Gartner is sharing its annual look at the hot technologies enterprise customers should be watching out for in the coming years. AI, security, energy-efficient computing, robotics, and virtual computing interactions are among the research firm’s top 10 strategic technology trends, which were unveiled at Gartner’s annual IT Symposium/XPO in Orlando.
1. Agentic AI
For starters, Gartner is expecting a proliferation of “agentic AI,” which refers to intelligent software entities that use AI techniques to complete tasks and achieve goals, according to Gene Alvarez, distinguished vice president analyst at Gartner.
By 2028, at least 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously through agentic AI, up from 0% in 2024, Gartner predicts. Agentic AI will be incorporated into AI assistants and built into software, SaaS platforms, IoT devices and robotics. Many startups are already marketing themselves as AI-agent-building platforms, and hyperscalers are adding agentic AI to their AI assistants, Gartner stated.
Agentic AI offers the promise of a virtual workforce that can offload and augment human work, Alvarez stated. The goal-driven capabilities of this technology will deliver more adaptable software systems that can complete a wide variety of tasks, Alvarez stated, and agentic AI has the potential to realize CIOs’ desire to increase productivity across the organization.
“Intelligent agents in AI will change decision making and improve situational awareness in organizations through quicker data analysis and prediction intelligence. While you’re sleeping, agentic AI could look at five of your company’s systems, analyze far more data than you ever could and decide the necessary actions,” wrote Tom Coshow, senior director analyst with Gartner’s technical service providers division, in a Gartner report about intelligent agents in AI.
2. AI governance platforms
AI governance platforms are a part of Gartner’s evolving AI trust, risk and security management (TRiSM) framework that enables organizations to manage the legal, ethical and operational performance of their AI systems, Alvarez stated. These solutions can be used to create, manage and enforce policies for responsible AI use, explain how AI systems work, and provide transparency to build trust and accountability.
Among the benefits of AI governance platforms is the chance to avert AI-related ethical incidents. By 2028, organizations that implement comprehensive AI governance platforms will experience 40% fewer AI-related ethical incidents compared to those without such systems, Gartner predicted.
AI governance platforms promote responsible AI by enabling organizations to manage and oversee the legal, ethical and operational performance of AI, using a combination of practices and technology tools that monitor robustness, transparency, fairness, accountability and risk compliance, Gartner has reported.
3. Disinformation security
Gartner’s third hot topic is also related to AI: disinformation security. It’s defined as 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, according to Gartner.
“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 organization,” Alvarez stated.
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.
4. Post-quantum cryptography
Gartner predicts that by 2029, advances in quantum computing will make most conventional asymmetric cryptography unsafe to use. It’s highlighting the significance of post-quantum cryptography, which provides data protection that is resistant to quantum computing decryption risks.
Asymmetric encryption is in almost all software, billions of devices worldwide, and most of the communications over the internet. “Harvest-now, decrypt-later” attacks may already exist, Gartner wrote in a recent report.
“To resist attacks from both classical and quantum computers, organizations must transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). But that’s hardly a simple switch. It will require more work than preparing for Y2K, and failure could have dangerous consequences. Further, many organizations haven’t yet planned or budgeted for this shift,” stated Mark Horvath, vice president analyst at Gartner.
Among the challenges of adopting post-quantum cryptography is the fact that there are not easy replacement options. “No drop-in alternatives exist for current cryptographic algorithms. This creates the need for discovery, categorization and reimplementation,” Horvath stated.
“To address these challenges and smooth the transition to new algorithms, start by developing policies on algorithm substitution, data retention and the mechanics of swapping or modifying your existing use of cryptography. A policy-based program will reduce confusion and arbitrary choices, and increase manageability.”
“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,” Alvarez stated. “It is not easy to switch cryptography methods, so organizations must have a longer lead time to ready themselves for robust protection of anything sensitive or confidential.”
5. Hybrid computing
Hybrid computing shows up on Gartner’s list. This form of computing – which Gartner defines as a system that combines compute, storage, and network mechanisms to solve complex computational problems – helps technologies such as AI perform beyond current technological limits.
New computing paradigms keep popping up, including CPUs, GPUs, edge computing, application-specific integrated circuits, neuromorphic and quantum systems, Alvarez stated. Hybrid computing will be used to create highly efficient, transformative, innovation environments that perform more effectively than conventional environments, he said.
6. Energy-efficient computing
Energy-efficient computing will continue to be a hot topic, according to Gartner. IT impacts sustainability in many ways, and in 2024, the leading consideration for most IT organizations is their carbon footprint, Alvarez stated.
Compute-intensive applications, such as AI training, simulation, optimization and media rendering, are likely to be the biggest contributors to organizations’ carbon footprint as they consume the most energy, Alvarez stated.
Energy-efficient or green computing includes incremental tactics such as adopting greener energy or switching to more efficient hardware, and long-term strategies enabled by novel technologies, Gartner reports.
Examples of green computing techniques common today include leveraging application architecture, code and algorithms that require less energy to run, adopting new, more efficient hardware and using greener power. In the future, more advanced techniques, including novel computing platforms that are still in the research phases today, will become available, Gartner stated.
It is expected that starting in the late 2020s, several new compute technologies, such as optical, neuromorphic and novel accelerators, will emerge for special purpose tasks, such as AI and optimization, which will use significantly less energy, according to Alvarez.
7. Ambient invisible intelligence
Ambient invisible intelligence refers to the widespread use of small, low-cost tags and sensors to track the location and status of various objects and environments, according to Gartner.
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, according to Gartner.
8. Spatial computing
Spatial computing digitally enhances the physical world with technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality. The use of spatial computing will increase organizations’ effectiveness in the next five to seven years through streamlined workflows and enhanced collaboration. By 2033, Gartner predicts spatial computing will grow to $1.7 trillion, up from $110 billion in 2023.
9. Polyfunctional robots
These systems can do more than one task and are replacing task-specific robots that are custom designed to repeatedly perform a single task. 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
This technology improves human cognitive abilities using technologies that read and decode brain activity. It reads a person’s brain by using unidirectional brain-machine interfaces or bidirectional brain-machine interfaces (BBMIs). Such technologies have 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 optimize outcomes. By 2030, Gartner predicts 30% of knowledge workers will be enhanced by, and dependent on, technologies such as BBMIs to stay relevant with the rise of AI in the workplace, up from less than 1% in 2024.
