Top 5 Tech Trends for 2024: Prepare for Your Digital Business Transformation in Advance

In the tech world, to fall behind is to be on the chopping block. And that’s precisely why TEAM International always stays abreast of the latest tech trends. Whether you’re an enterprise leader unsure about what’s right for your business or perhaps a talented professional looking to stay ahead, TEAM International is your faithful guide through the fast-moving, chaotic landscape of tech innovation.

As we reach the middle of 2024, we've compiled a list of the top tech trends that we believe will cause significant waves in the tech world.

Don’t get caught sleeping. Learn what they’re all about and give yourself an edge!

1. Massive AI adoption is here to stay

If 2023 was the year we became aware of and started tinkering with AI, then 2024 will be the year of serious, hard-nosed implementation.

We mean it. Next year, prepare to see this tech everywhere as we’re now headed for a mass democratization of generative AI. Businesses and users will look to implement AI in several sectors, both as an internal tool to boost productivity and as the core tech of an exciting new suite of services.

What does this mean? Well, plenty of things, but among the most significant is a widespread expansion of knowledge and skills coupled with a productivity boost that will free up workers' time.

Take Microsoft Copilot, for example, an AI companion tool integrated into the whole array of Microsoft services like Word and PowerPoint. If you’re working in tech, you'll likely gain access to these types of tools to help you in your daily work, so make sure you learn how to take advantage of them! The difference between a well and a poorly-written prompt can be quite significant.

2. AI trust, risk, and security management enter the stage

With massive AI implementation, new risk management procedures will also emerge.

Consider AI’s tremendous power as a double-edged sword. Sure, it can produce fantastic productivity gains and process and analyze data in a way humans can only dream of. However, AI’s capabilities can also miss their intended target, leading to unintended outcomes and faulty information.

For example, we’re all familiar with Chat GPT’s tendency to outright fabricate information, even going as far as providing citations for works that don’t exist.

As such, organizations will need to administer adequate guardrails on AI tools. And those that can generate and implement the necessary protocols to prevent negative feedback loops will likely outperform those that don’t.

3. Quantum computing makes a quantum leap

For those unfamiliar, quantum computing—the envisioned next phase of computing—is a radically new paradigm that intends to leverage the field of quantum physics to access exponentially more powerful computing mechanics. This will, in turn, open up incredible possibilities in the realm of technology, from new drug discovery through molecular simulation to the creation of superior climate models.

Simply put, quantum computing, standing shoulder to shoulder with Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), is the tech world's holy grail. It's not just about better computers; it's about unleashing a wave of possibilities that could redefine the future of technology.

Just as with AI, 2024 is starting to look like the year where quantum computing advances from the state of “exciting but unrealized” and takes its first steps toward real-world applications.

As big tech players are set to make significant advances both in hardware and software, quantum computing is stirring up plenty of interest in sectors that require huge processing power. Early adopters will probably include drug discovery, meteorology, cryptography, and genome sequencing.

4. Legacy data and AI partner up for greatness

Did you know that, according to BusinessCloud, the vast majority of legacy corporate data is unstructured and thus unfit to model?

Before the arrival of AI, these piles of data were of little value. Now, though, it’s a different story. AI can sort through and analyze massive amounts of data and potentially tap into a tremendous source of value that was otherwise being ignored.

However, there are certain issues with this strategy. For instance, the International Data Corporation (IDC) has found that 49% of organizations worry about the potential pitfalls of releasing proprietary information into a large language model (LLM).

Concerns like these suggest a future where companies with abundant data will either acquire AI firms or create their own specialized models. These internal models, more targeted and finely tuned toward certain purposes, will likely outperform more large-scale LLMs like ChatGPT at particular tasks. This could lead to a boom in customer-facing LLMs seeking to address niche audiences.

5. Platform engineering aims to deliver better business outcomes

Gartner has suggested that “self-service internal development platforms” will be one of the most significant corporate tools in 2024. But what are these platforms exactly, and how can they help workers and businesses?

The concept is complex, but, in a nutshell, these platforms are layers of information and expertise that assist in delivering business value.

Nowadays, employees have several different sources of information to help them accomplish their tasks. These could range anywhere from internal company documents and metrics obtained by IoT devices to internal LLMs and past projects. Now, imagine you can use generative AI to query a platform that integrates all this knowledge. Sounds fantastic, right?

Preparing for the coming year

So, there you have it, five tech trends sure to make 2024 another exciting and innovative year for the tech industry!

As expected, generative AI will be the major trendsetter, with several sectors, such as cybersecurity and data science, having to respond and incorporate its new paradigms. However, don’t underestimate the importance of new fields, like quantum computing, or the necessity of managerial responses to the unique challenges of structuring and optimizing AI implementation.

Filled with mass experimentation, 2024 will be a year of trial and error. So, subscribe to our social media channels and stay tuned! TEAM International will keep you updated on all things tech.