Summary
Executive Summary for Tech Vision 2021
Technology Vision2021 Leaders Wanted MastersofChangeataMomentofTruth ExecutiveSummary
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Theworldishungryforanewkindofleadership. Amidthechallengesof2020,twotruthsbecame evident. Morecompaniesthaneverhaveembraced theaxiomthateverybusinessisatechnology business,andthey’veignitedaneweraofexponential transformation as technology continuously reshapes industries and thehumanexperience.Now,aswe begin shaping our post-pandemic reality, companies mustlearntomasterchange. 3
Foryears,enterpriseshavebeenoptimisticintheir self-assessments,thinkingthey’refurtheralongin theirdigitaltransformationsthantheyreallyare. 2–3x Adaptability, innovation, connectedness—pick a Forced to recognize this deepening digital metric and businesses asserted they were leaders achievement gap, companies began to compress revenue in the space, ready for anything. But 2020 and their decade-long transformation agendas into the COVID-19 health and economic crisis cleared two to three-year plans. Leaders pivoted to focus their rose-colored glasses, bringing a new reality onbuilding a digital core that would allow them growth into sharp focus: Inflexible work arrangements and to simultaneously transform multiple parts of operations. Fragile supply chains. Untrustworthy their enterprises and their talent. In essence, they A recent study revealed that digital information. New customer needs. The pandemic beganlookingattechnology asasavinggracein leaders (the top 10 percent of and the resulting disruptions exposed the anunpredictable time, allowingthem to accelerate companies leading technology limitations of long-standing norms for how their efforts to minimize the disruptions of the innovation) achieve 2–3x revenue companies operate andhowpeoplelive. pandemic. Amid this chaos, enterprises not only growth as compared to their pivoted faster than they believed they could, they competitors—a widening divide started demonstrating the adaptability, innovation, that Accenture calls the “Digital and connectedness that they thought they’d AchievementGap.” 1 already achieved.
This journey of reinvention, however, has only just The single biggest reinvention of industry in living begun. The pandemic radically accelerated changes memory has been ignited. People and the world that companies knew were coming but didn’t expect need leaders who will look beyond today’s triage to see so soon. Major shifts that were predicted to effort and start building what comes next. While it materialize in years are happening here and now: industry will be tempting for companies to retreat to what convergence, localized supply chains, mass virtualization, they know, 2020 brought the need for a different and rapidly and continuously changing customer path forward into clear focus. If businesses continue expectations. But, while immediate changes are clear, to have a clear-eyed perspective and sharp focus on there’s less clarity than ever into what our long-term their expedited digital transformations, reimagining future holds. everythingfrom their people, to data, architectures, andecosystems, they canemergeasleaders. We’re left with a global set of circumstances we’ve never seen before. On one hand, we have widespread and accelerated digital transformation coupled with the digital building blocks to create almost anything. On the other, wehave blankslatesinevery industry waitingforthe next vision of the future to be defined. Combined, it’s an opportunity we may never see again in this generation: to actively shape our future almost from the ground up. But this is a challenge that demands a new kind of leadership. Leading in the uncertain future will require companies tobecomeMastersofChange.
