CEO and Founding Partner of Greenstone Equity Partners | Chief Revenue Officer and Managing Director of World Business Lenders

Eight Tech Trends to Watch in 2018

Tech in 2017 saw major advances across the board, ranging from data-as-a-service through auto manufacturers, to connected living and artificial intelligence-fueled personal assistants, as seen with the introduction of smart homes. What new tech trends can we expect to see in 2018?

 

1. Smart Machines Will Make Life Easier

Thanks to predictive analysis and automation, we can expect this to be frequently incorporated into our everyday lives for mundane tasks, allowing us to use our time more efficiently. We will see this with companies like Brother Refresh, which identifies things like when the printer ink is running low or the water cooler will be empty in a few days and puts in an order without us having to lift a finger.

 

2. AR Will Transform How We Learn

Augmented reality, otherwise known as AR, is an exciting trend in tech today. AR allows us to have a live view of a digital item in the real world. For example, instead of going out shopping for a new kitchen table, we will be able to ‘place’ the table in our kitchen using AR and interact with it in real time. It will drastically change how we learn and interact with the world.

 

3. On-Demand Apps Will Rise

In the era of instant satisfaction, on-demand apps will continue to implement themselves into our everyday lives. Much like Uber and Lyft, there will be an introduction to apps that will remove the need to make an appointment for a manicure or a haircut.

 

4. AI Will Better Understand Us

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, will start to learn and understand what we humans like, and will better be able to predict our needs and function fully autonomously. AI implementation will be predominantly universal, as it will produce more intelligent products and services and adapt to our personal preferences.

 

5. Wedding Planning Will Be Virtual

Modernized wedding planning includes minimal human interaction and increased virtual decision-making. More and more frequently, couples are planning via The Cloud and social platforms, rather than meeting vendors, caterers, etc. in person.

 

6. Amazon May Be the Next Trillion-Dollar Company

2018 might just be the year we see a Fortune 500 company leap past the trillion dollar value, and Amazon could be the one. By the end of the year, Amazon will have exponentially expanded their business, continuing to grow through acquisitions and introducing automated shopping to the public.

 

7. Cryptocurrency Will Become More Dominant

Just last year, the cryptocurrency market grew from $18 billion to $200 billion, and it doesn’t show signs of stopping. Many of the larger institutions have yet to join in the market, and most of the general public still don’t understand how to utilize cryptocurrency. It is predicted that this will have as much of an impact on future eras as the introduction of the Internet.

 

8. Vehicles Continue Evolving to Self-Driving

It comes as no surprise that autonomous vehicles will continue to be a hot topic in tech this year. Many large corporations like Tesla have long begun working toward the self-driving car trend, and Uber has already launched a pilot. According to The Verge, Domino’s and Ford have teamed up to test self-driving delivery cars.