Musings for the CIO: Predictions for 2024
Table of Contents:
– Marc Einstein, Senior Research Advisor at Focus Network
2023 will certainly be remembered as the year of Generative AI, as the technology took the industry by storm and dominated the year’s headlines. In 2024, Generative AI (GenAI) has moved past the conceptual phase and CIOs will need to consider how the technology will redefine the enterprise and how to incorporate its use into the daily tasks of the organisation. This will span many areas from examining industry-specific solutions to increasing e iciency via increasingly automating tasks.
Hardware will also fundamentally change with the coming of on-device AI PCs and smartphones. And of course, organisations will need to ensure that they have the right talent to carry out these tasks and appropriate internal rules and policies will need to be in place.
But GenAI is by no means the only key issue on the CIO agenda for the coming year. Cybersecurity always needs to be re-evaluated and grows more important every year. New connectivity options will o er potential benefits which should be considered and more mature technologies like cloud computing need to deliver value. As such, 2024 is shaping up to be yet another busy year for the CIO.
Topics That Will Dominate the CIO Agenda in 2024 – AI Focused
Topics That Will Dominate the CIO Agenda in 2024 – AI Focused
GenAI for the Enterprise – In 2023, GenAI was already being adopted by enterprises, mostly to increase the e iciency of mundane tasks such as drafting emails, online research, and simple content creation. In 2024, as Large Language Models (LLMs) will become more sophisticated and there will be new options for GenAI enterprise use with a focus on specific industries such as education, healthcare and R&D departments.
On Device AI – – One of the trending words of 2024 in the IT space has already emerged in the “AI PC”.
While it is not exactly clear what these devices will be able to do, it is clear that hardware vendors are moving quickly to equip the next generation of smartphones and PCs with native AI capabilities.
This should o er some benefits to the enterprise such as beer security as opposed to cloud-based solutions and the possibility of increased personalisation so CIOs will need to be prepared to consider AI devices in 2024.
Automation – – In 2024 GenAI will be increasingly used to automate tasks within the organisation and is expected to take what has already been accomplished using RPA to new levels. Some of the key areas of focus include areas such as improved chatbots (both customer-facing and for internal use in areas such as Human Resources), coding, data entry and compliance. Using GenAI for more sophisticated tasks such as synthetic voice creation is already being implemented by early adopters.
AI Governance – – As GenAI has been embraced extremely quickly by many organisations, policies surrounding the use of the technology have yet to be clarified by many companies which have created issues. Some of the largest companies in the world, for example, discovered that their source code had been uploaded into public LLMs in 2023 which is clearly a security issue. Other potential issues such as what is considered copyrighted when it comes to GenAI-made content will also need to be addressed. Therefore, companies will need to set clear guidelines for AI usage in 2024.
Exhibit – 2024 AI Trends Impacting the CIO
2024 AI Trends Impacting the CIO
Topics That Will Dominate the CIO Agenda in 2024 – Others
Topics That Will Dominate the CIO Agenda in 2024 – AI Focused
Cybersecurity – While the impact of GenAI on the cybersecurity sector will dominate the headlines in 2024 this is far from the only issues CIOs and CISOs will need to be concerned about in 2024.
Ransomware aacks are increasing in frequency and sophistication even without GenAI, so security posturing needs to be constantly re-evaluated. Privacy regulations are becoming more stringent in many countries which could pave the way for a more privacy laws akin to the GDPR. There will also be more momentum to implement a zero trust security posture in many organisations.
Wi-Fi 7 – While Wi-Fi does not get nearly as much attention as AI does in the media, the Wi-Fi Alliance recently approved the 802.11be, or Wi-Fi 7 standard. Many of the high-end PCs and routers which were shown at CES 2024 in Las Vegas are already Wi-Fi 7 enabled. The standard is capable of reaching a downlink speed of 5.8Gbps which is a massive improvement of the 1.5Gbps peak rate of Wi-Fi 6e and hence enterprises who need significantly improved connectivity will have a new option to consider in 2024.
Satellite Connectivity – The satellite communications industry is currently undergoing a renaissance due to the massive deployment of Low Earth Orbit satellites by companies such as Starlink. This sudden increase in capacity is making pricing in the sector more competitive and therefore companies in industries which have a strong reliance on satellite communications such as maritime and mining industries should reexamine their supplier options in 2024.
Cloud Computing – Cloud computing is another technology that will be less in the limelight in 2024 but nonetheless remains critical to the CIO agenda. There will be an increased focus on migrating computing to the edge in order to realise benefits in bandwidth costs, security, and speed. Many large enterprises will consider multi-cloud environments to avoid vendor lock-in and tools to analyse the ROI of cloud computing will become a greater focus in 2024 as cloud computing costs rise.
Exhibit: Other 2024 Trends Impacting the CIO
Other 2024 Trends Impacting the CIO
Summary & Conclusions
It is abunantly clear that GenAI will dominate the CIO and to a degree even the CISO agenda in 2024.
The technology will lead to the creation of new services, enhance productivity via increased automation and will be a very powerful tool in the overall facilitation of digital Transformation goals and objectives. However, it is also important not to let GenAI overshadow other important initiatives.
Cybersecurity needs to be higher on the agenda at all levels of the organisation. New connectivity options such as Wi-Fi an satellite communications need to be evaluated. And the current state of massive investments in areas such as cloud computing need to be monitored and adjusted where needed. 2024 is indeed shaping up to be another busy year for the CIO.