Cloud, metaverse and AI will be next decade's mega tech trends: Accenture

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The next decade will be defined by three mega tech trends — cloud, metaverse and AI—which collectively will collapse the distance between digital and physical worlds, global IT services and software company Accenture has said.

This comes at a time when global giants like Microsoft, Meta, which even changed its name to stress on the next big thing, and Disney have begun to slow down on their metaverse ambitions in the face of macro-economic challenges and low adoption of the technology.

Though closer home, IT services firms like Tech Mahindra have been bullish on their metaverse plans and deal pipeline.

In its Technology Vision 2023 report, Accenture identified generative AI, digital identity and data usage as the key factors that will enable these tech trends.

Accenture Technology group chief executive Paul Daugherty said, “While generative AI will have far-reaching impact, leaders must dive in now to achieve its full promise, as it will require significant investments in data, people, and customising foundation models to meet organisations’ unique needs.”

Accenture estimates that with the meteoric rise of ChatGPT, 40 percent of all working hours will be supported or augmented by language-based AI. “Among business leaders, 98 percent of respondents agree AI foundation models will play an important role in their organisation’s strategies over the next three to five years,” the report said.

Mahesh Zurale, senior managing director, lead-Advanced Technology Centers in India, Accenture, said, “We’ve arrived at an exciting frontier of technology innovation for businesses, one where we’re not just digitising but starting to put the digital foundation to work.”

To fully unlock the opportunity of the new reality, companies need to develop an innovation strategy on three pillars – information (IT), physical systems (OT), and science tech (ST) while continuing to invest in skilling across areas like quantum computing, AI, extended reality, creative thinking, and critical reasoning capabilities to name a few, he said.

Accenture is betting big on the AI opportunity. It has established a company-wide team -- the Generative AI and Large Language Model (LLM) Center of Excellence, bringing together 1,600 professionals dedicated to generative AI and leveraging the depth and experience of more than 40,000 AI and data professionals across Accenture, it said.