In the years to come, new hybrid ways of working will continue to raise the level of security and user experience requirements for companies. The use of Augmented Reality and AI will become widespread. This will be followed by an acceleration of the digital transformation of organizations which will continue to revolutionize certain professions, from sales and manufacturing to after-sales service, including recruitment and training…
Hybrid work: the challenge for CIOs…
Popularized by the pandemic, hybrid work modes – alternating between office and home activity – will gain strength. In order to allow employees to be more productive while guaranteeing them the security, connectivity and user-friendliness essential to a flawless user experience, companies will have to use more efficient technologies. Indeed, unanticipated, the transition to hybrid work has not been the subject, to date, of a purchasing strategy thought out by the IT departments.
Helpless during the lockdowns, many employees had to download the tools and software they needed. From now on, in order to guarantee the security and stability of IT infrastructures, one of the priorities of CIOs is to master “Shadow IT”. If 2021 was a year of expansion and testing, today we are in a consolidation.
… and sales teams
Also faced with hybrid work, employees in the sales function will have to evolve to adapt their sales skills in a virtual environment. Rather than relying on the physical relationship to close deals, salespeople will have to capitalize on advice and the provision of a turnkey service, particularly in banking and insurance. Finally, over the next twelve months, the hybrid model will change the dynamics of other functions, particularly in the businesses related to the support of products and services, forcing companies to adapt quickly.
Augmented reality as a competitive advantage
Tomorrow, Augmented Reality will offer opportunities for remote collaboration based on the “see what I see” principle. For example, in logistics, paper-based checklists will be replaced by interactive Augmented Reality workflows. These will be displayed in real time in the field of vision of the workers, thus improving ergonomics. Order picking errors will be reduced and quality increased.
In addition, thanks to Augmented Reality, training times will be considerably reduced and employees will be operational more quickly. Companies will be able to recruit low-skilled labor and train it in a flash. Augmented Reality will thus offer a major competitive advantage, especially in high season and in a context where qualified resources are scarce.
The widespread integration of AI
Over the past 20 months, social distancing has pushed companies to turn to experts. Intervening remotely, the latter guided front-line workers through portable devices. Now to dispense with these experts, AI will be integrated into every step of the manufacturing process – from workflows to maintenance – including access management and information provision. Wearable technologies using artificial intelligence (AI) will leverage contextual data, sensors and ERP data to react to the environment.
They will thus guide workers through complex procedures. For example, the AI will be able to identify certain safety features or hazards and display a warning sign. It will also make it possible to validate certain parts of the process, such as the appropriate packaging.
Technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of companies
Reducing its carbon footprint is crucial not only to preserve the environment but also to strengthen its attractiveness as an employer or supplier. Investment banks and the stock market have themselves implemented investments dedicated to this concern. When the European ESG Directive[1] will be fully adopted, companies will have to reduce employee travel and travel. They will thus be forced to generalize remote work and assistance. In the future, companies will become aware of the fact that they must invest in technologies that reconcile the imperatives of sustainable development, productivity and collaboration.
Since the invention of the first computer, technologies have not ceased to transform our ways of working, which in turn transform these same technologies, which then transform our professions and the companies themselves. If the pandemic has accelerated this cyclical change exponentially, the generalization of advanced technologies, combined with environmental constraints, will further amplify this phenomenon… Stay tuned!