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Gartner has recently shared its Top 10 Strategic Predictions for 2023, and according to Alaa Bawab, GM at Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group, Middle East and Africa (MEA) region there are three that particularly stand out.
The analyst firm predicts that from now through to 2027, fully virtual workspaces will account for 30% of the investment growth by enterprises in metaverse technologies and will “reimagine” the office experience.
It also anticipates a growing consciousness of the environmental impact of artificial intelligence (AI), and an increased appetite by investors for speculative investments in so-called ‘moonshot’ technologies.
AI’s carbon footprint
Gartner warns that by 2025, without sustainable AI practices, AI will consume more energy than the human workforce, significantly offsetting carbon-zero gains.
Bawab notes that with a huge amount of processing power required to build and maintain AI models, the demands placed on infrastructure are ever-increasing.
The Gartner report says practices are emerging in order to reduce energy consumption for machine learning – from CO2 offsetting schemes and asset recovery services to liquid cooling technologies in data centres and smarter software that shuts off components when they are not being used, for example.
By 2025, without sustainable AI practices, AI will consume more energy than the human workforce
Gartner
“What is certain is that we cannot turn our back on AI technology. We are in the middle of an acceleration in the amount of data available to us, which is beginning to exceed the human capacity to make sense of it. We need AI to derive insights from this data. This will be crucial when it comes to solving many of the ‘big questions’ facing humanity,” says Bawab.
“Just as AI helped unlock many of the breakthroughs which were crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, it will also be influential in dealing with the challenges of the future, including climate change. It may well be that AI’s ability to find solutions far outweighs its carbon footprint.”
Metaverse built for work
Gartner predicts that fully virtual workplaces will account for 30% of enterprise investment growth in metaverse technologies. For some forward-thinking organisations, the metaverse may even replace the office.
But Bawab says adoption of the requisite technology is still at an early phase.
“We are at an early stage in the adoption of metaverse technology, roughly equivalent to the mid-90s in terms of the evolution of the World Wide Web. But it will be work, not play, which drives the broader adoption of metaverse technology, evolving to become the enterprise metaverse.
“Some of this technology is already here in embryonic form. Augmented and VR training solutions will be key drivers of adoption of metaverse technology, acting as ‘job simulators’, like today’s flight simulators. This technology is already in use now and paves the way for broader adoption of metaverse technology via virtual workplaces and meeting rooms,” he adds.
It will be work, not play, which drives the broader adoption of metaverse technology.
Alaa Bawab, Lenovo.
Bawab believes these 3D virtual environments could boost collaboration and productivity, and level-up employee experience, which in turn will help businesses to attract and retain talent, and improve access to data intelligence for better decision-making.
“As adoption of this technology becomes more widespread, companies will need to invest in physical infrastructure to make new virtual worlds a reality. The metaverse requires the ability to process data rapidly and in real-time. This places an increased focus on enhancing network connectivity and reducing latency, where edge computing will play a key role,” he says.
More data centres will be needed to support data transfers and storage as part of metaverse communication, he adds.
Moonshot investements
According to Techtarget.com, a moonshot “is an ambitious, exploratory and ground-breaking project undertaken without the assurance of near-term profitability or benefit and, perhaps, without a full investigation of potential risks and benefits.”
Gartner predicts that ‘moonshot’ speculative investments will become a viable alternative to traditional spending on research and development, with shareholder acceptance of such investments expected to double by 2025.
It writes that “Leading enterprises will take advantage of uncertainty or disruption, leveraging new and unknown mindsets, capabilities and skills to capture growth opportunities.”
Bawab believes these investments will be driven by data and innovative thinking around how business functions and IT work together. He points to Lenovo’s research of board-level executives showing a large appetite for investing in data.
“Organisations must look to harness improved automation, AI, analytics and storage capabilities, and practices to make running today’s required workloads more sustainable,” he concludes.
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