FUTURE TRENDS EXPERT: NEW TECHNOLOGY AND FUTURE OF WORK INNOVATIONS TO TRACK

How do future trends experts and consulting keynote speakers see the future of work and technology shaping up? That depends entirely on which thought leader you ask, and the approach that they take to strategic foresight and analysis. But if you were to poll most of the field’s top future trends experts and business analysts, we’re confident that they’d report that a number of new and emerging developments that they’d anticipate seeing include:

• Increased adoption of artificial intelligence and automation – To drive efficiency, analytical insights, and innovative new business models. But future trends experts say doing so could also disrupt jobs.
• More virtual and hybrid work arrangements – Blending remote and in-office work even after the pandemic due to greater comfort with virtual collaboration.
• Businesses embracing the sustainability movement – Responding to climate change concerns by reducing environmental impact across operations and supply chain.
• A shift toward the platform or gig economy – Where short-term independent contracting and freelancing become more common over traditional full-time roles, say future trends experts and top keynote speakers in every field.
• Continued rise of eCommerce – As more sales shift online retailers grow their digital presence and physical stores become more experiential.
• Focus on diversity, equity and inclusion – Businesses aim for diverse leadership and work to mitigate systemic inequities. DEI as a competitive advantage – a topic that the field’s leading future trends experts often expound on frequently.
• Supply chain localization and redundancy – Building flexible supply chains and sourcing closer to home markets to mitigate disruptions.
• More public-private partnerships – Collaboration between government and business on large initiatives like infrastructure development and reskilling workers.
• The dominance of data – Companies that best harness customer and operational data using analytics and machine learning will thrive according to many of the speaking circuit’s leading future trends experts.
• Customization and niche markets – Mass market goods give way to personalized and small-batch products catering to niche consumer tribes.
• Exploring the metaverse – Companies experimenting with immersive digital experiences combining VR/AR, gaming, social media and cryptocurrencies. More of this should be on the radar, per forecasts by the top future trends experts.