The increasing complexity of a digital-first world shows no sign of abating in 2023. And with looming economic uncertainty, organizations will turn to technology as they navigate concerns. 

We believe that data and AI will ultimately determine business success. Those organizations able to harness the vast volume of data and turn it into actionable insights will be more agile and prepared to prosper throughout 2023 and beyond. Solutions will become increasingly intelligent as AI becomes more prolific across systems and devices. As a result, digital dexterity will become mandatory, and organizations will differentiate through data science.

Here are five related predictions that we expect to come to fruition.

1. Deepening data divide will determine enterprise winners or losers 

While monetizing data insights has been an elusive goal for many organizations, the maturation of AI technologies is finally making it possible for companies to organize and actualize their information. The next five years will see these efforts accelerate, and those enterprises that can successfully act on their data will thrive. CIOs at these organizations will favor solutions with these key factors: low-code extensibility, intuitive user experience, and prolific APIs for maximum composability, all culminating in breakthrough analytical insights. Those who fail to embrace these capabilities will remain mired in an Excel wormhole – the negative financial and competitive consequences of which will be difficult to escape.

2. Intelligent automation will impact talent acquisition and retention

In 2023, automation will remain unaffected – despite economic uncertainty. And in the coming months and years, the state of automation and systems will increasingly impact retention. Employees will seek out organizations with intelligent automated systems that allow them to focus on more rewarding and creative tasks. Those enterprises that don’t play ball and remain manual-first will find it harder to compete for talent.

3. Cost of exploding data volumes will be driven down by AI and ML

Automation and AI/ML techniques will emerge to reduce costs associated with managing today’s increasing volumes of measurement data. These technologies will reduce the need for manual analysis of data sets, extract critical metadata, and will also separate measurement errors from true device-under-test failures, which will speed insight and reduce wasted effort. 

4. AI/ML will be critical to meeting green energy goals 

Meeting government mandates and societal imperatives for carbon reduction will continue to be a focus in 2023. AI/ML-enabled optimizations based on measurement and monitoring of industrial and commercial infrastructure, such as data networks, will drive the next level of energy use management.

5. Recession concerns will drive data-intensive tasks to the cloud

The concern over a recession in 2023 will drive more enterprises to shift data-intensive tasks to the cloud to reduce infrastructure and operational costs while improving cybersecurity. Moving applications to the cloud will help organizations deliver greater data-driven customer experiences. For example, advanced simulation and test data management capabilities such as real-time feature extraction and encryption will enable use of a secure cloud-based data mesh that will accelerate and deepen customer insights through new algorithms operating on a richer data set. In the year ahead, expect the cloud to be a surprising boon for companies as they navigate economic uncertainty.