Pierre Nanterme,
Chairman & CEO
Paul Daugherty,
Chief Technology & Innovation Offcer
Foreword
We invite you to explore the Accenture Technology
Vision 2018, our annual forecast of the technology
trends unfolding in the next three years.
With it, we present the important strategic
shifts companies must make to unleash
the unprecedented potential of the
intelligent enterprise.
We are working and living in a time
of unparalleled technology innovation
and invention. This technology revolution
is marked by a series of exponential
technological advances—including cloud,
artifcial intelligence, blockchain, augmented
and virtual reality, internet of things, robotics,
quantum computing, and more. Individually
and collectively, these technologies represent
vast potential for the future of business,
and are creating the imperative to reinvent
and reimagine the way we do business.
This future also comes with broader
responsibility. In producing this year’s
report, the third in our People First series,
we discovered a foundational shift in the
role of enterprise, itself: It is moving closer
to the center of people’s lives. As leading
companies apply digital technologies and
operate with ever-increasing intelligence,
traditional boundaries between business and
personal are dissolving. The very role of the
enterprise in society is being redefned.
Tomorrow’s leading companies are already
moving beyond providing products and
services. They are applying technology
to create deeper, more meaningful
relationships with people. They are creating
new affliations with businesses across
industries who share their vision and mission.
They are using these new partnerships to
invent new products and services that meet
the goals of their customers and employees
and, in doing so, are achieving new levels
of growth and differentiation. They are
also helping their communities create new
economic opportunities and develop new
ways of serving and protecting citizens,
beneftting society as a whole.
Accenture’s year-long research into the
technology trends driving this change resulted
in this thought-provoking report: ”Intelligent
Enterprise Unleashed: Redefne your company
based on the company you keep.” Our forecast
describes the widespread opportunities
available to companies to use technology
at each level of the enterprise—from strategy
through operations—to improve performance
and move closer to the center of people’s lives.
Through innovation-led research,
deep insights and powerful examples,
the Accenture Technology Vision 2018 helps
enterprises around the globe succeed and
grow in this new era. We look forward to
supporting your digital transformation and
helping you unleash the potential of your
intelligent enterprise.
WELCOME
#TechVision2018Technology Vision 2018 Intelligent Enterprise Unleashed2
Contents
Introduction 4
Trend 1
CITIZEN AI 19
Raising AI to Beneft Business and Society
Trend 2
EXTENDED REALITY 29
The End of Distance
Trend 3
DATA VERACITY 39
The Importance of Trust
Trend 4
FRICTIONLESS BUSINESS 47
Built to Partner at Scale
Trend 5
INTERNET OF THINKING 59
Creating Intelligent Distributed Systems
Research Methodology 68
Survey Demographics 69
References 72
#TechVision2018Technology Vision 2018 Intelligent Enterprise Unleashed3
Leveraging the rapid advancements in technology to
create increasingly innovative products and services,
businesses are driving unprecedented changes in
the way people work and live.
By embedding themselves throughout society, companies are blurring the lines
between business and personal—and blazing a new trail for their own future growth.
Technology is now frmly embedded throughout our everyday activities, but its
reach is larger than that: it’s reshaping pieces of our society. This year’s Accenture
Technology Vision trends highlight the rapid advancements in technologies that,
in turn, are improving the ways people work and live.
HOW DO
YOU IMPROVE
THE WAY
PEOPLE WORK
AND LIVE
Introduction
There’s a new obligation—
and a new opportunity—
for companies to engage
with people differently.
Paul Daugherty|Chief Technology
& Innovation Offcer at Accenture
#TechVision2018Technology Vision 2018 Intelligent Enterprise Unleashed4。