The new year is right around the corner, so it’s time to relax, regroup, and reexamine your strategic business goals with the newly announced 2024 technology trends in mind. Regularly checking in with the latest tech trends is vital for any organization looking to evolve and grow continually. It will ensure your workforce has the tools to operate optimally and give you the strategic focus and leadership tactics necessary to stay ahead of the competition.

After 2023 brought a seemingly constant stream of AI-powered applications, plug-ins, and articles buzzing about AI, it’s unsurprising that AI is projected to dominate even further in 2024. But no need to stress – we’ve compiled a list of the top technology trends from industry experts to help you prioritize your efforts in the age of AI and more.

Here are 10 of the hottest technology trends you need to be aware of in 2024:

10 Technology Trends for 2024 to Help You Navigate the Age of AI and More

1.     Democratized Generative AI

There’s no denying that generative AI has already revolutionized how organizations operate in the past year and a half alone. But this fall, Gartner predicted that AI will generate 10% of all data by 2025. Clearly, 2024 will be a year of explosive growth. As you’ve probably experienced firsthand, generative AI can:

• Automate simple tasks.
• Accelerate productivity in content creation and coding.
• Kickstart more complex tasks as a brainstorming tool.
• Enhance decision-making with its predictive analysis functionality.

These capabilities are predicted to grow stronger and expand to additional capabilities through 2024. As a result, organizations will widely prioritize democratized generative AI, also known as the wide accessibility and use of generative AI technologies across the organization, regardless of technical background. To break down barriers to generative AI, you can:

• Create a list of generative AI use cases per department that employees can refer to.
• Launch a change management program that helps staff understand the benefits this technology can bring them and the risks they need to avoid.
• Build a training program that ranges from the basics of using the tools to more advanced prompt engineering.
• Collect examples of quick wins and bigger success stories of generative AI to inspire employees to try their hand with AI themselves.

Still, one reality that won’t change is that the quality of results generated by generative AI depends heavily on the quality of the prompts you enter, making prompt engineering a valuable skill to develop among employees.

2.     Modernize Your Existing Core Systems

While Deloitte’s 2024 Tech Trends report focused heavily on AI-related trends, one of the biggest takeaways its researchers emphasized was this:

“In an age of creative machines, creative humans likely matter more than ever. Rather than replace humans, generative AI tools stand to augment and empower the most creative among us, serving as a force multiplier for human ambitions.”

In other words, your organization can gain a substantial competitive advantage by embracing AI. But those gains will fall flat if you focus solely on AI and neglect your other resources, especially your core systems.

Your AI efforts simply can’t flourish if they rest on a crumbling, outdated foundation. For many organizations, years of adding to their ever-growing tech stack has left them with a list of core technologies that desperately need data modernization, from mainframes and networks to data centers.

To identify your modernization priorities, conduct ongoing preventative wellness assessments on your existing tech stack. Which systems have the most significant business impact, and which are in greatest need of modernization? That’s your starting point.

But you can’t just modernize the systems themselves. As Deloitte’s quote above suggests, the creative, strategic humans behind your tech will also be invaluable investments in 2024. With ongoing upskilling and training efforts to help them collaborate with AI more effectively and develop other high-demand skills, they’ll be unstoppable.

3. Invest in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity as a top business priority is nothing new, so I can confidently assume that your organization already has a robust cybersecurity program. But it’s imperative to know that digital threats are constantly becoming more sophisticated, and the cost of cybercrime is growing rapidly. And let’s not forget the elephant in the room: the rise of AI has led to the proliferation of brand-new cybersecurity threats. For example, deepfakes have already been used in phishing attempts and to circumvent voice and facial recognition access controls.

Scary stuff – but the good news is cybersecurity experts are constantly studying these developments and innovating new technologies and policies to fight back. That’s why it’s worth keeping up with the latest cybersecurity trends now more than ever. Some measures you can take in the new year to protect your customer trust and digital assets include:

• Implement advanced anti-malware and antivirus solutions.
• Ensure compliance with cybersecurity certifications.
• Make employees aware of risks by implementing routine cybersecurity training programs.
• Adhere to global cybersecurity practices and standards.
• Consider rising cybersecurity innovations like automated threat management, identity management, the cloud (more on that coming up next,) cyber governance, and cybersecurity-as-a-service.

4. Move to the Cloud

If you haven’t already, let the new year be your sign to move to the cloud. While there are many reasons to move to the cloud, from saving money to automatic software updates, some of the biggest drivers that can help you meet the moment in 2024 include:

• Flexibility & Scalability: The cloud accommodates your organization’s changing data storage needs with ease – No more pricey, time-consuming IT infrastructure updates to keep up with company growth. That’ll be huge as organizations evolve in size and strategic focus in 2024 and beyond.
• Easier Collaboration Near & Far: Many organizations plan to continue offering hybrid and remote work arrangements for their employees in the new year, making seamless collaboration and data access a must. Cloud systems instantly connect employees with fast, reliable, and secure access to data and corporate applications, no matter where they are. It also lets employees work simultaneously on the same infrastructure, and changes to files, data, and documents sync in real-time.
• Data Availability: Data is a big-time theme for 2024 along with AI, so having reliable data availability must be a priority for organizations. The cloud offers 24/7 data availability thanks to increased service uptime. It even offers mobile access to data, letting employees perform their jobs efficiently on-site or offsite.
• Data Security You Can Trust: As we just examined in #3, cybersecurity will remain a top priority in 2024. Fortunately, this is one of the cloud’s biggest strengths. When you move to the cloud, your cloud provider assigns you to a team of cloud security specialists dedicated to monitoring your security 24/7/365. And top cloud providers are routinely audited and certified by independent parties to ensure optimal security standards, so you can rest easy knowing your data is in good hands.

