Here are Gartner’s 10 technology trends that will have the most impact in the next five years:
1. Agentic AI
Agentic AI systems autonomously plan and take actions to meet user-defined goals.
Current AI assistants and large language models (LLMs) perform tasks including generating text, summarising content or basic use of tools, but they haven’t been able to take action on their own “initiative”. Instead, they’ve acted on users’ prompts or followed orchestrated processes, but agentic AI is changing that. It offers the promise of a virtual workforce of agents that can assist, offload and augment human work or traditional applications.
The goal-driven planning capabilities of agentic AI also promise to deliver more adaptable software systems, capable of completing a wide variety of “undefined” tasks, rather than only those designed into the software.
Agentic AI offers the promise of a virtual workforce that can offload and augment human work. Gartner predicts that by 2028, at least 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously through agentic AI, up from 0% in 2024.
2. AI governance platforms
AI governance platforms are a part of Gartner’s evolving AI Trust, Risk and Security Management (TRiSM) framework that enables organisations to manage the legal, ethical and operational performance of their AI systems. These technology solutions have the capability to create, manage and enforce policies for responsible AI use, explain how AI systems work and provide transparency to build trust and accountability.
Gartner predicts that by 2028, organisations that implement comprehensive AI governance platforms will experience 40% fewer AI-related ethical incidents compared to those without such systems.
3. Disinformation security
Disinformation security is an emerging category of technology that systematically discerns trust and aims to provide methodological systems for ensuring integrity, assessing authenticity, preventing impersonation and tracking the spread of harmful information. By 2028, Gartner predicts that 50% of enterprises will begin adopting products, services or features designed specifically to address disinformation security use cases, up from less than 5% today.
The wide availability and advanced state of AI and machine learning tools being leveraged for nefarious purposes is expected to increase the number of disinformation incidents targeting enterprises. If this is left unchecked, disinformation can cause significant and lasting damage to any organisation.
4. Postquantum cryptography
Postquantum cryptography provides data protection that is resistant to quantum computing decryption risks. As quantum computing developments have progressed over the last several years, it is expected there will be an end to several types of conventional cryptography that is widely used. It is not easy to switch cryptography methods so organisations must have a longer lead time to ready themselves for robust protection of anything sensitive or confidential.
Gartner predicts that by 2029, advances in quantum computing will make most conventional asymmetric cryptography unsafe to use.
5. Ambient invisible intelligence
Ambient invisible intelligence is enabled by ultra-low cost, small smart tags and sensors which will deliver large-scale affordable tracking and sensing. In the long term, ambient invisible intelligence will enable a deeper integration of sensing and intelligence into everyday life.
Through 2027, early examples of ambient invisible intelligence will focus on solving immediate problems, such as retail stock checking or perishable goods logistics, by enabling low-cost, real-time tracking and sensing of items to improve visibility and efficiency.
6. Energy-efficient computing
IT impacts sustainability in many ways and in 2024 the leading consideration for most IT organisations is their carbon footprint. Compute-intensive applications such as AI training, simulation, optimisation and media rendering are likely to be the biggest contributors to organisations’ carbon footprint as they consume the most energy.
It is expected that starting in the late 2020s, several new compute technologies, such as optical, neuromorphic and novel accelerators, will emerge for special tasks, such as AI and optimisation, which will use significantly less energy.
7. Hybrid computing
New computing paradigms keep popping up including central processing units, graphic processing units, edge, application-specific integrated circuits, neuromorphic, and classical quantum, optical computing paradigms. Hybrid computing combines different compute, storage and network mechanisms to solve computational problems. This form of computing helps organisations explore and solve problems which helps technologies, such as AI, perform beyond current technological limits. Hybrid computing will be used to create highly efficient transformative innovation environments that perform more effectively than conventional environments.
8. Spatial computing
Spatial computing digitally enhances the physical world with technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality. This is the next level of interaction between physical and virtual experiences. The use of spatial computing will increase organisations’ effectiveness in the next five to seven years through streamlined workflows and enhanced collaboration.
By 2033, Gartner predicts spatial computing will grow to US$1.7 trillion.
Apple’s US$3500 Vision Pro – yet to be released in NZ – gave us a taster of spatial computing in 2024.
9. Polyfunctional robots
Polyfunctional machines have the capability to do more than one task and are replacing task-specific robots that are custom designed to repeatedly perform a single task. These new robots improve efficiency and provide a faster ROI. Polyfunctional robots are designed to operate in a world with humans which will make for fast deployment and easy scalability.
Gartner predicts that by 2030, 80% of humans will engage with smart robots on a daily basis, up from less than 10% today.
10. Neurological enhancement
Neurological enhancement improves human cognitive abilities using technologies that read and decode brain activity. This technology reads a person’s brain by using unidirectional brain-machine interfaces or bidirectional brain-machine interfaces (BBMIs). This has huge potential in three main areas: human upskilling, next-generation marketing and performance. Neurological enhancement will enhance cognitive abilities, enable brands to know what consumers are thinking and feeling, and enhance human neural capabilities to optimise outcomes.
By 2030, Gartner predicts 30% of knowledge workers will be enhanced by, and dependent on, technologies such as BBMIs (both employer and self-funded) to stay relevant with the rise of AI in the workplace, up from less than 1% in 2024.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
