New research from Accenture (NYSE: ACN) finds a new era of digitisation is unfolding — one in which AI continuously learns and drives new levels of autonomy across organisations, positioning trust in its performance as the most important measure organisations will need for AI to achieve its promise.
Now in its 25th year, the Accenture Technology Vision 2025 explores how the future is being shaped by AI-powered autonomy. As AI diffusion accelerates across the enterprise and society at a rate that is faster than any prior technology, 69% of executives believe it brings new urgency to reinvention and how technology systems and the processes it enables are designed, built and operated. The research also predicts AI will increasingly act as a technology development partner, a personal brand ambassador, power robotic bodies in the physical world, and foster a new symbiotic relationship with people to bring out the best in each other.
“Our 25th Technology Vision gives leaders a look into what’s ahead when AI continuously learns, acts autonomously with and on behalf of people, and pushes enterprises and the people who use it into new and exciting ways to continuously reinvent,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. “But unlocking the benefits of AI will only be possible if leaders seize the opportunity to inject and develop trust in its performance and outcomes in a systematic manner so businesses and people can unlock AI’s incredible possibilities.”
People’s trust in AI—beyond any technical aspect, that it performs justly and as expected—is essential to it having as broad and positive an impact as anticipated. This means digital systems and AI models are more accurate, predictable, consistent and traceable, over and above the responsible use of AI. Most (77%) executives believe the true benefits of AI will only be possible when built on a foundation of trust, and slightly more (81%) agree that trust strategy must evolve in parallel with any technology strategy.
“Advancements in digitising knowledge, new AI models, agentic AI systems and architecture enables enterprises to create their own unique cognitive digital brains.” said Karthik Narain, group chief executive – Technology and CTO, Accenture. “While conventional technologies have long supported pre-determined business needs, this is a generational moment of transition. The autonomy created by these generalised AI systems can help organisations be more dynamic and intention-driven than ever. It will allow leaders to rethink how digital systems are designed, how people work, and reinvent how they create products and interact with customers. But trust underpins it all, as systems will only ever be as autonomous as they are trustworthy.”
The Accenture Technology Vision 2025 explores the potential impact of gen AI as it ripples across multiple dimensions, including technology development, customer experience, the physical world and the workforce:
- When foundation models cracked the natural language barrier, it kickstarted a shift that would forever change the fundamentals of software development and ecosystems. Already, gen AI coding assistants are elevating the role of developer to systems engineer, accelerating the democratisation of code and digitisation of businesses. The rise of custom systems as a result of gen AI assisted software development and the advancement of AI agents is igniting a shift from static application architecture to intention-based framework and agentic systems. As multi-agent systems become more capable, adaptive and personalised, it will inspire greater diffusion through enhanced competence, growing to manage processes and entire functions, from streamlining travel to optimising inventory. For example, Accenture is enabling this future with its platforms, GenWizard, SynOps and AI Refinery, offering prebuilt industry agents and workflows to accelerate the time needed to build and see value from specialised multiagent systems.
- Organisations are racing to make AI a new customer touch point but brands will only be able to achieve brand differentiation if the same focus is applied to AI experiences. While 80% of executives worry LLMs and chatbots could give every brand a similar voice, 77% agree brands can solve by proactively building personified AI experiences and injecting distinct brand elements, such as culture, values and voice, into those experiences through its digital brain.
- Generalist robots will emerge over the next decade, bringing more AI autonomy into the physical world. It will be possible for introductory general-purpose robots to become specialist robots, learning new tasks very quickly. Already, KION Group is teaming with Accenture and NVIDIA, to optimise how AI-driven robots perform warehouse tasks and seamlessly interact with and learn from warehouse staff to fulfill orders faster, safer and at a lower cost. Eighty percent of executives believe that robots collaborating with people and continuously learning from those interactions will increase trust and collaboration between people and robots.
- People and AI are defining a virtuous learning loop: where the more people use AI, the more it improves, and the more people want to use it. Unlike conventional automation, which yielded one-time benefits, this new age of AI can enhance and advance its skills over time, improving its value to the individuals using it and the organisation as a whole. A key priority (80%) for leaders is ensuring a positive relationship trajectory between people and AI—so it is not derailed by fears of automation—starting with communicating the strategy and bringing employees into the process. Accenture recently unveiled a Generative AI Scholars Program with Stanford Online to help clients sharpen gen AI knowledge and skills. In addition, organisations have the opportunity to equip every employee with a talented digital sidekick, one that will allow people to tap into new skills and grow use of gen AI tools. In turn, organisations will reap the benefit too, as individuals familiar with gen AI were found five-times more likely to have a positive perception of the technology.