5. Meet Hyperautomation

Automation is nothing new – here at Naviant, we’ve been building and implementing automation-powered solutions for our customers for decades. But the face of automation is constantly changing, with new iterations rising to the top all the time to create what’s now been dubbed “hyperautomation.” In 2024, thanks to the convergence of tech like the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, edge computing, machine learning, and 5G/6G, we can expect to see more innovations like:

• Predictive Maintenance
• Real-Time Data Monitoring & Analysis
• Demand Forecasting with AI Algorithms

Additionally, consider taking advantage of the automation tools below – they’re forecasted to reduce costs and boost efficiency in 2024:

• Robotics in solutions like RPA
• Workflow automation in solutions like OnBase
• AI using everything from generative AI tools like ChatGPT to solutions like OCR, intelligent document processing, process discovery tools, and more.

6. More Holistic IT Leadership

As technology continues to evolve rapidly and play an increasingly strong role in organizational success, strong, holistic IT leadership is more vital than ever. After all, they have the final say in what technologies get implemented to determine our organizations’ futures. But it’s also no secret that you can’t just set and forget new technologies. Even the strongest, newest tool can fall flat without sufficient change management. That’s why IT leadership is gaining an emphasis on the holistic in 2024. Whether you’re growing your IT leadership team or looking to strengthen your current team, aim to hone skills like:

• People skills, especially the ability to successfully execute change management through digital transformation, including the planning, implementation, and post-implementation phases.
• Strategic planning skills, including the ability to develop project roadmaps and the ability to align technology projects with broader business objectives.
• Hybrid and remote management skills, especially adaptability and the ability to choose effective tools to help remote staff perform their jobs effectively and feel connected to their peers.

7. Augmented, Connected Development & Workforce

Another trend on the rise is “augmented connected workforce” initiatives. In concept, the augmented connected workforce integrates augmentation technologies into employees’ daily work lives to help them expand their skills, increase their productivity, and improve business processes. It’s proven especially useful in reducing the time to competency for new hires and expanding the possibilities of remote work.

In practice, augmented connected workforce initiatives look like implementing an assortment of tools like:

• Collaborative robots, like RPA, to complete repetitive, manual tasks with 100% accuracy and walk employees through new processes to accelerate the learning process.
• Solutions that make data more accessible to employees, like intelligent automation tools helping them make more informed decisions.
• AI-powered tools, including those that use generative AI.
• Augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) use tablets, mobile phones, glasses, or headsets to enhance remote collaboration and troubleshooting, make remote training more hands-on, and even do more task-based work like remotely monitoring data center facilities.

And when it comes to software engineering, AI augmentation will be a hot trend, too. Organizations are experiencing an increasing demand for software to keep the business ahead of the competition. That’s where AI augmentation can help.

Specifically, by using AI-augmented development tools or assistants, engineers can accelerate the process of creating, testing, and delivering applications and spend less time writing code. Instead, engineers can spend more time focusing on higher-level tasks, like the design and composition of new business applications.

8. Embrace Sustainable Technology

In a world where consumers and employees alike are demanding the companies they buy from and work for to demonstrate support for social causes, combined with pressing regulatory demands, it’s no surprise that embracing sustainable technology is a rising trend projected for 2024. Leading organizations are investing heavily in sustainable practices, particularly regarding their tech. Sustainable technology encapsulates digital solutions that enable environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes that support human rights and ecological balance long-term. In practice, this trend calls for selecting solutions that help drive sustainability within your industry, like cloud services and AI-powered solutions.

9. Accelerated Digital Transformation

Digital transformation has been accelerating since 2020, and that trend is set to continue through 2024. From cloud migrations and intelligent document processing to AI implementation and skill transformation, organizations are anticipated to embrace change in the new year fully. And with these new technology implementations, especially AI, organizations will dig deeper into change management efforts to dispel employees’ fears and build trust and enthusiasm. The most common priorities organizations will have include:

• Investing in employees through initiatives like reskilling and upskilling.
• Supporting massive changes with more sophisticated change management programs.
• Uniting remote workforces with collaborative tools.
• Implementing technology that delivers advanced data analytics.

10. Use Data to Enhance Strategic Decisions

As data plays an increasingly pivotal role in organizational success, tools that make data more accessible are quickly growing in popularity. When you have your data at your fingertips, you can definitively say how well your processes are performing. You also gain the insights necessary to make targeted process improvements and to make more informed decisions. With data in hand, organizations are expected to fundamentally transform their approach to process optimization, understanding their customer base, and market analysis. As a result, 2024 will see many businesses prioritizing:

• Democratizing data analysis using intuitive interfaces that make data accessible to all, including users who aren’t technically proficient.
• Turning to technologies like AI and machine learning to spearhead trend forecasting and predictive analytics efforts.
• Track market trends proactively using real-time data, enabling organizations to respond to market changes and customer demand before the competition can.

Here’s to a New Year of Growth

2024 is poised to be a transformative year in technology, with AI at the forefront of innovation. Organizations that skillfully integrate these top technology trends into their strategies won’t just enhance efficiency and cybersecurity. They’ll also foster creative, empowered workforces, which are vital to support further changes in years to come. By harnessing these technologies for strategic decision-making, your organization can stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape, ensuring growth and competitiveness in the age of AI.

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