To help C-suites cope with the barrage of technological breakthroughs and develop an effective emerging technologies strategy, a major consulting firm has identified the eight essential technologies that will be the most influential to businesses in the near future.
In a recent report “
Tech breakthroughs megatrend,
PwC has identified artificial intelligence, augmented reality, blockchain, drones, Internet of Things, robots, virtual reality, and 3D printing as the technological megatrends that will reshape entire industries.
“Most of these technologies are already being used in some capacity to solve customer problems and improve the customer experience,” said Andy Symons, PwC’s financial services and innovation leader.
PwC expects the ‘essential eight’ technologies to impact business models in the following aspects: strategy, customer engagement, operations, people and talent, and compliance.
“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,” said Symons.
But rather than use the ‘essential eight’ as a checklist for emerging technologies to adopt, the PwC report tells executives to explore and quantify emerging technologies and plan for them.
“I believe that a culture shift is needed around how we adopt new technology. We must commit to making the time and space for innovation within our organisations. Exploring options and considering low-cost, low commitment projects that we can either adopt or abandon quickly is the recipe for success in this day and age,” Symons said.
PwC said that to develop an effective emerging technologies strategy, CEOs and business leaders should answer the following 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?
To determine the ‘essential eight’, PwC has evaluated and filtered more than 150 technologies based on business impact and commercial viability over the next five to seven years, specifically on the following criteria:
- technology’s relevance to companies and industries;
- global reach;
- technical viability, including the potential to become mainstream;
- market size and growth potential; and
- pace of public and private investment.
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