2017 Predictions: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Blending, and a New Breed of Cyberattack

Will this be the year that Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes so seamlessly connected in our lives as to trigger action at the speed-of-thought? Will you and everyone you know have a “digital twin”? And if so, which twin would you prefer to talk to? Will a new breed of cyberattack catch us off-guard? Experts warn that one blurry-eyed morning, your coffee maker might even turn on you.

All of this can come true in 2017, according to the experts who appeared this week on Coffee Break with Game-Changers 2017 Predictions Special – Part 1 presented by SAP. Host Bonnie D. Graham asked 15 leading experts, academics, and business influencers what they see in their crystal ball for 2017. Each person was given just two minutes to share their predictions for what the next year holds for their industry, business, the world, and technology.

Here’s what they had to say:

1. Dematerialization is going to continue. We’ll see hardware that is thinner and lighter. New materials are coming on the market, like stretchable electronics. Imagine what that could do for wearable technologies. Everything is going to be computing in the future, whether it’s your shoes, clothes, or the temporary tattoo that you wear to monitor your health. – Gray Scott, Futurist, Founder and CEO at SeriousWonder.com and techno philosopher
2. We will see that value generation will be the customer of digitalization. Together, value innovation with customers and process rationalization for automatization, will change the business. I call it “social architecture.” We will start to talk about things like, “Does a robot need to pay taxes?” – Otto Schell, Global SAP Business Architect and CCoE Lead, GM and member of the Board of Directors of SAP’s German Speaking User Group (DSAG)
3. 3. In 2017, the theme is going to be “out with the old, and in with the even older!” I see a shift in the way consumers spend that is going to lead double-digit towards products with integrity. Products that are made by hand will start to have a whole new meaning. Any product with integrity that is sourced with sustainability in mind is going to bring a tremendous value. – Jonah Manning, Founder and CEO, PeopleOps Consulting
4. We believe that computing in 2017 and for the next 10 years will be defined by advances in mobility and AI. The intersection of AI and messaging will continue to grow. AI will be able to hold a conversation instantaneously at near-human levels. – Shaun Stüger, Chief Operating Officer, BoodsKapper LLC
5. We’re moving away from companies designing processes, and toward creating tools to support more effective relationships, better role definition, and better access to things like training resources. It’s a different approach; it’s more employee-centric than process-centric. – Dr. Steven Hunt, Senior Vice President of Value Realization, SAP SuccessFactors
6. In 2017, we’re going to finally see that Artificial Intelligence components combined with highly sophisticated in-memory platforms are going to meld together. 2017 is going to be the year that brings end-to-end seamless communications and connections of consumers, public, clients, citizens with business leaders and public officials. This will trigger leaders to take action at the speed-of-thought. – Guillermo B. Vazquez, Specialist Leader / Senior Manager, Deloitte LLP
7. Technologies that we’re talking about, like AI and machine learning, are finally going to put enough pressure on companies that they realize they have to focus on the human side … that you need to think about the workers. This is going to be a transformation next year that requires us to completely reimagine what work means. – Jeremy C. Thomas, Founder and Catalyst, Carom
8. Volatility and digitization will become the new norm. I’m referring to global volatility like Brexit or regulatory changes. Digitization along with that will drive businesses to think differently. – Sam Parikh, Managing Director, SAP Practice, Deloitte Consulting
9. We’re going to see the blending of the digital and physical worlds come together. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are going to balloon in 2017. We’re going to see a lot more in digital twins: digital documentation of a physical thing so we can understand it better. – Rick Varner, Senior Executive Partner, Gartner Inc.
10. We see a lot of implications for security in the Internet of Things (IoT) – devices, medical devices, smart TVs, and (even) coffee machines. Those devices are getting more and more connected to the Internet to become smarter. But we are already seeing these devices are being used to launch attacks and to be targets. In 2017, we will see more attacks and more measures against those attacks. – Alon Kantor, Vice President of Business Development, Check Point
11. Individuals will start to take their security online more seriously and start to demand that companies actually do something when handing them their data. People are going to start to realize that their data is important and it’s worth a lot of money to them. They will want it to be secure in the same way they look after their purses, wallets, and cameras in the real world. – Simon Bain, CEO, SearchYourCloud
12. I see products coming on the market where there is Machine Learning that will watch what HR does. And it will suggest and even build-out complete processes so people can spend more time in relationships with their customer versus just doing HR operations. – Todd Asevedo, HCM Strategist, SAP SuccessFactors
13. The labor pendulum will swing back and that’s going to affect a lot of us in HR. US President-elect Donald Trump has talked about the Welfare-to-Work program. I predict that we’re going to see some strong tax incentives for employers who will hire the under-employable. That’s going to have a lot of implications for senior HR people. – Barbara Ocain, Global Strategic Advisor, SAP SuccessFactors
14. This journey we’ve had around “real-time” is going to continue strongly … in the direction of real-time, all the time, everywhere. Therefore, in 2017, the cloud is going to continue to have a profound impact on the enterprise. I think that portion of the enterprise that is not real time is going to be under attack.– Mark Noronha, Startup Engagement Lead, Startup Focus Program, SAP

SAP Game-Changers Radio 2017 Predictions – Upcoming Shows

You can hear the full show at SAP Game-Changers 2017 Predictions – Part 1

For dozens of other insightful predictions that can impact you and your business in 2017 and beyond, listen to all five episodes of SAP’s Game-Changers Radio 2017 Predictions Special. Part 2 will air live next Wednesday on December 14 at 11am EST/ 8am PST at http://spr.ly/SAPRadio. Parts 3-5 air January 4, 11, and 18, 2017 at the same link. You can listen to the shows live here.

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