McKinsey and Company reveals its top tech trends

Research into applied artificial intelligence is booming, and interest in clean sources of energy is, almost literally, off the charts, according to a new report from management consultants McKinsey and Company.

In its McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2022, the firm identifies 14 significant trends evolving and emerging this year.

Each trend was scored for innovation (which is based on patents and research) and interest (based on news and web searches). The research also takes into account investments in relevant technologies and rates their level of adoption by organisations.)

Based on these axes, five of the top trends are;

Applied AI (Investments US$165B)

The future of clean energy (Investments $257B)

Advanced connectivity (Investments, $166B)

The future of mobility (Investment $236B)

Web3 (Investments $110B)

According to the authors of the report, Michael Chui, Roger Roberts, and Lareina Yee, "Technology continues to be a primary catalyst for change in the world. Technology advances give businesses, governments, and social-sector institutions more possibilities to lift their productivity, invent and reinvent offerings, and contribute to humanity’s well-being."

The current study builds on trend research the company published last year.

On applied AI the paper the authors write, "Models trained in machine learning can be used to solve classification, prediction, and control problems to automate activities, add or augment capabilities and offerings, and make better decisions."

Regarding the future of clean energy, meanwhile, they say, "Clean-energy solutions help drive toward net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions across the energy value chain, from power generation to power storage and distribution."

Finally,  the paper says the emerging technologies which make up the set of Web3 technologies include, "platforms and applications that enable shifts toward a future, decentralised internet with open standards and protocols while protecting digital-ownership rights, providing users with greater ownership of their data and catalysing new business models."

The consultants acknowledge that it can be to predict how technology trends will play out, however they say executives can plan ahead better by tracking the development of new technologies. The important thing is to anticipate how their companies might use them and to better understand the factors that affect innovation and adoption.