Happy New Year! What does the future hold for technology in 2018? AI, data science, cryptocurrency, and marketing technology will not only make waves — they’ll start to permeate more parts of our daily lives.
Below is a LinkedIn Pulse Post from our CEO Jyot Singh, who makes his 2018 tech predictions for businesses owners and marketers.
In 2017, we got serious about security (hello, data breaches), dove deeper into business intelligence, and focused on making simpler products with great user experiences. We also saw big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) become more prevalent. 2017 was a big year for tech!
Don’t expect anything to slow down in 2018. It’s going to be another exciting year. Here are my predictions.
Data Science and AI
Since the Industrial Revolution, society has been inventing ways to make work easier. This year, data science is going to take it even farther. Data science will power artificial intelligence (AI) in ways we haven’t seen before.
At this point, artificial intelligence has gone beyond taking data entry out of the equation. With AI technology like Salesforce Einstein, businesses have been able to automate many of their processes. This year, AI will replace human decision making. Essentially, we will have less dependency on humans and thinking will become automated.
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
Think beyond Bitcoin. Blockchain technology is going to become more prevalent this year as businesses and developers begin to understand and test it. This foundational technology has the potential to change the way we make transactions and potentially even our economy as a whole. With Blockchain, you don’t need a middle party to authorize a transaction.
“[Blockchain] is to Bitcoin what the internet is to email — a big electronic system on top of which you can build applications. Currency is just one.” Sally Davies, FT Technology Reporter
This year, we will also see an increased amount of cryptocurrencies as we dive deeper into the capabilities of Blockchain. It’s pretty exciting stuff that I recommend reading up on!
Marketing Will Become More Powerful
Marketing is going to become deeper and more data driven in 2018. Online behaviors will be tracked more closely and selling/marketing will become better but more intrusive. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube will get more powerful because of the sheer amount of data they’ve been collecting about users.
More businesses Will Invest in Augmented Reality (AR)
We already saw retailers like Target bring augmented mobile experiences to consumers. Augmented technology will continue to grow in 2018 and will span industries and business applications.
The Internet of Things Will Grow Significantly
Amazon Alexa and Google Home made home automation commonplace in 2017. This year, we will see more connected devices in the home, in the office, and most notably in hospitals and doctors offices as more medical devices come online.
Thanks to technology, the nature of work is changing. As we harness the power of AI and data science, we will continue to automate and get more done. It’s an exciting time!
