Worker productivity has not changed materially in over 20 years – not since email and internet services permeated the office. But the pervasive use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in business — coupled with collaborative systems, internetworked teams and tech-savvy business leaders — signals that we are getting closer to the next step-change in productivity.

Enterprises should examine how these five technology trends can be leveraged for success in 2020 and beyond.

Our 2020 global technology trends are a critical guide for your transformation and innovation journey, and Chief Technology Officer Daniel Biondi takes a pulse on what they mean for Australia and New Zealand.

technology trends and the future of work in 2020and the implications for Australia and New Zealand

ANZ implication

In 2020, artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising professions like legal, accounting, insurance, healthcare and education in two ways: democratisation and decision support.

AI democratises professional services by extending customisation and personalised services to a broad customer base through low-cost intelligent software agents. These agents can augment and improve decisions - but will not take over. A key element of artificial intelligence (AI) is to understand and utilise the context of the data.

In ANZ, we are seeing ideal scenarios of intelligent agents working with professionals to enhance customer support. For example, an insurance industry client successfully leveraged AI to increase decision accuracy while scaling processes. This client automated manual approaches based on patterns, existing knowledge, and 10 years of historical compensation claims data.

Using machine learning, outcomes for new claims are predicted with categorisations (high, medium and low risk) saving time, while also directing focus to more complex or higher risk claims. Early results demonstrate around 90% accuracy in predicting outcomes.

Engaging with customers in meaningful ways to achieve optimum customer experience is critical to business success. It impacts repeat business, brand loyalty, and word

of mouth recommendations, which are increasingly important in buying decisions.

AI will bring forward intelligence hidden in systems, empowering consumers and complementing

professionals’ expertise. To protect against unintended consequences, businesses should train people to

quickly detect and rectify improper bias or unsafe behaviour of the AI.

AI will bring forward intelligence hidden in systems, empowering consumers and complementing professionals’ expertise. Leaders will define ideal interactions between AI agents and people, designing mutually beneficial outcomes.

Professional services firms will struggle with how AI can — or should — change their professions, such as legal, accounting, healthcare and education

For consumers, AI will democratise access to professional services

For professionals, AI will provide new insights, manage information overload, reduce human error

But professionals’ critical reasoning skills could atrophy, making it difficult to train the next generation of experts

1 AI redefines professional services

Enterprises will realise new levels of efficiency and innovation by leveraging machine-to-machine/Internet of things (M2M/IoT) data and the speed of M2M/IoT services.

Processing will move to where the data is

Machine-to-machine / internet of things world will accelerate IT modernisation

Analytics will continue moving to the network edge where the data is, and will help enterprises make better decisions faster, more accurately and more cheaply

These design patterns will deliver richer experiences to consumers because they enable substantially more “local” processing with faster, better outcomes

2

ANZ implication

Systems design thinking is shifting as IT services are increasingly designed for machines instead of people, and as processing moves closer to where data resides.

Enterprises will benefit from faster decisions, based on faster systems with decisions in nanoseconds

rather than the 0.5 to 1 second it takes humans. Those decisions benefit from a richer, near-real-time

dataset. Stream and batch processing architectures are constantly being updated with better machine-to-machine (M2M) capabilities. Analytics will continue moving to the network edge where the data resides.

These design patterns deliver richer experiences to consumers by enabling substantially more “local” processing with faster, better outcomes. Consider driving. From smart parking meters to smart traffic signals and traffic flow to, eventually, fully autonomous cars and smart cities.

In ANZ, we are seeing cases of IT services for better M2M interaction based on intelligent systems. For example, a recent trial of semi-autonomous vehicles in the Australian Capital Territory yielded promising early results, prompting a project extension to explore how the technology might help older drivers safely stay on the road for longer. The trial tested how septuagenarians responded to a car that partly drove itself. The original study examined how human drivers responded in emergency situations where they need to quickly take control from the autopilot function. Social and other impacts however, are still being considered – for example, who is liable for accidents and what is the impact for insurance companies?

This trend will result in companies being pushed to more aggressively pursue IT modernisation.

Design thinking shifts from IT services for people to IT services for machines

Enterprises will share and monetise data in ecosystems to create new products, services and customer experiences.

Companies will realise data has more value when it is shared, such as in:

Shared autonomous driving sensor data for R&D

Shared healthcare data for better health outcomes

Shared financial data for better investments

But they will need to validate individuals’ rights to share data and enterprises’ rights to consume data

This growth in data ecosystems will affect different groups:

CEOs will identify and pursue ecosystem-centric business models and trading partners

Line-of-business leaders will learn the importance of peer-to-peer consent management to ensure data compliance, and AI and analytics to discover new insights

The technical community will create mechanisms for identity and consent

3 The value of data increases in ecosystems

ANZ implication

In 2020, enterprises will increasingly pool their data in ecosystems to achieve business goals. Autonomous driving sensor data being shared across car companies for use in their car models. Healthcare data shared across providers and public health agencies to improve health and personalised wellness outcomes. Financial data shared across banks and investment firms to achieve the best yields for client-provided strategies.

