My Top 10 Technology Predictions for 2024

2023 was an incredibly interesting year for the technology ecosystem. We saw generative AI (or what I like to call “pop AI'') become a hot topic across the globe, alongside AI regulation, the impact of technology on climate change, and the global technology skills gap. We also saw the decline in excitement around previously ''hot” topics like web3, crypto, NFTs, and blockchain.

After several months of conversations with our team of over 300+ data scientists, researchers, software engineers and researchers at Sand Technologies, I have put together a list of my top 10 technology predictions for next year, 2024.

1. Enterprise AI is poised for significant adoption: In 2023, the rapid ascent of ‘Pop AI' across the globe led to widespread management discussions on how to harness artificial intelligence for business growth. As we enter 2024, the nature of these discussions will evolve from mere theory. Executives will be required to deepen their understanding of AI and its practical applications within their organizations.?
2. Big data will continue growing exponentially and organizations will leverage AI and Machine Learning to monitor and extract insights: In 2024, the quantity of unstructured data handled by businesses will double making it even more difficult to extract insights. Companies will turn to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to automate data processing to expedite decision making.?
3. Data Analytics will become critical for every company: Data analytics will become even more popular in 2024, informing board and executive decisions. However, faced with diminishing budgets, organizations will likely invest in data analytics training for employees so that they can do more of this in-house.
4. Digital Twins will advance beyond the manufacturing sector, to the public sector and beyond: In 2024, more organizations will invest in Digital Twins to gain deeper insights into their entire operating system, make investment decisions,? optimize the performance and longevity of their assets, and drive sustainability.
5. More companies will begin leveraging “Industrial AI” to address Climate Change: With increasing pressure from regulators, activists, shareholders, and customers, many organizations will look to industrial AI to track and optimize their carbon footprint in 2024.
6. Generative AI will drive efficiencies across the value chain: The application of Gen AI will evolve into more than just ‘faster writing’ and cool gimmicks in 2024. Organizations will begin to strategically assess how Gen AI’s impressive capabilities can drive business impact across their entire value chain. The optimal approach will involve seamlessly integrating GenAI into daily/ routine tasks,? and harnessing its power to reshape organization-wide processes, skills, operations and incentives Every aspect of the value chain—from marketing, to sales, to customer support, to software engineering, operations, recruitment, human resource management, legal, and finance, and many other parts of the enterprise will be affected by Gen AI., with 30-50% efficiency gains.??
7. Companies will extract more value from their cloud innovations with AI: Over the last decade, companies have invested heavily in cloud (migration, compute, and storage). This has allowed them to derive value from descriptive analytics (“what happened?”), and diagnostic analytics (“why did it happen?”). In 2024, organizations will seek to extract more value from their cloud investments by leveraging AI to enhance their analytical maturity to predictive analytics (“what will happen”? and prescriptive analytics (“how can I make it happen?”).
8. Companies will prioritize cost control while adopting new technologies: Another significant trend in 2024 will be cost control in technology. An increasingly fragile and uncertain economic environment means that? senior executives will be more cautious in adopting new technologies (with the exception of AI), and will seek clearer justification of ROI from their CTOs.
9. AI Trust, Risk & Security Management (AI TRiSM) will become an area of focus:? Organizations need AI TriSM controls to reduce biases in decision making, increase the accuracy of AI predictions, promote greater fairness, and prevent copyright violations, especially with generative AI. AI regulation will put pressure on AI model explainability, while AI model builders will struggle to explain how their increasingly large language models work.?
10. Organizations will invest in internal AI- capability development: ?The massive shortage of AI talent, pitted against the need for widespread adoption of AI by companies? across the globe will force companies to prioritize internal capacity building in 2024. Personnel will receive training in novel and evolving technologies to enhance their productivity, and companies will embrace staff-augmentation to bridge the specialized internal skills gap as an interim and complementary solution.

I am very excited about the technological innovations that 2024 will bring. With the increasing pace of AI and other technological innovation, businesses regardless of size, can no longer put off discussions on digital transformation if they want to remain competitive..

What are your technology predictions for 2024?