Gartner’s strategic technology trends for 2024

What technologies should companies use to drive their business forward in the coming year? Gartner has investigated this question and compiled the top 10 strategic technology trends for 2024. The clear message from the analysts is that if companies have the right strategy and invest in new technologies, they will remain successful even in the challenging times, which are characterized by numerous uncertainties and pressures.

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Trend #1: AI Trust, Risk and Security Management

The current triumph of artificial intelligence (AI) necessitates comprehensive AI Trust, Risk and Security Management. This will help avoid negative impacts from AI models. With appropriate measures and mechanisms in place, enterprises will increase the accuracy of their decision making by eliminating up to 80% of erroneous and illegitimate information by 2026, according to Gartner. They will also be able to use more AI models productively and deliver higher business value.

Trend #2: Continuous Threat Exposure Management

Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) aligns threat assessment cycles with specific business projects or critical threat vectors. The security approach gives equal consideration to patchable exposures (vulnerabilities) and non-patchable exposures. It involves organizations validating their vulnerability and remediation priorities by taking the perspective of potential attackers and putting the effectiveness of their security measures to the test. CTEM is a pragmatic and systematic approach to continuously adjusting cyber security priorities.

Trend #3: Sustainable Technology

Gartner defines sustainable technology as a framework of digital solutions that help achieve better environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes. The goal is to promote long-term ecological balance and respect for human rights. Companies face the challenge of selecting those technologies that both advance their own business and contribute to sustainability. The overall use of information technology should become more efficient, more circular and more sustainable.

Trend #4: Platform Engineering

Platform engineering refers to the construction and operation of internal self-service platforms. Each platform is understood as an independent layer that is created and maintained by a dedicated product team. Interfaces to tools and processes support user requirements. Close collaboration with end users enables the identification of the right functionalities, tools and processes. Platform engineering can improve the user experience and ensure accelerated delivery of business value.

Trend #5: AI-Augmented Development

The use of innovative technologies such as generative AI and machine learning helps software developers build, test, and deploy applications. AI-based tools handle producing application code, translating existing code into modern programming languages, converting design into code, and streamlining application testing. Developer productivity is increased, making developers better able to meet the growing demand for business software. Estimates suggest that by 2028, about 75% of enterprise software developers will use AI assistants for coding. In early 2023, the rate was less than 10%.

Trend #6: Industrial Cloud Platforms

The goal of industrial cloud platforms is to accelerate business initiatives. Customized cloud offerings are designed to meet the specific needs of an industry and can also be tailored to meet a company’s unique requirements. The modularity of the platforms increases adaptability and agility, enabling companies to keep pace with disruptive upheavals in their industry.

Trend #7: Intelligent Applications

Gartner defines intelligent applications as enterprise applications that are enriched with artificial intelligence as well as connected data from transactions and external sources. Generative AI takes the user experience of customers, users, product owners, architects and developers to a new level. In addition, intelligent applications provide far-reaching insights and deliver findings that business users can leverage for analytics and reporting. As a result, separate business intelligence tools become partially obsolete. With the help of predictions or recommendations, AI also offers the opportunity to tailor applications more closely to their users, optimize results, and promote data-driven decision making.

Trend #8: Democratized Generative AI

The ability to use artificial intelligence to create new content (images, speech, text, etc.) and the widespread availability of AI models are democratizing access to information and capabilities in ways not seen before. As a result, Gartner analysts rate democratized generative AI as one of the most defining technology trends of this decade. It offers the potential to automate a wide range of tasks, increase productivity, reduce costs and open up new growth opportunities. A variety of information sources – internal and external – will be made available to business users via natural language interfaces.

Trend #9: Augmented Connected Workforce

Augmented connected workforce refers to a strategy that accelerates the development of new digital skills essential to working life – across all types of jobs. Digital tools accelerate the skills acquisition of new employees. Advanced automation and artificial intelligence are enabling smarter working, so in the future, workers will need to be better empowered to deal with complex issues and questions.

Trend #10: Machine customers

Machine customers are non-human economic actors that are able to act autonomously and purchase goods and services in exchange for payment. This means that for the first time in human history, companies can create their own customers. According to Gartner, by 2028 there will be around 15 billion connected products that have the potential to behave like customers. By 2030, machine customers will make trillions of dollars worth of purchases, making them more significant than digital commerce.