Realizing 2030: A Divided Vision of the Future (2023)
Dell Technologies recently teamed-up with Institute for the Future (IFTF) and 20 experts from around the world to project into the future, forecast how emerging technologies - such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) - will reshape how we live and work by 2030, and gather insights that will help businesses navigate the coming decade. The experts concluded we’re on the cusp of the next era of human-machine partnerships.
More than 8 out of 10 (82%) leaders expect humans and machines will work as integrated teams within their organization inside of five years (26 percent say their workforce and machines are already successfully working this way). However, they’re divided by what this shift will mean for them, their business and even the world at large.
We can see this divide in the way that leaders forecast the future. Fifty percent of business leaders think automated systems will free-up their time - meaning one in two don’t share this view. More than 4 out of 10 (42%) believe they’ll have more job satisfaction in the future by offloading the tasks they don’t want to do to machines - suggesting 58 percent believe something to the contrary, and stand to miss out on the opportunity to harness automated systems to free-up their time for higher order pursuits with a focus on creativity, education and strategy.
Almost 6 out of 10 (56%) say schools will need to teach how to learn rather than what to learn to prepare students for jobs that don’t exist yet (corroborating IFTF’s forecast that 85 percent of jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented yet) - but 44 percent disagree. These differing viewpoints could make it difficult for business leaders to confidently prepare for a future that’s in flux.
Not only are businesses torn by opposing views of the future, they’re also beset by barriers to operating as a successful digital business in 2030. Many aren’t moving fast enough and going deep enough to overcome these obstacles. Only 27 percent have ingrained digital in all they do. The majority (57 percent) of businesses are struggling to keep up with the pace of change and 93 percent are battling some form of barrier to becoming a successful digital business in 2030 and beyond. Too many businesses (61%) are held-back by an insufficient digital vision and strategy, manifest among other things, by a lack of ROI data to demonstrate the value of digital transformation and lackluster senior support and sponsorship.
The same proportion are struggling with a skills gap, lack of employee buy-in and a workforce culture that’s resistant to change. More than half are making do with outdated technology that can’t work fast enough, data overload, privacy and cybersecurity concerns. In addition, 51 percent admit they have ineffective cybersecurity measures in place and 59 percent believe their workforce aren’t sufficiently security savvy.