Leadership Demands TechnologyLeadership Wealways talkedabouthowtechnologywouldcometochange the world, and now that enterprises across industries have accelerated their digital transformations all at once—it has. The era of the fast followeriseffectivelyover.Perpetualchangeisheretostay,andleaders mustnotonlyembraceit,butcatalyzeit. 6
Duringthepandemic,itbecamestarklyclearthatthere isnoleadershipwithouttechnologyleadership. Just look at the restaurant industry. As lockdown three million new users had downloaded the app, enterprises reported deployment levels between and shelter-in-place mandates around the world andmobileordering anddrive-thru pickup combined 8 and 13 percent and expressed the expectations 5 closed traditional dine-in experiences, major chains accounted for 90 percent of sales. Starbucks used that they wouldreachbetween 30and50percent started to declare bankruptcy.2 In fact, 60 percent technologytoreinventitscustomer experience in three years. Or, as the Gartner analysts put it: of the restaurants listed as “temporarily closed” for a changed world, and when demand surged, “manufacturers hadbeenplanningto move to on Yelp in July were out of business permanently it doubled down.Thecompanypushedoutanew the cloud in three years, for the last five years.”7 3Six months into the pandemic, by September. integrated ticket management system to combine the National Restaurant Association reported that orders from Uber Eats, the Starbucks app, and drive- nearly three million workers remained unemployed, thru customers into a single workflow for baristas, andthefoodserviceindustry wasontracktolose and introduced a new espresso machine laden with 4And yet, through this chaos Starbucks $240 billion. sensors to help staff track how much coffee was emerged asaleader. 6 beingpouredandpredictnecessary maintenance. Starbucks had a digital transformation well Starbucks was prepared to lead when uncertainty 90% underwayby2020,andwhenthepandemichit, hit, but not every company was as fortunate. A year that transformation evolved from a strategic initiative ago, many were content to do ‘just enough’ to keep to a vital airbag. The company’s mobile app, which pacewiththeir competition. Case in point: Every of business and IT executives in our survey allows users to customize orders and pay for drinks year Gartner surveys manufacturers on their current agree that to be agile and resilient, their with their phones, proved invaluable as contactless and planned levels of cloud deployment across organizations need to fast forward their transactions rapidly became the norm. By August, enterprise systems. Andevery year from 2014to 2019 digital transformation with cloud at its core.
In the last 12 months however, this mindset has started hearing directly from the designers and engineers who to change. Eighty-two percent of IT executives reported were involved in its creation. In another case, D-Wave, 63% rampinguptheiruseofcloudtechnologies indirect one of the leading companies exploring quantum response to the crisis, and 66 percent of the respondents computing, gave free access to its “Leap” quantum of executives report the pace reported that they will continue to grow their use of cloud platform to anyone working on solutions for of digital transformation for their cloud for the foreseeable future.8Ninety-five percent of COVID-19—an effort that exposed many to the utility companies said they are seeking new ways of engaging of quantum computing.12And Neolix, a Beijing-based organization isaccelerating. 9From food delivery maker of robo-delivery trucks, reported soaring orders customers as a result of COVID-19. platforms that kept restaurants connected to customers asthepandemiccleared cars offroads andopened to the rise of telehealth services and e-commerce, the customers’ eyes to the advantages of driverless delivery.13 pandemicopenedenterprises’eyesto anewreality. Byaccelerating their transformations to meet the needs 92% Cloud is now at the core of the company, not just the of a world in crisis, these enterprises ignited a new and periphery, andtechnology isnolonger just onevehicle different future—one predicated on technology. for success— it’s the vehicle all possible success of executives report that their 10 Rapid digital acceleration during the pandemic has organization is innovating with an dependson. cemented technology as the cornerstone of global urgencyandcall toaction thisyear. And what started as an attempt to solve immediate leadership. ‘Just enough’ is not enough now. The gap problems during the pandemic has quickly become an between digital leaders and laggards grows by the day opportunity to rapidly re-platform the enterprise, create and committing to a wait-and-see approach will land entirely new kinds of value, and become an industry companies on the wrong side of that gap. Leadership leader. Ford created 10 interactive augmented reality demands that enterprises prioritize technology innovation videos to help customers experience the new electric in response to a radically changing world. Small pilots 11 Mustang Mach-E without needing to go for test drives. and incremental scaling are an obsolete luxury, and the Potential customers can explore all the features of the friction between research, development, and large-scale newcarusingacompletelyinteractive 3Dmodel,while deployment must diminishordisappear.
LeadersDon’tWait for a New Normal, TheyBuildIt Asthesayinggoes:Thebestwaytopredict the future is to invent it. Prioritizing technology is essential to ensuring the enterprise doesn’t fall behind.However, true leadership will come from companiesembracingradicallydifferentmindsets andmodels.Theworldhasbeenbesetbysweeping changeanddemandsleadershipthatthinks boldlyinresponse.
