Deloitte’s 11th annual Tech Trends 2020 report captures the intersection of digital technologies, human experiences, and increasingly sophisticated analytics and artificial intelligence technologies in the modern enterprise. The report explores digital twins, the new role technology architects play in business outcomes, and affective computing-driven “human experience platforms” that are redefining the way humans and machines interact. Tech Trends 2020 also shares key insights and prescriptive advice for business and technology leaders so they can better understand what technologies will disrupt their businesses during the next 18 – 24 months.
With technology being the number-one differentiator for businesses today, organisations need to adapt and respond quickly to ongoing technology disruption. Deloitte expects to see more IT and finance leaders working together to develop new flexible approaches for funding innovation at the speed of agile.
According to Rakesh Barik, Leader, Technology Consulting, Deloitte India, “Enterprises want to be future-ready and discover what’s new and what’s next. Leading organisations have disciplined and measured innovation programs that align innovation with business strategy and a long-term technology landscape. They take a pragmatic approach to future macro technology forces—such as ambient experiences, exponential intelligence, and quantum. Many sectors in India have already started with the utilisation and application of these technologies to evolve their strategy.”
Some of the major trends highlighted by the Deloitte ‘Tech Trends 2020’ report are:
- Digital twins – bridging the physical and digital: As digital twin technology allows businesses to create increasingly sophisticated virtual models to optimise processes, products, and services, organisations will integrate IoT, machine learning, advanced computing infrastructure, and more to unlock entirely new business models.
- Architecture awakens: Systems architecture will become a strategic priority as organisations redefine the architect role to be more nimble, responsive, and collaborative. Architects will work across the business and work creatively with non-technical project teams – forming a competitive differentiator in the digital economy.
- Human experience platforms: To address the lack of connection humans often experience with daily digital interactions, a growing number of organisations are injecting emotional intelligence into their systems. These include AI capabilities such as machine learning and voice and facial recognition, which can better detect and appropriately respond to human emotions. The net result is emotionally intelligent human experiences that leverage connections between people, systems, data, and products.
- Finance and the future of IT: As enterprises become more agile, financial operations will need to support new modes of working. That means, CIOs and CFOs will need to explore how a new, flexible approach to enterprise finance across budgeting, contracting, capital planning, and more can redefine the future of tech innovation.
“Technology is constantly in motion. Executives should take tomorrow’s cues from today’s trends. ‘Horizon next’ technologies are evolving out of today’s core trends, sometimes in unexpected ways, giving rise to new opportunities,” added Bill Briggs, Chief Technology Officer, Deloitte Consulting LLP.
