Over the past few years, the evolution of technology has brought a paradigm shift across numerous industries, disrupting how we conduct businesses and lives. With the advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR), the technology industry is witnessing a boom like never before. As a result, AI, Metaverse, and other technologies are fueling what we call the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

As per NASSCOM’s report on the AI adoption index, investments in India’s AI capabilities are growing at a CAGR of 30.8 per cent and are poised to reach $881 million by 2023. AI is playing an integral role in transforming the way businesses have been conducting operations across numerous industries. The pandemic and remote working models have pushed companies to embrace using remote experts to create genuinely seamless end-to-end customer experiences, as 80 per cent are deskless workers. Companies today are experimenting with various working models to meet their organizational needs. Furthermore, adopting AR and MR solutions has scaled productivity, efficiency, and quality across all industries and enabled the facilitation of highly personalized offerings enriched by AR annotations. From industrial metaverse use cases to hybrid connectivity models, there has been a surge in demand for cloud platforms to enhance daily operations. Moreover, technology can no longer live in an isolated bubble, as evidenced by the emergence of mergers and acquisitions and partnerships, which are not just here to accelerate growth but to transform the industry by achieving new capabilities and revolutionizing customer experiences.

Here are some key trends that will determine how technology will evolve in the year 2023:

Industrial Metaverse will finally enter the mainstream.

The digitalization of work has been the focus over the past decades. Still, digitalizing processes of frontline workers, estimated to make up about 80% of the global workforce, have just started. There is enormous potential to improve the efficiency of industrial value chains across industries, especially when it comes to supporting frontline workers with digital tools. AR and MR solutions create the basis for the Industrial Metaverse, helping frontline workers become more productive while improving employee satisfaction. Moreover, hands-free wearable technology like smart glasses and supporting AR software will continue to improve and make it easier to perform work more conveniently. In addition, we expect to see an increase in smartphones being used to bridge the gap.

Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality - Bridging the Digital and Physical World

Given the current economic uncertainty, organizations are looking to use the time and resources of their frontline workers more effectively. Many employers are looking for advanced technologies, including wearables such as AR and MR, to achieve this goal. Moreover, AR is now off Gartner’s hype cycle, as it has evolved from a “technology to watch” to one to use. Unlike VR, which creates an immersive virtual environment, AR augments a real-world scene. Therefore, industrial settings are better suited for AR technology because they require a spatial awareness only available via AR and MR. By linking these devices to data and workflows, industrial enterprises can create a new platform built around the needs of shopfloor workers.

Artificial Intelligence to drive the next wave of growth

As businesses look to enhance day-to-day operations and make processes more systematic, AI has proven itself as a promising solution. Enriching complex manual processes with self-learning AI algorithms is a game-changer for digitization projects and adds immediate value for businesses. Businesses are beginning to realize the AI capabilities that can be integrated into AR workflows to perform verification assessments through image recognition, reduce the probability of human errors, and increase the agility and performance of workers. Companies are further leveraging the combination of AI and AR for automated safety checks to provide an intelligent buffer against common occupational hazards.

Partnerships and Acquisitions are speeding up Digital Transformation.

Partnerships have always been an excellent tool for expanding the reach and usability of a product or service while also benefitting the end-user, who won’t have to search for multiple vendors when solutions are bundled. However, as we continue moving through this period of economic turbulence, partnerships have become important. Furthermore, enterprises need to do more with less and are looking to technology and data to make it happen.

Enhancing Hybrid Work Connectivity

The pandemic continues to change how businesses evolve by introducing new technology. There are still many opportunities for software to fill gaps in this hybrid world. Still, the stabilization of the new normal has enabled businesses to take a more sustainable approach that will feed their long-term digital transformation goals. From onboarding and training to productivity and efficiency, software and hardware collaborate to deliver information when and where it’s needed most. This trend will accelerate in 2023 as technologies like AI and AR mature even further to help create usable, connected platforms across the enterprise to deliver cost savings, productivity gains, and increased worker satisfaction.

The technology industry is evolving rapidly, and numerous disruptions have catalyzed digital transformation across industries. But as emerging technologies accelerate, businesses must continually improve their technological capabilities and offerings to stay relevant and ahead of the curve.

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