Thriving in this moment will require ambitious leaders not content to rehabilitate the business to what it was, but willing to upend conventionandwieldtheirvisionforthefuture. From the workforce, to supply chains, to technology, the coworking market. And as advertising spending Health Service dispelled perceptions of just how operating, and business models, leaders have spent globally beganto drop, Spotify saw the threat posed fast technology transformation needs to take. decades building systems for static purposes, where 15 The company to its ad-supported business model. In a matter of weeks, they rolled out Microsoft change happened slowly and expectedly. But today quickly took steps to begin buying and developing 16 Teams to 1.2 million employees. success is coming to those with the audacity to premiumcontent todrive uppaidsubscriptions— reimagine itall. a strategic shift that moved them from licensing If you had asked a manufacturer what it would andaggregation to production and trendsetting. take to pivot from producing cars to medical In the last year enterprises were forced to confront equipment, they likely would have argued it was deep-seated assumptions about how fast the In isolation this looks like enterprises temporarily nearly impossible. But when the UK faced a critical organization can pivot, where or how work gets responding to crisis, but their willingness to challenge shortage of ventilators, Rolls-Royce demonstrated done, even what they sell and to whom. While some the core value proposition of the enterprise is setting thetrue capacity enterprises have for change. The froze, watching their old convictions crumble, others a new standard for the future. While many companies luxury car manufacturer redesigned its entire supply shattered the bureaucracies and assumptions are still waiting for the new normal to emerge before chain to begin producing this desperately needed holding them back—becoming theleaders that them—others arealreadybuildingit. 17 Within five weeks, the company medical device. everyone will follow. The Red Roof hotel chain took had secured the new parts needed from across 100 reduced demand for travel, but an increase in remote Before the pandemic, if you asked an executive different suppliers, orchestrated operations across work, as an opportunity to book rooms as daily how long it would take to deploy a new three sites, and production was underway. workspaces.14As more companies start to see a communications platform across the company, return to the office as an option, not an inevitability, doing it in less than a year would feel like a stretch. RedRoof haspositioneditselfas achallengerin ButinMarch 2020theUnited Kingdom’sNational
When push comes to shove, leaders don’t see There is a temporary vacuum as people, employees, change as disruption—they embrace it as an customers, and partners all continue to establish a 83% opportunity to build something new. But bold actions newsetofpreferences for thenextnormal.Boundless will fall flat without the technology foundation opportunitylies ahead for the enterprises willing of executives agree that their needed to support their ambition. Enterprises that to break from the mentality of “that’s how we’ve organization’s business and pair big ideas with powerful technology will turn always done it” and become part of crafting what technology strategies are becoming change-readiness into a competitive competency, comes next. This could be reinventing the customer inseparable—even indistinguishable. notareluctant accommodation. experience in your industry, reimagining how data flows across the enterprise and its partners, or For example, as the Geisinger Health System learned fostering the advantages of a virtualized workforce— more about the COVID-19 pandemic, it prioritized evenwhensocialdistancingisnolongeranecessity. accelerated investments inAPI modernization and microservices architecture.18 With the agility But the wide-open opportunity also means and scalability it gained, the company was able to competition has never been fiercer. Every company, seamlessly move from supporting 27 remote visits a fromstart-ups to traditional competitors, is facing daytomorethan1,000;doubleitsremoteworkforce those same disruptions, and introducing their own to 13,000 employees; and build a digital screening vision of the future all at once. It’s not enough to system and companion dashboard that allowed keep pace anymore—to lead, enterprises must administrators to view patient population data in becomepioneers. real time, reduce waits and crowding, and ensure safe social distancing protocols.
BroadentheHorizons ofLeadership Technologymakestheboldestambitions achievable,butpeoplearethenorthstar thatprovidevisionanddirection.As they pioneerthenewnormal,enterprisesare poisedtohaveanoutsizedimpacton theworldaroundthem—andfinancial success willonlybeonemeasureofleadership.
