Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023. Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
2023: The Year that Opportunity Meets Accountability
By Sanjay Vyas, Chief Technology Officer at Planful
2022, as it turns out, has
been something of a reality check. Crypto and blockchain, two of the more
heralded technology trends, may have reached the end of their honeymoon period.
The metaverse is far from dead, but its practical relevance seems further away
than ever.
Communication tools best
known for their rise during the pandemic, including Zoom, Teams, and Slack, are
quickly becoming commoditized. While their impact on the hybrid workplace is
undeniable, other factors seem more likely to determine the future of work.
Another recent trend, the overfunding of tech startups, has ended-which may,
thankfully, help ease the war for talent.
One big development that
remains on track is the rollout of 5G broadband. Currently the service is
leveraged mostly for voice, video, chat, and other communication needs. With
the deployment pace quickening, however, it's a safe bet that IoT, smart cities
tech, telemedicine, and other advanced applications are just around the corner.
Artificial intelligence and
machine learning are two other segments that will continue to drive innovation
in 2023, influencing everything from personalized shopping to robotics. Here
are the most prominent predictions for the coming year:
The cloud is going
vertical. Two years ago, there were only two well-known cloud providers: Amazon
and Microsoft. Today we are inundated with cloud services, by a host of
providers-a development that is increasingly driving specialization.
We are quickly seeing the
advent of vertical clouds that address everything from healthcare and
government to manufacturing and finance. On the consumer side, the growth in
cloud providers is putting pressure on service costs; many users are embracing
app platforms that are cloud-agnostic and highly portable.
In 2023, we will also see a
solidification of cloud platforms that serve as an ideal interface for
developers to rapidly build innovative applications. It's a continuation of a
trend already unfolding; but the solidification will support new low-code/no-code
platforms that allow developers to harvest the massive amount of data already
in the cloud.
Online platforms will
accelerate fast. Mature platform providers with a strong feature lineup are
having a moment. As questionable business models and startups fall away, the
market has decided to value established vendors with capabilities that actually
matter.
Just as with cloud service
providers, the move toward highly specialized platforms will expand rapidly.
AI/ML tools that support seamless user experiences are highly attractive, and
have capabilities that are in strong demand.
The caveat to all of this
good news, however, is that mature companies can't coast. Big companies need to
act like scrappy bootstrappers if they want to survive. Innovation, patents,
nimble decision-making, and release tempo are critical. Engineering will have
to continue to develop a more agile approach-along with a good set of course
correcting mechanisms, to pivot and adapt where needed.
The AI/ML successes of 2022
will now require accountability. Given the proliferation of AI/ML applications
of the past year, the governance, security, and defense of these powerful
technologies will become very important.
A greater number of
organizations will invest in solutions that allow them to track how their AI
utilizes data, as well as explains and justifies how their AI produced specific
results. This will become critical when answering questions, for example, about
why someone gets denied credit; interested parties will want to understand the
data context and potential bias produced by the AI platform. Voice recognition
services will need to demonstrate that their AI-based training regimens don't
discriminate against groups with certain accents, or against particular
immigrant populations.
Fairness and responsibility are vital considerations for any foundational
technology-but when machines are making the decisions it becomes even more
essential. Companies that utilize AI/ML in the coming year will need to keep
these considerations in mind.
In 2023, it will be truer
than ever that CTOs cannot, and must not, rest on their laurels or coast in
their responsibilities. Much of the tech advances of 2022 came as a direct
result of COVID-19-but the post-pandemic marketplace has already drastically
changed. The technologies that support it will change too.
As top executives of
technology companies will attest, guiding organizations through periods of
change will always be a challenge. Leadership is not a popularity contest, and
decisions are not always going to be liked. Transparent and courageous leaders
tend to find a way of overcoming the obstacles to progress. That's a lesson-and
a reality check-that shouldn't be forgotten as we enter the new year.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SANJAY VYAS is Chief Technology
Officer for Planful, is
the pioneer of financial performance management cloud software. A highly
accomplished technologist, Vyas has served in engineering and software development
leadership roles at SaaS firms for nearly 25 years. He holds multiple patents
in payment authentication and analytics of unstructured data, and is the
co-author of "The Cloud Security Rules: Technology Is Your Friend. And Enemy."