and senior business leaders be doing to prepare for the year ahead?

Let us explore some of the biggest tech trends to watch for in 2023.

• Artificial intelligence
  
  Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google, called artificial intelligence (AI) “the most profound technology that humanity will ever develop.” Although, we have only started to scratch the surface of the possibilities of AI, it already underlies an enormous amount of our daily life, from online shopping to social media to interactions with chatbots on our favourite sites.
  
  Companies are also using AI to automate everything from industrial machinery to email marketing. In 2023, as we continue to have breakthroughs in understanding the way AI works, it will become even more ubiquitous and useful.
  
  Within the next 12 months, we may also see AI starting to evolve toward more ‘generalised’ or ‘strong’ algorithms that are adaptable and able to carry out many different jobs, rather than being good at narrow, specific tasks (as is the case with the ‘specialised’ or ‘weak’ AI that is most commonly used today).
  
  One example of the most advanced AI in use today include the Perlmutter computer developed by Nvidia for the US National Energy Research Scientific Computer Center. Nvidia is using this AI to create the world’s most detailed and accurate map of the universe. OpenAI has also created the language model GPT-3, which can create written articles and books that are virtually indistinguishable from text created by humans.
• Extended reality
  
  Extended reality (XR) is an umbrella term for immersive technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). All immersive technologies extend the reality we experience by merging ‘real’ and virtual worlds, or by creating a fully immersive virtual experience.
  
  XR technologies share a common purpose— they bring the digital and physical worlds we operate in closer together, and allow us to navigate digital spaces using our eyes, ears, hands, and legs.
  
  With AR, companies can bring the flexibility of the digital world into the physical realm by overlaying computer graphics or other data over our real-world, physical environment. VR uses cutting-edge graphics, computing modelling, and simulation to provide fully immersive experiences that can be explored in 360 degrees.
  
  In the future, I believe it will be normal for people to work, play, and socialise in virtual environments. In 2023, business leaders need to be ready for the continued growth of extended reality. Just about any business process that can be carried out in the physical world— including finance, HR, manufacturing, and customer service—can be simulated in VR and AR.
• Everything is smart and connected
  
  In 2023, more and more devices will become capable of sharing data and communicating as part of the internet of things (IoT). While smartphones will still likely be people’s primary mechanism for interfacing with the digital world, advances in technology and user interface design will bring advancement to a huge range of other devices on the market.
  
  We already have smart watches, TVs, kitchen appliances, cars, and even toilets on the market, and we will see even more available for sale soon.
  
  Many of these products will be packaged with smart services that extend their usefulness. For example, health insurance provider Vitality uses smart devices like exercise equipment and watches to measure customers’ progress towards healthier lifestyles and provide rewards when they hit targets.
• The metaverse
  
  The future of the internet is the metaverse—an experiential, persistent, immersive internet where we will take our digital avatars to work, learn, and play across environments.
  
  Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the metaverse hype in late 2021, and since then, a huge range of organisations in industries from fashion to banking, entertainment, and gaming have jumped on board this trend.
  
  Many businesses are building on existing metaverse—leaning platforms like Roblox or Decentraland—to establish nitial metaverse initiatives. Even Frito-Lay’s Cheetos brand got in on the action around Halloween with its Chester the Cheetah metaverse experience for fans.
  
  Business leaders must be aware that in 2023, companies will continue to pilot metaverse projects and create immersive experiences for mainstream consumers. Executives and leaders should be thinking carefully about this iteration of the internet.
  
  How can you leverage this opportunity to build products and services that deliver more rewarding, immersive experiences for customers?
  
  How can you use metaverse tools and platforms to make your internal processes more engaging and efficient? This might mean things like leveraging VR and AR for collaborative remote working, project management, and training.
  
  
• Blockchain and digital trust
  
  In an increasingly digital world, ensuring that pieces of digital information are up-to-date, authentic, and accessible by the right people is critical. Blockchains— distributed, encrypted databases—have emerged in the last decade as a solution to this issue.
  
  Current use cases include cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, NFTs (nonfungible tokens) and also initiatives by Visa, Mastercard, and many banks. But over the next year, we will see many other types of companies applying this technology. Anywhere records need to be kept in an accessible, secure, traceable way, a blockchain can be useful.
  
  Blockchain technology has the power to shake up everything from legal documents to supply chain tracking, royalty payments, medical record-keeping, and even food provenance. Blockchains will also become intertwined with the internet of things (IoT), so we will have a tamperproof way to track the enormous number of interactions between software and machines.
  
  Business leaders should be thinking about the ways they can use blockchain to streamline manual or digitally disparate processes. Virtually, any service that involves multiple parties—and that is pretty much every service in our online world—can benefit significantly from blockchain technology.
  
  
• Where to go from here
  
  In 2023, business leaders will continue to see developments and innovations in transformative technologies like artificial intelligence, internet of things, extended reality, the metaverse, and blockchain.
  
  With these trends, executives have an enormous opportunity to use technology to help them scale solutions, offer customercentric products and services, and pioneer new, immersive forms of engagement.