Thereisauniquemomenttorebuildtheworldbetterthanitwasbeforethepandemic, andrealizingthatgoalwillmeanexpandingourdefinitionofvaluetoincludehowwell peoplethrive,theimpactleftontheenvironment,growinginclusivity,andmore. When technology, ambition, and a commitment Evenpriorthepandemicotherleadershavebeen Imaginebuyingacoffeeandbeingable to people converge, the impossible becomes widening their vision of who their stakeholders to see—and trust—its full production history. attainable. Early in the pandemic it was clear are and ingraining those commitments into the You could guarantee that sustainable material thatmanyworkforcesweregoingtobestuck fabric of their business. For instance, Danone was used in the packaging, confirm the absence in limbo. Some industries, like airlines and published its fiscal year-end results with a of allergens, be assured of ethical practices in hospitality, suddenly had next to no customers “carbon-adjusted” evolution to their earning production, and more. In the past, providing and a surplus of talented employees. Other per share to ensure environmental impact this level of visibility for any and every product areas, like technology and customer service, was included when assessing the company’s would have seemed far-fetched. But emerging had surging demand and existing staff couldn’t 20 In light of protests that brought technology solutions are making it increasingly profitability. keepup.Torespondtothisimbalance,thechief awareness to racial inequality, Walmart underwent feasible, allowing companies to build trust with human resources officers from Accenture, Lincoln an audit of its diversity and hiring practice, customersinunprecedented ways. Financial Group, ServiceNow, and Verizon jointly prioritized relationships with minority-owned createdadigitalplatform toconnect workers suppliers, and committed $100 million to 19 The platform, called People + 21 with new roles. establishinga center for racial equity. Work Connect, maps out employees available for work and roles that need to be filled, letting Andwiththeiraccelerateddigitaltransformations, HR professionals from different companies enterprisescanattack someofthedeepest- collaboratively fill talent needs across their set challenges the world faces. As efforts like organizationsandkeepmorepeopleemployed. sustainability and conscientious consumption become top initiatives, technology offers a foundationfromwhichtoachievethosegoals.
Thecircularsupplychain,forinstance, is a multiparty system(MPS)createdin partnership with Mastercard, Amazon Web Services, Everledger, Mercy Corps, and Accenture. The cross-industry initiative combines blockchain-based data sharing, biometric identity verification, supply chain tracking and payment capabilities, to drive more inclusive, equitable and sustainable 22 By addressing global supply chains. problems of provenance, authenticity, and traceability, the system benefits the entire ecosystemandhelpstorealignincentives. Ascompanies lean moreonthe capabilities of technology, they need to recognize more than just the value it provides to the business. To lead with technology, they must measure its impact throughawiderlens.
Our Moment is Now: 2021TechnologyTrends Companies arenolongerstrictlycompetingfor marketshare;theyarecompetingtobuildtheir visionof thefuturefasterthanthecompetition. Successwill dependontheirability to accelerate andmasterchangeinallparts oftheirbusiness, which in turn will be a direct function of the technologydecisionstheymaketoday.
But make no mistake, transforming the enterprise into a technology leader cannotbecontainedtotheoversightoftheCIOorCTOalone.Tobesuccessful, a digital-first approach must be fostered by the entire C-suite and manifested acrossallareasoftheorganization. Becoming a Master of Change begins with Enterprises must also ensure their people Finally, the challenges and opportunities ahead architecting the future and recognizing are empowered to become drivers of change— are vast and businesses will not be able to thatbusinessandtechnology strategiesare an outcome achievable through technology tackle them alone. Multiparty systems will increasinglyindistinguishable. Architecture has democratization, which is making powerful helpbusinesses lead bychangingthewaythey nevermatteredmoreasthetechnology choices technology capabilities accessible without the partner. From supply chains to digital ecosystems, businesses make today will determine what the needforspecialized skills. Enterprises can ignite the pandemic showed just how brittle globe- business can or cannot do long into the future. grassroots innovation by equipping every spanning relationships can be. By rebuilding Competition isbecoming abattle oftechnology employee with the tools and skills to build these partnerships with technology at the center, stacks—and onesizefits none. technology solutions at the point of need. enterprises are findingways to adapt together. As leaders thread technology through all The enterprise can change from anywhere Anewfutureisonthehorizon—onethat’sdifferent aspects of the business, the valuable troves of andeverywhere as it equips the workforce from what the world expected. As this future takes datagenerated arebeingusedtobuildmassive to bringyourownenvironment.Thesingle shape, there will be no room for enterprises that networks of intelligent digital twins. The Mirrored biggest workforce shiftin livingmemory is cling to the past. Will you watch the world change World these next-generation twins create is positioning businessesto explorethebenefits around you? Orbetheoneleadingit?People fuelingchangebyunlockingthecurrently trapped of a virtualized workforce and expand the are ready for something new and it’s time for value of data and allowing enterprises to simulate, boundaries of the enterprise. enterprises to join them. Let there be change. predict, and automate by seamlessly bridging the dividebetweendigital and physical.
