Transforming business with data veracity and citizen AI
T he world of business is inextricably linked to technology today, and there’s disruption, innovation, and change – all happening at breakneck speeds. It’s a new world out there, exciting and chaotic at the same time.
For business leaders, these circumstances provide both new challenges and new opportunities. And to make the most of what lies ahead and overcome the obstacles on the path, hints about what the future holds could be extremely useful.
Through its new report Technology Vision 2018, Accenture attempts to bring clarity and provide some direction to the industry.
Here’s what they have to say about the trends that are shaping life, society, and business:
Five technology trends to watch
Citizen AI, extended reality, data veracity, frictionless business, and the Internet of Thinking are five new technology trends that companies can leverage to build intelligent enterprises and create new opportunities for themselves.
Citizen AI
The consulting giant insists that AI is more than a program, that it’s becoming a citizen and must be ‘raised’ responsibly – calling it Citizen AI to make it more human-like.
The report found that 81 percent of executives believe that within the next two years, AI will work next to humans in their organizations, as a co-worker, collaborator and trusted advisor.
“As Artificial Intelligence expands further into society, the business accountability around raising a responsible and explainable AI will rapidly grow,” says the report.
Extended reality
Immersive experiences are changing how we connect with people and information, and thus, businesses must think about how to leverage AR, VR, and mixed reality to create this new “extended reality (XR)” to transform business and life.
As per the report, 80 percent of executives said they believe it will be important to leverage XR solutions to close the gap of physical distance when engaging with employees and customers.
“Extended reality is the first technology to ‘relocate’ people in time and space, and we are here for it. As immersive experiences spread across industries, the fundamental changes to enterprise and society are clear: the importance of place is disappearing,” says the report.
Data veracity
Data is the lifeblood of the intelligent enterprise. Whether you consider urban infrastructure, manufacturing, or healthcare, the global economy depends on live and accurate information to run.
Therefore, a vulnerability around unverified information is a serious concern for businesses and needs to be addressed. Confidence in the integrity of a company’s data and insights is critical to business.
Two insights that came out of the Accenture report that built the premise for data veracity are:
- Seventy-nine percent of executives agree that organizations are basing their most critical systems and strategies on data, yet many have not invested in the capabilities to verify the truth within it, and yet
- Eighty-two percent of executives reported that their organizations are increasingly using data to drive critical and automated decision-making, at an unprecedented scale.
“The time is now to bet big on advances in data-hungry technologies. Yet without an accompanying push for data veracity, these investments could easily become a losing bet,” says the report.
Frictionless business
Technology-driven partnerships help drive growth in today’s digital economy, however, legacy business systems weren’t built to support these tech-driven partnerships at scale.
Staying competitive depends on building strong and plentiful partnerships, and creating a powerful digital ecosystem.
Obviously, internal transformations and adoption of new technologies are critical in order for companies to get the most out of these partnerships and stay in the game.
The Internet of Thinking
The Internet of Thinking is about creating intelligent distributed systems. And although our physical world is transforming into intelligent environments, existing IT architectures aren’t designed to support ‘intelligence everywhere’.
A balance of cloud and edge computing and a renewed focus on hardware will empower companies to build the Internet of Thinking. In fact, 83 percent of executives surveyed agreed that edge architecture will speed the maturity of many technologies.
At the end of the day, the report acknowledges that leading companies are working hard to improve the way we live. They’re creating innovative new products and services that will become indispensable in the future.
The report suggests that business is getting personal and that leaders must shift their mindsets and business models to focus on forging strong, trusted relationships with partners, customers, employees, governments, and more.
Accenture Chief Technology & Innovation Officer Paul Daugherty said:
There’s a new obligation— and a new opportunity— for companies to engage with people differently.
Accenture believes that business is getting personal and that leaders must shift their mindsets and business models to focus on forging strong, trusted relationships with partners, customers, employees, governments, and more. The more that businesses do to build technology into their processes and their ecosystem, the better it will be.
6 March 2024