Emerging tech trends will transform what businesses offer

Pushing boundaries: cryptocurrency bitcoin is revolutionising the financial landscape

Will the outgoing year’s hottest tech trends redefine how we do business in 2018, or simmer away into obscurity?
Will the outgoing year’s hottest tech trends redefine how we do business in 2018, or simmer away into obscurity?

The past year has seen developing technologies such as bitcoin and artificial intelligence (AI) explode into the public consciousness. And the year ahead could be the real litmus test for these tools, as they continue to become more sophisticated and businesses find even more innovative uses for them.

Jon Wrennall, chief technology officer at British software company Advanced, is excited to see the lasting impact of AI. He says: “We will see AI accelerate in 2018 as more organisations realise the significant rewards it brings. The biggest impact will be in customer service. Call centres will step aside so AI can address customer-facing problems.”

85pc of customer interactions will use AI by 2020
In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2020 customers will manage 85 per cent of their relationship with a business without interacting with a human – relying instead on AI technologies such as chatbots.

Another “buzz” technology of 2017 was “blockchain”, which underpins the bitcoin cryptocurrency. And this, too, could find its place in mainstream businesses next year. Identity technology company MiTek has predicted that next year will see 50 per cent of banks partner with blockchain companies for secure ID solutions and other purposes.

As Dr Catherine Mulligan of Imperial College Business School explains: “Blockchain has the potential to redefine how industry structures function through the use of decentralised economic structures. We will see many more examples ‘go live’ in 2018, from banking to food supply chains.”

The past year has seen developing technologies such as bitcoin and artificial intelligence (AI) explode
Augmented reality (AR), too, could reach a peak in 2018, says Paul Armstrong, author of Disruptive Technologies. “Augmented reality will experience a super year thanks to Facebook, Google and Snapchat AR kits launching, allowing people at all levels to create a new breed of apps,” he says. Samsung, for one, will be joining forces with Google to build Google’s AR framework, ARCore, into their Galaxy phones.

The new digital age
But it’s the internet of things (IoT) that could have the biggest impact, as it continues to transform manufacturing and production. The so-called “fourth industrial revolution”, also dubbed “Industry 4.0”, will see companies using smart production lines to overhaul the way they make and ship goods.

As Steve Jones, principal consultant at cloud company Amido, says: “The industrial IoT will enable data-driven manufacturing. This will introduce huge productivity boosts to industry.”

For many companies, the application of such technologies will be part of a broader “digital transformation” that could also see a major shake-up of traditional boardroom roles. Roles such as chief information officer (CIO) could change utterly, towards being a guru who “drives innovation” within a company, says Phil Lander, head of B2B at Samsung Europe.

Augmented reality (AR) could reach a peak in 2018
“Historically, the CIO role was one to often say ‘no’ to new technology and innovations,” he says. “Now that role has very much changed to say: ‘How do we make that work for us?’”

Gary Turner, UK managing director and co-founder at accountancy app Xero UK, agrees: “As business processes continue to be digitised at pace, we should expect business modelling and strategy to change significantly, too.

“The potential value derived by connecting vast numbers of digital processes together will call for a radically different way of thinking about business strategy. We’re seeing this shift across a huge range of sectors as technology continues to turbocharge what humans are able to achieve.”
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