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Ourfivetechnology trendsfor2021 Architecting a The power of The democratization Bring your own A multiparty better future massive, intelligent, of technology environment system’s path digital twins through chaos View Trend Deck View Trend Deck View Trend Deck View Trend Deck View Trend Deck
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StackStrategically BigTakeaways ArchitectingaBetterFuture The diversity of technology capabilities across the stack will lead to unprecedented diversity in business solutions. Enterprises that work to determine their most valuable A new era of industry competition is dawning—one where companies compete combination of technologies will be able to develop truly on their architecture. Enterprises have a huge volume of technology options and one-of-a-kind offerings. varieties available to them. This means enterprises can custom-tailor every layer of their technology architecture, optimizing the execution of corporate strategy to a degree never seen before. But building and wielding the most competitive Building a competitive technology stack starts with technology stack means thinking about technology differently. Business and accumulating technical wealth—cloud strategies and technology strategies must become indistinguishable, and enterprises must microservices are the key. Enterprises need an adaptive strive to be technology leaders. technology foundation, and they can’t afford to be weigheddownbylegacysystems. Asenterprises merge their technology andbusinessstrategies, they will start to play a bigger role facilitating people’s relationship with tech. This requires building trust—not just in products andservices, but inthe technologies behind them.
MirroredWorld BigTakeaways ThePowerofMassive,Intelligent,DigitalTwins Mirror-world simulations will give enterprises the freedom to explore new ideas and ask limitless “what-if” questions in a risk-free, digital environment. Leaders will use this Growing investments in data, AI, and digital twin technologies are giving rise to a new capability to transform their innovation process. generation of business and intelligence: The Mirrored World. Leaders are building intelligent digital twins all across their organizations and are weaving them together to create living models of whole factories, supply chains, product lifecycles, and more. As more of the physical To reap the benefits of intelligent twins and the mirrored worldis represented in digital space, the burgeoning mirrored world will unlock a cornucopia world, enterprises must build comprehensive and trusted of newopportunities. Enterprise leaders will be able to bring data and intelligence together data practices. Twins are a powerful way to turn data into at unprecedented scales; ask and answer big-picture questions critical to their survival; actionable insights but using incomplete or bad data will andreimaginehowtheyoperate,collaborate, andinnovate. domoreharmthangood. Themirrored worldpromises big-picture visibility, but accessing it means going beyond the enterprise’s four walls. Businesses must work toward a future of where intelligent twins enable seamless and data-driven collaborations across ecosystems.
I,Technologist BigTakeaways TheDemocratizationofTechnology Democratized technology can help close the skills gap. While highly technical skillsets remain in demand, leaders can use democratized technology to cultivate much of A shift is underway in technology development. Natural language processing, whattheyneedwithintheircurrentworkforce. low-code platforms, robotic process automation, and more are democratizing technology, putting powerful capabilities into the hands of people all across the business. This phenomenon addsagrassroots layer to enterprises’ innovation To activate a grassroots layer of innovation, enterprises strategies—while IT will still handle major implementations and work with the most needto train their people to thinklike technologists. Training advanced technologies, the people closest to day-to-day business problems will be programs must cover how to use various democratized tools empowered tocreate technology-driven solutions themselves. Withdemocratized aswellasoverall technology literacy. technology, every employee can be an innovator, optimizing their work, fixing pain points, andkeepingthebusinessinlockstepwithnewandchangingneeds. Democratization is breaking down traditional divisions between the technology and business sides of the organization. Leaders will need to rethink the roles of their IT and non-IT workers andreimagine how they collaborate.
