Understanding the Future: A CTO’s Guide to Deciphering Tech Trends and Charting Trajectories

Daemon Behr

[This is an article contributed by  Amelia Thompson, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at HelixSoft- a leading enterprise software company. ]

Staying ahead of industry and market trends is crucial for the success of any company, particularly in the technology sector. As the Chief Technology Officer, my role involves continuously scanning the horizon, grasping emerging trends, and weaving them into our strategic vision. The past five years have been transformative, with rapid technological advancements altering the industry’s landscape and cybersecurity becoming more critical than ever.

Spotting and Making Sense of Tech Trends

From 2018 to 2023, several significant trends have shaped our industry. These include a new era of creative AI, with generative AI adoption on the rise across industries, and an increasing rate of adoption for major internet and technology services. The advent of 5G technology has set new standards of speed and transparency in mobile telecoms, driving global GDP contribution and evolving the landscape of network operators. Satellite connectivity has also been making strides, with global mobile internet connectivity improving and direct satellite-to-device market subscribers growing.

These trends have fundamentally changed how we approach our work, demanding that we reevaluate our strategies, goals, and operating models. However, they also offer new opportunities for innovation and growth.

The Intersection of Technology and Cybersecurity

In parallel with these trends, cybersecurity has emerged as a top business risk to manage, not just a technology problem to solve. Over the past five years, the cybersecurity landscape has also evolved, with human-centric security design gaining prominence to minimize cybersecurity-induced friction and maximize control adoption. Enhancing people management for security program sustainability and transforming the cybersecurity operating model to support value creation have become top priorities for many organizations.

Continuous threat exposure management, identity fabric immunity principles, and cybersecurity validation have also emerged as crucial elements of effective cybersecurity practices. The trend towards cybersecurity platform consolidation and the need for composable security for composable businesses have marked the evolution of cybersecurity strategies in response to changes in technology. Additionally, boards are expanding their competency in cybersecurity oversight, reflecting the growing recognition of cybersecurity’s importance at the highest levels of organizations.

The Next Big Thing in Technology

Artificial Intelligence

AI is still advancing rapidly in 2023, with a strong focus on Generative AI. The adoption rate of Generative AI in the workplace has been growing, and it’s being used across various industries. There’s also a significant amount of funding being poured into startups specializing in chatbot/conversational AI. Additionally, AI’s role in global product development is expected to increase significantly from 2022-2025.

Telecommunications

There’s been significant progress in 5G technology, with an increasing number of global 5G subscriptions. The global GDP contribution of 5G by different industries is also projected to grow. Additionally, the world has seen a rise in the deployment of 5G core architectures, with many network operators expressing views on open architectures

Satellite connectivity has also become more mainstream. Global mobile internet connectivity is expanding, and the market size for satellite telephony is predicted to grow between 2021 and 2027. The global direct satellite-to-device market is also expected to increase its subscriber base from 2020 through 2030.

Cybersecurity

There are a lot of areas that are evolving in the realm of cybersecurity. Gartner has identified nine key trends for 2023:

  1. Human-Centric Security Design: The role of employee experience across the controls management life cycle is becoming prioritized. By 2027, 50% of large enterprise CISOs are expected to have adopted human-centric security design practices.

  1. Enhancing People Management for Security Program Sustainability: There’s a shift towards a human-centric talent management approach in cybersecurity. By 2026, 60% of organizations are expected to shift from external hiring to “quiet hiring” from internal talent markets.

  1. Transforming the Cybersecurity Operating Model to Support Value Creation: Cybersecurity is moving away from being seen as a technology problem and is increasingly recognized as a top business risk. This trend has led to a call for the integration of cybersecurity into business outcomes and priorities.

  1. Threat Exposure Management: Implementing continuous threat exposure management programs is becoming crucial, with the prediction that organizations prioritizing their security investments based on such programs will suffer two-thirds fewer breaches by 2026.

  1. Identity Fabric Immunity: By 2027, identity fabric immunity principles are projected to prevent 85% of new attacks, thereby reducing the financial impact of breaches by 80%.

  1. Cybersecurity Validation: More organizations are turning to cybersecurity validation, with over 40% of organizations expected to rely on consolidated platforms to run cybersecurity validation assessments through 2026.

  1. Cybersecurity Platform Consolidation: Vendors are consolidating platforms around one or more major cybersecurity domains to simplify operations, leading to a reduction in redundancy through consolidated platforms.

  1. Composable Businesses Need Composable Security: With the move away from monolithic systems towards building modular capabilities in applications, there’s a need for composable security that integrates cybersecurity controls into architectural patterns and applies them at a modular level in composable technology implementations. By 2027, more than 50% of core business applications are expected to be built using composable architecture, requiring a new approach to securing those applications.

  1. Boards Expand Their Competency in Cybersecurity Oversight: Board members are taking on enhanced responsibilities in their governance activities, increasing their focus on cybersecurity. Cybersecurity leaders must provide boards with reporting that demonstrates the impact of cybersecurity.

Conclusion:

The technology industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace, driven by advancements in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, telecommunications, and cybersecurity. Generative AI adoption has seen significant growth, with an influx of investment in conversational AI startups. In the realm of telecommunications, the prevalence of 5G technology and satellite connectivity is expanding, pointing to an increasingly connected future. The domain of cybersecurity has embraced a more human-centric approach, focusing on the employee experience, people management, and integration with business outcomes.

Furthermore, trends indicate a shift towards continuous threat exposure management, identity fabric immunity, and cybersecurity validation. The importance of cybersecurity at the board level is being increasingly recognized, and there is a move towards the consolidation of cybersecurity platforms and the application of composable security in businesses. These trends highlight the increasingly integrated nature of technology in all aspects of business and underscore the critical role of staying abreast of these changes in maintaining a forward-thinking vision.

Thanks for reading this far.

Disclaimer: Amelia Thompson is not a real person, nor is HelixSoft a real company. However the perspectives are real. For more information on why “Emily” wrote this article, see this post:

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