Generative AI to usher in robust future for business, merging physical and digital worlds: Accenture Technology Vision 2023

New research from Accenture finds that generative AI and other rapidly evolving technologies are ushering in a bold new future for business as physical and digital worlds become inextricably linked.

The Accenture Technology Vision 2023, “When Atoms Meet Bits: The Foundations of Our New Reality,” explores the technology trends underpinning the convergence of the physical and digital, as businesses look to accelerate enterprise reinvention in the here and now.

“The next decade will be defined by three mega technology trends—cloud, metaverse and AI—which collectively will collapse the distance of our digital and physical worlds,” said Paul Daugherty, group chief executive of Accenture Technology. “While generative AI will have far-reaching impact, leaders must dive in now to achieve its full promise, as it will require significant investments in data, people, and customizing foundation models to meet organizations’ unique needs.

Mahesh Zurale, senior managing director, lead — Advanced Technology Centers in India, Accenture said, “We’ve arrived at an exciting frontier of technology innovation for businesses, one where we’re not just digitizing but starting to put the digital foundation to work. The next wave of business transformation will shift from creating isolated digital capabilities to creating a new reality that seamlessly converges the physical lives we’ve been leading with digital. It not only offers new opportunities to build products & services and create new ways of working but is also the force behind a new era of scientific research.

To fully unlock the opportunity of the new reality, companies need to develop an innovation strategy on three pillars – information (IT), physical systems (OT), and science tech (ST) while continuing to invest in skilling across areas like quantum computing, AI, extended reality, creative thinking, and critical reasoning capabilities to name a few.”

The meteoric rise of ChatGPT has captivated the world’s attention on the power of generative AI to augment human capability. Accenture estimates as much as 40% of all working hours will be supported or augmented by language-based AI. Among business leaders, 98% of respondents agree AI foundation models will play an important role in their organization’s strategies over the next three to five years.

Accenture’s Technology Vision 2023 identifies four trends that are key to unlocking this new shared reality:

• Generative AI: Advancing human capability as a co-pilot, creative partner or advisor,  nearly all executives agree that generative AI will spark significant creativity and innovation (98%) and usher in a new era of enterprise intelligence (95%).
• Digital identity: The ability to authenticate digital users and assets—the foundation for traversing digital and physical worlds—is now seen by 85% of executives as a strategic business imperative, not just a technical issue.
• My data, your data, our data: AI cannot reach its full potential until companies figure out data. That means breaking down data silos and modernizing their data foundations. In fact, 90% of executives believe data is becoming a key competitive differentiator within organizations and across industries.
• Our forever frontier: Feedback loop between science and technology is getting faster, with each accelerating the advancement of the other, in ways that 75% of respondents believe could begin to unlock the world’s grand challenges.

Building on years of research and client work, Accenture has established a company-wide team—the Generative AI and Accenture, digital worlds, data, Information Technology (IT), physical systems (OT), science tech (ST) ,quantum computing, AI, extended realitCenter of Excellence, bringing together 1,600 professionals dedicated to generative AI and leveraging the depth and experience of more than 40,000 AI and data professionals across Accenture. To help guide and inform business leaders, Accenture has published “A New Era of Generative AI for Everyone,” an in-depth study of generative AI/LLM that provides actionable insights on how leaders can best use this disruptive technology.

For 23 years, Accenture has taken a systematic look across the enterprise landscape to identify technology trends with the highest likelihood of disrupting businesses and industries. For more information on this year’s report, visit www.accenture.com/technologyvision or follow the conversation on Twitter with #TechVisio