Professional services giant
PwC has released the findings from a recent study today, offering HR professionals insight into which tech developments will be the most disruptive.
The report evaluated more than 150 technologies globally before determining the “Essential Eight” which PwC believes will be the most influential on businesses worldwide:
- Artificial intelligence
- Augmented reality
- Blockchain
- Drones
- Internet of Things
- Robots
- Virtual reality
- 3D printing
The specific technologies that will have the biggest impact on each industry will vary but PwC believes the list of eight comprises technologies with the greatest cross-industry impact over the coming years.
“Most of these technologies are already being used in some capacity to solve customer problems and improve the customer experience,” says Andy Symons, PwC’s financial services and innovation leader.
“Now’s the time for more companies to take a broader view of how these technologies can help them deliver services that previously were not even considered,” he added.
PwC said the list should help guide companies that continually wait for the “next big thing,” believing that a particular technology trend either won’t amount to much or won’t affect their industries for years to come.
“Disruption is happening today at a faster rate and higher volume than ever before,” said the company. “Innovations throughout history have tipped the balance in favour of the innovators.”
The global corporation stressed that the eight technologies will “shake up companies’ business models in both beneficial and quite challenging ways,” noting that the emerging tech will influence strategy, customer engagement, operations and compliance.
As a result, the company urged leadership teams to find effective answers to three fundamental questions:
- Do we have a sustainable innovation strategy and process?
- Have we quantified the impact of new technologies? If not, how can we do that—and how soon?
- Do we have an emerging-technologies road map? If so, are we keeping it up to date?
“Executives can’t treat the Essential Eight technologies as a sort of checklist to delegate to the CIO or CTO,” the report stressed. “Rather, exploring and quantifying emerging technologies—and planning for them—should be a core part of a company’s corporate strategy.”
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