Dive Brief:
- The "3rd platform" — consisting of cloud, mobility, Big Data and social — has emerged over the last 10 years, propelled by the IoT and augmented reality, according to IDC. The research firm predicts at least half of the world’s GDP will be digital by 2021, and companies unwilling to digitize face competition for the "shrinking share of their market segment's opportunities."
- AI will be used for about 40% of digital transformation initiatives by 2019, and three-quarters of commercial applications will run on AI. With this, enterprises are expected to expand their AI engineer and data scientist workforce.
- About 90% of companies are expected to create revenue by selling the data they support and manage by 2020.
Dive Insight:
Digital transformation is no longer a phrase companies can hide behind. Leadership is finally expecting to see the fruits of digital transformation efforts in the next two to three years.
Spending on cloud services will reach more than $530 billion in 2021 as 90% of enterprises will turn to dependence on cloud-based services and storage, according to the report. However, those concerned with a rise in IT cost should know that because technical dependence in the workplace is growing, IT budgets are also expected to grow by 19%.
Companies are looking to appropriately compensate for the adoption of new tech, including AI. AI is meant to streamline and automate remedial tasks while also providing general analytical assistance.
As the need for AI increases, major tech companies like Google are beginning to offer potential AI talent "crash courses" to make up for the skills gap. Acquiring new executive leadership fluent in AI — such as a Chief AI Officer — may be the next frontier for companies to fully commit to the 3rd platform.