Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2024

Quixy Editorial Team

January 5, 2024

As we head into 2024, Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends are expected to drive significant disruption and opportunity. These trends offer a glimpse into the future of technology, where AI, cybersecurity, and sustainable technologies play pivotal roles in shaping business strategies and societal norms.

Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2024

Explore the latest advancements and insights shaping industries for a dynamic future.

Trend 1: AI Trust, Risk and Security Management (AI TRiSM)

AI TRiSM is a tool that analyzes responses to artificial intelligence across various industries. The technology emphasizes the need for strong systems that process data securely and minimize risk. Businesses that use AI should also maintain strong analytics governance.

Impact on Businesses

This new technology will revolutionize how businesses operate. By 2026, companies using this technology will cut wrong and fraudulent information by 80%. By having better information, businesses can make more informed choices in operations and strategies — leading to increased overall performance.

Potential Applications and Benefits

The program can be used in healthcare, finance, transportation, and retail. ModelOps tools operationalize artificial intelligence (AI) models. This means they are always updated, monitored, and maintained efficiently. These measures must be taken; otherwise, valuable data could fall into the wrong hands, or AI devices could be exploited.

Challenges and Considerations

It’s tough to create a framework for new technologies when it constantly changes so fast. Being adaptable to new developments in AI while maintaining strict security protocols seems like an impossible feat.

Trend 2: Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)

The cybersecurity landscape is bustling with threats, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. That’s why security teams are always looking for ways to adapt and keep up with the ever-changing world of cybercrime. CTEM is a strategy that focuses on adapting security measures by constantly scanning and analyzing a company’s defenses and making any necessary adjustments. Whether those defenses are digital or physical, CTEM keeps them safe from whatever dangers lie in wait. Just like how every superhero needs a sidekick (and every ball needs a court), you can think of CTEM as the safety guard against cyber attacks.

Impact on Businesses

Incorporating CTEM into an organization’s business strategies could change the way companies approach cybersecurity. Gartner even believes it could cut down the number of successful cyber breaches by 75% — two-thirds if you’re counting dollar signs. This would be especially impactful in finance, healthcare, and government fields, where breaches have huge consequences. But CTEM isn’t just about keeping everything safe. It’s about establishing trust and making sure important information stays accurate and confidential.

Potential Applications and Benefits

There are many different ways to use this strategy, but its ability to adapt makes it perfect for all kinds of industries. Custom-made security measures tailored to fit each field’s specific requirements and threats seem like an awesome option, right? Not only does it help organizations manage their risks by identifying potential problems before they arise and keeps their private information away from pesky fraudsters trying to make an easy buck.

Challenges and Considerations

Integrating something new into existing systems will always be resisted. This is especially true when considering that some current methods might work better for certain things than others. So, finding the right balance between old methods that work well in certain areas and new methods that work well in others may take some time (and trial & error). Additionally, since this technique isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, it’s important for security teams to understand the ever-changing threat landscape well.

Also Read: Top 10 Essential Digital Transformation Trends

Trend 3: Industry Cloud Platforms (ICPs)

Industry Cloud Platforms (ICPs) are game-changers in cloud computing. It combines Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) that are tailored to specific industry sectors. Acknowledging that every business has its own unique needs and challenges. So, you can expect more nuanced, effective solutions.

Impact on Businesses

The research shows that 70% of enterprises will make the switch to ICPs by 2027. This is a clear indicator that there is a much bigger buzz happening with this new way of thinking about computing power in the business world. This shift shows that businesses want cloud-computing systems with their specific industries in mind.

Potential Applications and Benefits

Focusing individually on healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and retail industries, ICPs have a range of applications for each sector. In healthcare, it’ll help scale patient care plans between hospitals. Financial institutions will use it to manage data across multiple branches while adhering to regulatory standards. Manufacturers will streamline supply chain management while keeping track of orders more effectively. Retailers will be able to manage inventory and delivery logistics better to offer cheaper products.