Anywhere, BigTakeaways During the pandemic enterprises focused on making BYOE Everywhere work technologically possible, now they need to make it seamless and secure. Enterprises must address pain points BringYour OwnEnvironment today, or they will rapidly grow. It’s time for enterprises to transform remote work from an accommodation, With a BYOE strategy comes the opportunity to reimagine the to an advantage. During the height of the pandemic, enterprises ignited the biggest enterprise’s operating models. From increasing human-robot workforce shift in living memory by sending people home and doubling down on collaboration to accessing a truly global talent pool, technology solutions to keep them productive. In doing so, they have made work the potential benefits are vast. possible not just from home, but from anywhere. Opportunities abound for the businesses ready to rethink what their organization looks like and what it can achieve with a virtualized workforce model. But simply extending pandemic policies won’t be As enterprises shift to a BYOE strategy, their culture must enough. Leaders must now develop “bring your own environment” (BYOE) strategies, evolve too. This will be an ongoing process, but quick wins addressing the security ramifications of remote work, necessary cultural shifts, today include rethinkinghow employees communicate andtheevolvingpurpose ofphysicalofficespace. and working to ensure that remote and in-person employees are recognized equally.
FromMetoWe BigTakeaways AMultipartySystem’sPathThroughChaos Tobuild greater resilience, enterprises must open themselves to more digitally led partnerships. This starts with investing in technologies like industry-focused clouds and thinking beyond Theglobaldisruption of COVID-19 ignitedascramble for enterprises to traditional industry boundaries. reimagine their partnerships—and multiparty systems gained newfound attention. The sudden demand for contact tracing, frictionless payments, and new ways of building trust brought into sharp focus what had been left undone with enterprises’ Multiparty systems are rapidly growing in adoption and have existing ecosystems. The next three years will see rapid change in customer needs, the power to radically transform partnerships. But enterprise regulation, andmore—and enterprises are learning they are stronger together. leaders need to understand the right business case for Enterprises have the opportunity to avoid rebuilding the same mistakes of the past leveragingthem. and craft a new path forward. With multiparty systems, enterprises can gain greater resilience and adaptability; unlock new ways to approach the market; and set new, ecosystem-forward standardsfortheir industries. Multiparty systems are reshaping some of the most deeply set institutions. As enterprises pursue the advantages MPS provide, they must ensure they are using the technology to create a more equitable future.
Completing 2021 Stack MirroredWorld I,Technologist Anywhere, FromMe thepicture Trends Strategically Everywhere toWe Accenture’s Technology Vision report comprises a three-year set of technology trends, currently including trends from 2020 TheIin AIandMe TheDilemmaof Robotsinthe InnovationDNA 2020and2019. Trends Experience SmartThings Wild It’s important to recognize that each year’s trends are part of a bigger picture. Tracking how they evolve over time offers a glimpse into how they maycontinuetogrowinthefuture. 2019 DARQ Getto Human+ Secure Trends Power KnowMe Worker USto MyMarkets SecureME
2020Trends TheIin AIandMe TheDilemmaof Robotsin Innovation Experience Reimaginethe SmartThings theWild DNA Helpingpeople business through Overcomethe Growingthe Createanengine choosetheir humanandAI “betaburden” enterprise’s reach— forcontinuous ownadventure collaboration andresponsibility innovation Address the new reality Redesign digital experiences Takeanewapproach of product ownership in Build new models of Tap into the unprecedented withnewmodelsthatamplify thatusesartificialintelligence the era of “forever beta.” interaction and impact scaleofdisruptivetechnology personal agency. Turn tobringoutthefullpowerof Transform pain points asroboticsmovebeyond available today. Build the passive audiences into active people. Move beyond deploying into an opportunity to the walls of the enterprise. capabilities and ecosystem participants by transforming AI for automation alone and create an unprecedented Companies in every industry partnerships necessary to one-way experiences into pushintothenewfrontierof level of business– will unlocknewopportunities assemble the organization’s true collaborations. co-creationbetweenpeople customerpartnership. by introducing robots to the uniqueinnovation DNA. andmachines. nextfrontier: theopenworld.
