With this post I would like to introduce an interesting research by PwC: “2023 Emerging Technology Survey“, just made public, then referring you to the dedicated site for further information.
This is a research conducted between August and September of this year on over 1000 executives in the USA.
Half of them have a Business Leader role, the other Technology Leadership.
The companies interviewed are “Large” in terms of turnover, at least 500 million.
89% of those interviewed said they have increased their investment budget in new technologies for the next 12 months.
The research aims to outline a state of the art on Emerging Technologies.
In fact, since 2016 PwC has been monitoring the performance of the technologies considered essential, and to date they are these: AI, AR, Advanced Robotics, Blockchain, IOT, VR, Quantum and Neuromorphing computing.
Even in a mature and Tech-rich market like that of the United States, there are few companies that adopt Emerging Technologies (hereinafter ET) with real success, making them true strategic levers and not Industry 4.0 gadgets.
They are approximately 7% of the total. Very few. At PwC they are called “Accelerators”.
First of all, it is interesting to see where the focus of companies is today: obviously…
Right now, 58% of respondents said their company is investing in AI first and foremost. And also in other ETs (the research asked to indicate up to 3 technologies).
The interesting thing is to go beyond the obvious. And so we discover that 46% are investing in IOT, after all it is a technology that we could define as more mature than emerging, but things get interesting going further with 35% of VR, and the almost equal of 34% in AR.
Even the Blockchain, although it dropped from the radar of the “Trend Setting” between crypto boom and boom, takes home an unexpected position for me with 30%.
It is also interesting to see what the objectives of these investments are and the delta between innovation leaders (Accelerators) and followers (“ALL” – others).
The research outputs in terms of insights are:
- Think big: that is, use “ET” to reinvent processes, activities, business models, user experiences, create new markets, not to carry out simple trials or POCs.
- Allocate the right budgets: once the most impactful tech has been identified, invest resources and people by creating upskilling paths to create knowledge, competence and have internal stakeholders. To be successful with new technologies it is necessary to create a culture of innovation with flexible and collaborative staff.
- Create convergence between Emerging Techs to optimize time, investments, people and have a more complete output by bringing them across the entire value chain, avoiding isolating them in some vertical silos.
- Bring ETs to be an integral part of the business strategy by creating a solid link between business and tech leaders. Often the data relevant for making strategic decisions in large enterprises are divided, if not disseminated and a teamwork is needed to work in a new and effective way, otherwise even the dear AI is of little use.
My extreme summary is that once again People are the true asset of technology (hence point 2 and then point 4), it has always been the first and obvious consideration, but very often in contrast with the organizational structures of companies , which have teams, divisions, business lines with different goals and a competitive culture opposite to that necessary to create the “grounding” that many talk about and few talk about, doing it.
Furthermore, avoiding a saying that has really bored everyone, given that we managers and consultants do not pilot AIRBUS. 😉
I refer you to the link to the official website:
Pwc > 2023 Emerging Technology Survey