In ANZ, we have seen universities create ‘smart campuses’, with data collected on building and other space use, study patterns, course attendance and student interactions. This information is leveraged to optimise resources, staff and student experiences, while informing other data-driven decisions.

In healthcare, organisations are increasingly recognising the value of data provided by a large ecosystem of partners. For example, provider organisations like hospitals expanding services to patients beyond the walls of the hospital, partnering with community and other service providers to deliver lower cost care and improved patient experience. With the aging population and increase of chronic disease, healthcare is a growing cost burden. We are now seeing provider organisations partnering with health insurers and pharmaceutical companies, to improve healthcare outcomes and efficiency while reducing cost, making clinicians accountable to the health of their patients across the health ecosystem.

Expect the ecosystems to grow rapidly with ecosystem-centric business models and trading partners, where trusted and compliant data sharing is fundamental to improving operations and offerings. Business leaders should understand the key to unlocking business value is peer-to-peer consent management to ensure data compliance, plus AI and analytics to discover new insights.

The ability to develop and manage a network of high-performing teams will be key to business success in the 2020s.

Companies will reorganise around high-performing teams that understand the “big picture” and are empowered to make key decisions

Teams will become multidisciplinary and interconnected to be more adaptable, the number-one priority for companies in a fast-changing market

This approach will affect talent acquisition and development strategies, as companies seek team players with double-deep skills (business and technology)

The result: a shift from 10x individuals to 20x teams

4 Teams, not superstars, are the high performers

ANZ implication

Companies recognise that simply going faster (e.g. holding more meetings) doesn’t unlock the organisation’s full potential; companies must shift from individuals to high-performing teams empowered to make key decisions, in order to achieve speed, flexibility and results.

Dynamic and complex business environments require interconnected teams of multidimensional and adaptable individuals, rather than a traditional pyramid with siloed teams.

These teammates are double-deep (have both business and technology knowledge), learn from each other daily, discover synergies and optimise in ways that less intimate models wouldn’t allow. People will participate in multiple diverse teams. These teams understand their mission and boundaries, communicate and share information, and know who participated in the decisions and how.

In ANZ, we see enterprises restructuring to expand interconnected teams across the organisation. DXC recently adopted Microsoft Teams to innovate the workplace. The CTO team in ANZ were the first adopters of this solution as they found traditional email-based workflows were not optimal. Collaboration was challenging with multiple threads on similar topics, links to key resources buried in long conversations, and the hundreds of messages daily making prioritisation difficult. Email threads also often siloed conversations into small groups, losing opportunities for true creative teamwork.

The rich mobile MS Teams experience has become central to ‘always-on-the-go’ DXC employees. Regardless of which device they’re using or where they’re located, they

now have one place to create, share, consume, collaborate, learn and enhance each other’s insights, content and solutions.

The ability to develop and manage a network of high-performing teams will be key to business success in the 2020s.

5 A new wave of business leaders accelerates business transformation

ANZ implication

Changing business leadership will gain momentum in 2020 as technology-driven marketplaces proliferate. New leaders advocate for technologies to improve the enterprise’s speed, agility, productivity and innovation. As technology evangelists, these C-level leaders shape digital strategy while engaging in major strategic initiatives.

In ANZ, we see senior executives acting as key enablers for major technological change. A CEO for a major Victorian based not-for-profit in Victoria is a keen advocate for clients who are central to everything the organisation does. They led major technological innovation to benefit clients, acknowledging that digital transformation can be life changing and extremely empowering for them.

The new platform implemented provides people with disability access to various information and opportunities, supporting the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)’s vision to assist people with a disability to live an ordinary life and increase social inclusion. Co-designed with people with lived experiences resulted in a solution that met core needs, with user feedback informing future functionality enhancements.

New leaders have a solid understanding of the business and technology. As they rise, we’ll see more tangible business value realised from emerging technologies, and business transformations will accelerate.

As more tech-savvy business leaders come to the fore, we’ll see more tangible business value realised from emerging technologies, and business transformations will accelerate.

New tech-savvy business leaders will advocate how technologies can improve the enterprise’s speed, agility, productivity and innovation advantage.

Four tips for becoming a modern business leader:

Build awareness. Scout the emerging technology scene for trends and insights.

Be more open. Participate in open initiatives and share thinking with partners or the wider marketplace.

Get access to R&D. Establish ties with leading universities and government agencies, and look to apply R&D from one industry to another.

Push agile culture. Focus on high-performing teams, experimentation and learning, and business outcomes.