2019Trends DARQ Getto Human+ SecureUS MyMarkets Power KnowMe Worker toSecureME Meetconsumers’ Understanding Unlockunique Changethe Enterprisesare needs atthe theDNAofDARQ customers and workplaceorhinder notvictims, speedofnow New technologies are catalysts uniqueopportunities theworkforce they’revectors Technologyiscreating for change, offering businesses Technology-driven interactions Workforces are becoming human+: While ecosystem-driven business aworldofintenselycustomized extraordinary new capabilities. are creating an expanding Each individual is empowered by depends on interconnectedness, and on-demand experiences, Distributed ledger technology, technology identity for every theirskillsetsandknowledgeplus those connections increase and companies must reinvent artificial intelligence, extended consumer.Thislivingfoundation a new, constantly growing set of companies’exposurestorisks. their organizations to find and reality, and quantum computing of knowledge will be key to not capabilities made possible through Leadingbusinessesarerecognizing capturethoseopportunities will be the next set of new only understanding the next technology. Now, companies must thatjustastheyalreadycollaborate as they come. That means technologies to spark a step generationofconsumers, adapt the technology strategies withentireecosystemstodeliver viewingeachopportunityas change, letting businesses but also to delivering rich, thatsuccessfullycreated this best-in-classproducts,services if it’s an individual market— reimagineentireindustries. individualized,experience- next-generation workforce to andexperiences,it’stimesecurity amomentarymarket. based relationships in the supportanewwayofworking joinsthateffort aswell. post-digital age. in the post-digitalage.
AbouttheTechnologyVision For more than 20 years, AccentureLabsandAccentureResearchcollaborate Asashortlistofthemesemerges Accenture has developed the ontheannualresearchprocess,whichincludes: from the research process, the Technology Technology Vision report as a Vision team works to validate and refine systematic review across the • Input from the Technology Vision External Advisory the set of trends. The themes are weighed enterprise landscape to identify Board, a group of more than two dozen experienced for their relevance to real-world business emerging technology trends that individuals from the public and private sectors, challenges. The Technology Vision team academia, venture capital and entrepreneurial companies. seeksideasthat transcendthewell- will have the greatest impact on In addition, the Technology Vision team conducts known drivers of technological change, companies, government agencies interviews with technology luminaries and industry concentrating instead on the themes that and other organizations in the experts, as well as nearly 100 Accenture business will soon start to appear on the C-level coming years. These trends have leadersfrom acrossthe organization. agendasofmostenterprises. significant impact across • A global survey of business and IT executives to industriesandareactionable understand their perspectives on the adoption and forbusinessestoday. impact of technologies in their organizations. Survey responses help to identify the technology strategies and priority investments of companies from across industries and geographies.
Surveydemographics Businesssurvey Accenture Research conducted a global survey of 6,241 business and IT executives to capture insights into the adoption anduse of emergingtechnologies. The survey, fielded from December 2020through January 2021, helped identify the key issues and priorities for technology adoption and investment. Respondents were C-level executives and directors at companies across 31 countries and 14 industries. 31Countries 1 Argentina 10 France 19 Norway 28 Thailand 2 Australia 11 Germany 20 Peru 29 United Arab 3 Austria 12 India 21 Portugal Emirates 4 Brazil 13 Indonesia 22 SaudiArabia 30 UnitedKingdom 5 Canada 14 Ireland 23 Singapore 31 UnitedStates 6 Chile 15 Italy 24 SouthAfrica 7 China 16 Japan 25 Spain 8 Colombia 17 Malaysia 26 Sweden 9 Finland 18 Mexico 27 Switzerland
14Industries Revenues 2% 9% 2% $50billionormore 7% $20–$49.9 billion AerospaceandDefense Insurance 15% $10–$19.9 billion 2% 20% 26% $5–$9.9 billion 49% $1–$4.9 billion Automotive PublicService 1% Less than$1billion 11% 10% Roles Banking Retail 52% 48% 9% 1% Business Executives ITExecutives Communications Semiconductors 10% 3% 7% ChiefExecutive Officer 3% ChiefSecurity Officer 5% ChiefDigitalOfficer 5% ChiefStrategy Officer ConsumerGoodsandServices SoftwareandPlatforms 9% ChiefFinanceOfficer 2% ChiefSupplyChainOfficer 4% ChiefHumanResources Officer 13% ChiefTechnology Officer 6% 7% 10% ChiefInformation Officer 10% Director, IT 2% Chief Information Security Officer 1% Director, Line of Business Health Utilities 5% ChiefInnovation Officer (NonIT-related) 9% 1% 7% ChiefMarketing Officer 3% Director of Business Function 8% ChiefOperatingOfficer (NonIT-related) IndustrialEquipment Other 1% ChiefPurchasingOfficer 6% Director of Technology
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