Every aspect of the business industry has been influenced by technology, whether due to artificial intelligence, video conferencing, or automation. The future of business is unthinkable without these tech trends, and experts predict these trends will keep redefining this industry.
The worldwide data creation process will exceed 180 zettabytes by 2025 as big data dominate corporations’ decision-making. Business professionals and leaders should be familiar with these emerging tech trends to grow their organizations efficiently.
Emerging Tech Trends in Business
Futurists were already expecting technology to become the “norm,” but COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of certain business tech trends. Business operations are transforming digitally quicker than entrepreneurs were expecting. So, business owners should understand which tech trends are becoming crucial for business survival in the 2020s.
This article covers the nine most important trends to make you aware of the competition. Here are some trends that are redefining the business sector:
- Data-led decisions
Technology makes business owners more effective leaders and better decision-makers. Tech trends in business include DDDM or data-driven decision-making, where data, instead of instinct, direct business decisions and policies. Intuition seems to be on its way out of business decision-making.
How can you hone your business technology efficacy? For professionals seeking to gain a competitive edge in today’s business sector, pursuing a Degree in Business Technology will prove worthwhile. A business technology degree enables professionals to develop essential skills alongside remaining abreast of transforming tech trends and norms.
- AI-led efficiency
AI has made businesses more efficient by eliminating human mistakes, ultimately increasing organizational productivity and profitability. For instance, NVIDIA has recently introduced AI-led anti-theft solutions that have reduced their theft problem to almost 98%. Automation makes theft detection easier and can also handle several repetitive tasks.
Similarly, AI has overtaken human customer support representatives. The introduction of chatbots, e.g., ChatGPT, is about to revolutionize how machines support customers and answer their queries. That’s how artificial intelligence makes the business industry more efficient at doing things manually.
- Faster connectivity
The pandemic halted the adoption of 5G, but the world has moved on to creating an even better alternative, i.e., 6G. Even though 6G doesn’t exist functionally as a technology today, its emergence is imminent.
These technologies will lead to faster, better, and seldom-interrupted connectivity for users. Startup owners can effectively communicate with their teams in various time zones, and transferring larger files won’t be difficult.
- Hybrid workplaces
Companies need an office to operate, but employees are more comfortable working from home. How can technology resolve this dilemma? Studies indicate that workers are 15% more productive in a work-from-home setting. Employees can save $4,500 annually on commuting expenses when they are telecommuting.
However, many business owners judge an employee’s productivity by facetime, and that’s why some workplaces will adopt a hybrid work culture. This culture allows workers to come to offices for some days and spend the rest working from home, a win-win situation for employers and employees with more productivity.
- Remote onboarding
Remote onboarding helps businesses by letting them recruit employees remotely instead of bringing them into the workplace physically. What’s best is that it makes a larger pool of potential candidates possible since location is no longer a barrier to employment.
Most importantly, it helps create a more inclusive and diverse workforce by eliminating geographical boundaries. It can be more cost effective for business owners and potential candidates if this tech trend gets more widespread, even though it won’t fully replace traditional recruitment.
- Influencer marketing
Different forms of marketing have appeared in the last ten years, and many of them have become essential for business visibility today. For instance, influencer marketing is expected to grow exponentially and exceed $22 billion by 2025. More and more startups are finding that their target audience extensively browses social media platforms, e.g., TikTok and Instagram. Collaborating with social media influencers can lead to faster product discovery. Moreover:
- AI-generated art like the one Dall-E created is redefining social media marketing.
- Superapps such as China’s WeChat combines different aspects of e-commerce, including shopping and payment.
- Shoppable content combined with live streaming is another example of social media marketing.
- Tech-assisted shopping
COVID-19 popularized the already-existing but slowly-growing tech trend of contactless shopping. It reduces the chances of contamination while offering a seamless shopping experience to customers. Since many customers now actively demand contactless payment services, many businesses will have to revamp their operations to surrender to the consumer’s will.
Therefore, business tech trends, e.g., QR codes and mobile wallets, are becoming widespread in many countries. For instance, a survey shows that one-half of Americans use at least one contactless payment method. These payment solutions were considered a luxury in the past as they helped consumers avoid long checkout lines and made retail businesses more effective. However, this trend has become a must-have for startups, almost a baseline requirement.
- Better cybersecurity
Cybersecurity concerns are increasing as the corporate sector’s technology reliance grows. Cybercriminals will become even bolder as the business sector keeps integrating technology with its operations. Today, many small-sized companies are storing their data in the cloud. This cloud-stored info will remain safe, shareable, and accessible. However, it can also be stolen and deleted if business owners aren’t careful enough.
Interestingly most small business owners interviewed in surveys believe they are not vulnerable to cyberattacks. But experts have found that small-sized startups are easy targets for hackers online.
- Digital twin
In 2021, a McKinsey survey showed that 70% of manufacturers would be using digital twins by 2022. As the term says, a “digital twin” is just a virtual replica of something that exists in the real world.
An industrial product can be replicated digitally for better studying, and this commercial simulation allows manufacturers to test actual products properly. These virtual copies are maintained and monitored so manufacturers can find flaws in the physical original, e.g., a virtually replicated industrial printer.
Conclusion
Different tech trends are reshaping the business sector and making technology compulsory for business survival. These trends include the integration of artificial intelligence in business operations via remote hiring, tech-assisted shopping, and automating repetitive tasks. Telecommuting won’t go away; instead, hybrid workplaces will become normal. But cybersecurity concerns will rise, and technologies like 5G or 6G will lead to faster connectivity. Likewise, influencer marketing will give companies better ROI, meaning marketing trends will revolve heavily around technology too. That’s why business owners should focus on advancing business technology and preparing for the future.
