The theme of this year’s Accenture Technology Vision 2017 report, “Technology for People,” is a call to action for business and technology leaders to actively design and direct technology to augment and amplify human capabilities.
The report states that we are beginning to see the emergence of technology for people, by people – technology that seamlessly anticipates our needs and delivers hyper-personalized experiences.
As part of the Technology Vision, Accenture surveyed more than 5,400 business and IT executives worldwide.
The report identifies five emerging technology trends that are essential to business success in today’s digital economy:
1. AI is the new UI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is coming of age, tackling problems both big and small by making interactions simple and smart. AI is becoming the new user interface (UI), underpinning the way we transact and interact with systems.
Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents agree that AI will revolutionize the way they gain information from and interact with customers.
2. Design for Humans
Technology design decisions are being made by humans, for humans. Technology adapts to how we behave and learns from us to enhance our lives, making them richer and more fulfilling.
Eighty percent of executives surveyed agree that organizations need to understand not only where people are today, but also where they want to be – and shape technology to act as their guide to realize desired outcomes.
3. Ecosystems as Macrocosms
Platform companies that provide a single point of access to multiple services have completely broken the rules for how companies operate and compete. Companies don’t just need a platform strategy, they need a rich and robust ecosystem approach to lead in this new era of intelligence.
Already, more than one-quarter (27 percent) of executives surveyed reported that digital ecosystems are transforming the way their organizations deliver value.
4. Workforce Marketplace
The number of on-demand labor platforms and online work-management solutions is surging. As a result, leading companies are dissolving traditional hierarchies and replacing them with talent marketplaces, which in turn is driving the most profound economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution.
Case in point: Eighty-five percent of executives surveyed said they plan to increase their organization’s use of independent freelance workers over the next year.
5. The Uncharted
To succeed in today’s ecosystem-driven digital economy, businesses must delve into uncharted territory. Instead of focusing solely on introducing new products and services, they should think much bigger – seizing opportunities to establish rules and standards for entirely new industries.
In fact, 74 percent of the executives surveyed said that their organization is entering entirely new digital industries that have yet to be defined.
About the Methodology
Accenture’s Technology Vision is developed annually by the Accenture Labs.
For the 2017 report, the research process included gathering input from the Technology Vision External Advisory Board, a group comprising more than two dozen experienced individuals from the public and private sectors, academia, venture capital firms and entrepreneurial companies.
In addition, the Technology Vision team conducted interviews with technology luminaries and industry experts, as well as with nearly 100 Accenture business leaders.
In parallel, Accenture Research conducted a global online survey of more than 5,400 business and IT executives across 31 countries and 16 industries to capture insights into the adoption of emerging technologies.
Respondents were mostly C-level executives and directors, with some functional and line-of-business leads, at companies with annual revenues of at least US$500 million, with the majority of companies having annual revenues greater than US$6 billion.