In this article, I’ll try to make my personal digital trend predictions for 2023 and what they could mean for businesses, individuals, and the technology industry as a whole. This article will provide a high level overview of the trends with follow up articles including a deeper dive into each of the trends.
The year 2022 was marked by geopolitical instability, fast advancements in new technologies, and financial downturns, all of which had a significant impact on the world’s economy and global trends. As we move forward into 2023, it’s important to take note of the digital trends that will shape the technological landscape in the coming year.
The advancements in digital technologies like ChatGPT, and the growing demand for artificial intelligence and automation, are expected to dominate the tech industry. However, the fast pace of technological advancement in 2023 is not without its challenges. The rise of geopolitical instability and the effects of the pandemic led to massive tech layoffs, while the financial downturn may impact the adoption and implementation of new technologies.
1. Democratisation of digital tools, including AI systems and low-code (extended article)
The democratization of digital tools is driving the accessibility of AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E, empowering non-technical users to create chatbots, conversational interfaces, and more. AI will also help engineers be more productive and enable creatives to automate repetitive tasks, such as generating simple funcitons and documentation. Advanced search technologies will become more affordable to non-tech native companies, and low-code platforms will enable non-technical users to build custom applications tailored to their needs, increasing agility and responsiveness.
One example that I recently played with is JIS.AI, application of AI for marketing that automates marketing communication, creates campaigns and marketing materials.
2. Productionisation of machine learning systems and adaptive machine learning (extended article)
The ability for machine learning systems to adapt to changes in environment and be retrained as needed will help businesses make better decisions. Adaptive machine learning algorithms can constantly monitor data distribution and make updates based on new data, enabling them to detect changes in data and adjust the model accordingly. There will be a push for productionization of data and AI within companies, involving seamless MLOps processes for managing data and deploying machine learning systems in production. This will ensure that machine learning systems are tested, governed and integrated into core business processes.
3. Strengthening the AI foundations: technology and talent (extended article 1 and article 2)
In 2023, strengthening the AI foundationals, inculding tech stack, data architectures and process standartisation. Additionally, adopting cloud computing, and focusing on ethical and governance aspects of AI will be important. There will also be a continued demand for AI talent, despite recent layoffs in the top tech companies around the world.
4. Cybersecurity (extended article)
In the year 2023, cybersecurity will remain one of the most important digital trends, especially in the wake of recent high-profile attacks on companies such as Optus and Medibank, which have led to millions of personal data records, including driver license numbers and passport details, being stolen.
Main cybersecurity themes will focus on automating security processes through DevSecOps, standardizing security best practices, building trust architectures and digital identity, and leveraging AI technologies to catch anomalies in systems. Proactive measures, such as using AI to catch anomalies and cyberthreats, will be key to staying ahead of the curve.
5. Sustainability (extended article coming)
Although this is still an early stage in tackling sustainability with digital technologies, the coming year will likely see significant advancements in this field. With climate change becoming an increasingly urgent issue, companies are recognizing the importance of sustainability not only for ethical reasons but also as a competitive advantage.
There will be a focus on renewable energy sources to power data centers and cloud computing facilities, artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize energy usage, and the use of IoT to collect data usage and environmental factors to use it to identify inefficiencies and reduce waste. Companies are recognizing the importance of sustainability as a competitive advantage and consumers are increasingly demanding eco-friendly products and services.
Conclusion
As Niels Bohr said, the Nobel laureate in Physics and father of the atomic model, “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about thhe future!”. I tried to summarise my thoughts and create these trends based on what I saw in different industries, speaking with digital leaders but they are just predictions. I hope these thoughts will help my readers with their digital journeys and give you some food for thought.
I am also keen to hear your views on the 2023 digital technology trends, whether you agree or disagree with me. You can leave the contact section of my website or drop me a note in my email.
This article reflects my personal views and opinions only, which may be different from the companies and employers that I am associated with.