2024 Strategic IT Technology Trends and AI Market Outlook

In 2024, technological innovation and digital transformation continue to accelerate, with remarkable advances expected in IT and AI. We are experiencing firsthand how new technology currents and innovative ideas affect business, industry, and everyday life. In this article, we explore the key IT and AI trends and forecasts for 2024.

Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2024

The top 10 strategic technology trends announced by Gartner for 2024 are as follows

1. Democratized Generative AI : As generative AI becomes democratized, enterprises gain access to these models; by 2026, more than 80% of enterprises are expected to use generative AI APIs or models, or deploy AI-enabled applications in production environments.

2. AI Trust, Risk and Security Management : The expanding use of AI is highlighting the importance of AI trust, risk and security management (TRiSM), which encompasses ModelOps, data protection, security, model monitoring, and more.

3. AI-Augmented Development : AI-augmented development uses AI technologies to support software engineering, improving developer productivity and allowing software engineers to devote more time to strategic activities.

4. Intelligent Applications : Intelligent applications leverage learned adaptability to effectively augment or automate work. CEOs identify talent shortages as a major risk, and AI is shown to influence talent attraction and retention.

5. Augmented Connected Workforce : The augmented connected workforce is a strategy for accelerating and scaling workforce capabilities, supporting employee experience and well-being through intelligent applications and workforce analytics.

6. Continuous Threat Exposure Management : Continuous threat exposure management keeps an organization’s threat assessment ongoing, with the goal of preventing breaches.

7. Machine Customers : Machine customers are non-human economic actors that autonomously purchase goods and services, and the importance of digital commerce is expected to grow accordingly.

8. Sustainable Technology : Sustainable technology is a framework of digital solutions for achieving ESG outcomes, with growing emphasis on IT use that accounts for environmental impact.

9. Platform Engineering : Platform engineering aims to build self-service internal development platforms that support user requirements.

10. Industry Cloud Platforms : Industry cloud platforms are industry-specific cloud offerings expected to help enterprises accelerate their business initiatives.

IT Market Predictions for 2024 and Beyond

According to Gartner, AI is expected to play a major role in enterprise IT from 2024 onward, and the influence of generative AI is likely to permeate other technology trends.

1. The Rise of Generative AI : By 2027, generative AI tools are expected to be used to analyze legacy business applications and create replacements, cutting modernization costs by up to 70%.

2. The Growth of Malinformation and the Response : By 2028, spending on combating malinformation is expected to surpass 30 billion dollars, accounting for 10% of marketing and cybersecurity budgets.

3. Workers and AI : By 2028, unionization among knowledge workers is projected to increase by nearly 1,000% driven by generative AI adoption, and organizations will need to focus on clear communication with employees about AI adoption.

4. AI Policy and Government Support : Strengthening AI initiatives at the national level requires the support and cooperation of diverse stakeholders, and governments around the world are prioritizing strategies and plans that treat AI as a core technology.

5. Digital Charisma and Neurodiversity : Organizations can use digital charisma filters to recruit a more diverse workforce and promote neurodiverse leadership, improving employee engagement and business performance.

6. Machine Customers and Workforce Change : The machine customer market is expected to grow rapidly through 2026, and labor shortages will drive increased use of smart robots in manufacturing, retail, and logistics.

7. Energy-Related Change : Energy-related shifts such as power availability and electricity rationing are leading companies to adopt energy-conscious operating practices.

2024 AI Market Outlook

SAS has released its AI market outlook for 2024. It covers a wide range of topics, including major AI trends, applications across industries, responsible marketing, and security.

1. Generative AI and Industry Strategy : Each industry will complement its AI strategy, with applications spanning from finance to manufacturing.

2. AI-Driven Job Creation : AI is expected to create new jobs, with new roles emerging such as model prompt engineering.

3. Responsible AI Marketing : Marketers will need to take a responsible approach to the potential for AI errors and bias.

4. CIOs and the ‘Shadow AI’ Problem : Managing shadow AI within organizations is emerging as a new challenge, and organizations will need to consider putting appropriate safeguards in place.

5. Multimodal AI and AI Simulation : Multimodal AI will integrate diverse inputs such as text, images, and audio to enable new forms of situational awareness, while AI simulation will be applied to complex physical systems.

6. Accelerating Digital Twin Adoption : AI and IoT analytics will be used in industries such as manufacturing and energy, improving decision-making through analysis of real-time sensor data and operational data.

7. Government’s Growing Reliance on AI : Governments, too, will rely on AI to increase productivity and automate routine tasks.

8. AI Against Fraud in Finance : Financial institutions will work to counter fraud that exploits generative AI and deepfake technology.

9. Insurance Industry Tackling Climate Risk with AI : Under economic pressure from insurance losses caused by natural disasters, the insurance industry will use AI for more accurate premium pricing and risk assessment.

10. AI Adoption Will Determine Insurers’ Success : Absolute reliance on AI can increase the workload of remaining staff after restructuring, so careful application is required.

11. Improving Patient Care with Generative AI : Healthcare providers and insurers will use AI to create patient-specific avatars and generate personalized treatment plans.

12. Expanding AI Applications in Public Health : AI-based modeling and prediction are essential for responding to epidemics and protecting the public, with growing participation from academic researchers.