Challenges and Considerations

One obstacle in implementing ICPs is finding the perfect balance between customization and standardization. With extreme customization comes complicated integration and maintenance tasks.

Also Read: Top 12 Strategic Technology Trends

Trend 4: Sustainable Technology

Sustainable Technology is the integration of ESG considerations into tech. Tech that is designed for economic efficiency, ecological balance, social equity, and responsible governance. As a reflection of the industry’s role and responsibility in global challenges.

Impact on Businesses

Integrating sustainable technology practices into companies is becoming a strategic necessity. With people being increasingly mindful of ESG factors, it can greatly improve a company’s brand and attract conscientious customers.

Potential Applications and Benefits

Sustainable technology has a huge range of possible uses in various industries, allowing companies to minimize their carbon footprint, reduce waste, and promote circular economy principles.

Challenges and Considerations

Adopting this kind of technology introduces many challenges, such as balancing innovation and environmental stewardship, which requires choosing between cutting-edge or eco-friendly tech.

Also Explore: Gartner’s Top Strategic Technology Trends

Trend 5: Democratized Generative AI

Democratized generative AI is a buzzword, but it’s one that’s going to have some serious implications in the future. AI has been confined to research institutions and big companies for a while now. So, you can imagine why so many people are getting excited about this new era of accessibility. This democratization is leading to a surge in innovative applications across various sectors, enabling a broader range of individuals and organizations to leverage the transformative power of AI.

Impact on Businesses

Businesses are going to change their strategies across the board because of this tech shift. 80% of companies will be incorporating some form of Generative AI into their pipeline by 2026. With all hands on deck, we’ll end up with a boost in services we already use and new ones entirely.

Potential Applications and Benefits

This new tech’s uses are honestly mind-boggling, from creating content like images, videos, and text to drug discovery and predictive maintenance. When it comes to making content, much time and money can be wasted here, but not anymore, thanks to AI becoming more useful than ever before. In healthcare, it can help lead researchers towards discovering life-saving drugs faster than they could without it.

Also Read: 11 Most Mind-Blowing Examples of Digital Transformation

Challenges and Considerations

As with any type of tech that gets popular quickly, we must double-check if people will use this thing responsibly. Misusing Generative AI could lead down grim paths where deep fakes get used as weapons or misleading info gets created at scale. Privacy also becomes a concern since these models heavily rely on huge data sets, which we know sometimes contain personal information.

Trend 6: Platform Engineering

Platform Engineering is an emerging discipline that lets developers build self-service tools. These tools streamline and enhance the software development process. Development teams can deliver high-quality software more efficiently by building internal platforms with this suite of tools, services, and capabilities.

Business Impact

Leading into 2024, Platform Engineering will be in high demand. Companies all over are looking to speed up their development cycles, respond faster to market changes, and implement digital transformation strategies effectively.

Potential Applications and Benefits

The benefits of Platform Engineering stretch across many different areas. Giving developers access to ready-to-use tools and automated processes boosts productivity by a landslide. This leads to faster development cycles, which means that businesses can bring products to market faster than ever before.

Challenges

Implementing something like Platform Engineering within any organization won’t come without its fair share of hurdles. One thing companies need to take into consideration is striking the perfect balance between flexibility and functionality for these platforms. You can’t have too much autonomy or too many restrictions on them, either. They must have enough space for creativity but also follow guidelines and regulations in an orderly manner.

Trend 7: AI-Augmented Development

AI-assisted development combines the design, coding, and testing stages of software engineering. It aims to automate the development process and integrate artificial intelligence into every step. By doing so, software development and management are transformed. This innovative method will help with suggestions, provide automation for repetitive tasks, aid with code generation, and much more.

Impact on Businesses

Boosting productivity is where AI can seriously shine. Instead of wasting time on repetitive or simple tasks, developers can pour their time into more complex and important things. Such as creating new features or finding solutions to problems. Especially since companies now heavily rely on software for operations.

