Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) Drivers of Tech Industry for Years to Come

A survey of SADA Systems on trends expected to take over the tech industry from this year which focused primarily on six key areas within the tech world, viz AI/machine learning, augmented reality (AR), blockchain, edge computing, IoT, and virtual reality (VR) has shown that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) are at the forefront of technology industry.

SADA, a global tech and business consulting firm in its survey on technological trends that would greatly impact the industry in 2018 and perhaps in a  few years to come; discovered that The Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) were making significant impact and hold huge prospects. 67% of respondents said AI which was currently being developed or used by their company or institution and IoT technology are considered as technology that is or will be useful to a number of different industries within the next two years.

500 IT specialists and 100 executives were spoken to by SADA during the survey of which 60% said AI which beat IoT as where the technology companies were investing the most amount of money in over the next two years, with blockchain coming in at a distant second, plays a crucial role in their operations as they looked forward to invest more on it.

Everyone featured in the survey worked for a company with at least 500 employees and 75% worked in companies with more than 1,000 people.

Almost half of these worked for tech companies while the others were employed by a variety of companies spanning the retail, healthcare, financial services, media, legal, and manufacturing sectors. SADA said these IT professionals were key to the tech industry because they served on the front lines of where these new technologies were being tested out and used.

Despite their belief in AI technology breaking into everyday use sooner rather than later, 44% of respondents said they had the most difficulty finding IT professionals with AI-related skills. That was far beyond the 16% and 12% of people who said blockchain and IoT skills were hard to find in potential applicants.

According to Tony Safoian, CEO and President of SADA, “IT professionals are the gatekeepers to the next generation of technologies and technology techniques,”

“Much of their time is spent researching and evaluating vendors and solutions, and trying to decipher whether things like artificial intelligence and the internet of things will stand the test of time, or if they will disappear into the IT dustbin”.

The main reason behind the push for all of these technologies, as put forward by 70% of those surveyed, was the desire to increase productivity and efficiency, while over 60% of IT professionals averred they needed the new technology to stand out from their competition.

The survey which focused on how and why new technologies were being used also sought from respondents what their greatest fears were about these new technologies. Data privacy and identity theft were the main problems plaguing any advancements with IoT, AI, and others according to most of the IT experts.

These fears are validated by the fact that just two years ago, IoT devices were used in the Mirai botnet attack that shut down a number of websites, and not too long ago, thousands of Google employees sounded the alarm over AI tech being handed over to the Department of Defense for worrying uses.

In the survey, 6% of respondents said their biggest concern with new technologies was its potential ability to cause or contribute to loss of life.

Finding IT professionals with AI-related skills, seemed like a problem for 44% of respondents, in spite of their belief that AI technology was breaking into everyday use sooner rather than later, which was however far beyond the 16% and 12% of people who said blockchain and IoT skills were hard to find in potential applicants.

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