Potential Applications and Benefits

It’s a little hard to understand how different AI processes could work together, but it’s possible. One example would be using application design AI systems paired with code-writing AI processes, fixing bugs before they become a problem, etc. The potential applications are so vast that we can’t explore all of them here.

Challenges and Considerations

The first challenge is ensuring that AI-generated code meets required quality standards by monitoring it consistently. That way, it doesn’t introduce any other issues in the future. The second challenge would be teams trying to adapt to new workflows while also learning how to communicate with their new AI systems effectively.

Also Read: Five Workflow Automation Trends that you can’t avoid

Trend 8: Intelligent Applications

Some new types of software have been developed in recent years, and they’re starting to make some waves. They build themselves by combining traditional applications with advanced artificial intelligence. This allows the software to be much more efficient than it used to be. It can automate routine tasks and provide insights only a human would’ve been able to. In other instances, it can learn, adapt, and make decisions when paired with machine learning and other AI technologies. 

Impact on Businesses

There’s a shortage of staff across many different industries right now, making getting help difficult. In most cases, the work still needs to get done, making life a little stressful for everyone involved! By using these intelligent applications, we can automate tasks that take up valuable time so that professionals who are already in high demand can focus on things that require their unique skills.

Potential Applications and Benefits

Just some examples of what these apps are capable of doing: customer service chatbots and recommendation systems; advanced data analysis tools and predictive maintenance systems; intelligent applications are also helpful when it comes to personalized experiences for users as they can be designed to adapt to users’ behaviors and preferences in real-time.

Challenges and Considerations

The first thing that comes to mind is balancing automation and human design. It’s important that the apps have designs that enhance our abilities rather than replace us so we don’t feel less valued than we already might think! Secondly, as these apps handle personal information, care must be taken with user trust as well as privacy.

Trend 9: Augmented-Connected Workforce

Augmented-Connected Workforce trend is all about integrating technology into the workforce to enhance human capabilities and make work easier. It involves intelligent applications, analytics, and other digital tools that help people do their jobs, develop, and thrive.

Impact on Businesses

By 2027, it is expected that at least 25% of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) will use this to cut the time it takes to learn critical roles in half. Agility and continuous learning are essential in a rapidly changing business landscape.

Potential Applications and Benefits

There are endless things you can do with the methods. For example, personalized learning systems that adapt to an employee’s learning style and speed, analytics-driven tools that provide insights from performance to emotions, or even collaboration tools for easy teamwork no matter where everyone is.

Challenges and Considerations

While there are clear benefits here, there’s also the implementation challenge. One major concern is maintaining a supportive work culture. You don’t want employees feeling abandoned or replaced by technology. Another challenge is the digital divide, where some employees may not have access to or know how to use the necessary tools and technologies.

Trend 10: Machine Customers

The concept of “Custobots” is a game changer in commerce. Custobots are non-human entities that use advanced algorithms and AI to buy goods and services. We’re moving past the days of machines making decisions for us; now, they’re buying things too. 

Impact on Businesses

By 2030, this new wave will generate trillions in revenue, potentially exceeding the current limits of digital commerce. In the market world, businesses usually focus on selling to humans, but now, there are machines with independent purchase decisions.

Potential Applications and Benefits

Various industries will find customers useful for their services. Retail customers can restock anything from household items to office supplies, making decisions based on predefined criteria like price or quality. They can automate procurement tasks and order parts or materials based on production needs in industrial settings.

Challenges and Considerations

With great opportunity comes greater challenges as well as some serious considerations. One of the biggest concerns is holding non-human entities accountable for their actions when something goes wrong during a transaction. There’s always a risk when a machine buys something that it could be faulty or absolute garbage. On top of this, Autobots need to be legally integrated into our current systems, which were built around humans.

Conclusion

These trends show how quickly technology evolves and how much it impacts our everyday lives. To join this movement, we must develop innovative strategies, robust risk management tactics, and, most importantly, a promise to sustainable and ethical practices.

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