What’s the hottest tech investment area for businesses in 2023? AI, 5G, the metaverse, and more, according to the chief technology officers we reached out to for this piece.
The tech sector had a tough year, with layoffs, recession fears, and rising energy and material costs, and many companies in the space decided to direct more money to key profit drivers. When it comes to new tech, businesses of all kinds are making similar plans: Invest in surefire bets—surefire, at least, in the eyes of some Fortune 500 CTOs.
To learn more about what this year might hold, we invited CTOs from major companies in retail, hardware, streaming, and more to write in with their predictions for 2023 in 150 words or less.
The question we posed was: In 2023, what type of technology do you foresee your company more heavily investing in, and why?
These interviews have been edited for length and clarity. All responses were sent by company representatives on behalf of CTOs.
Michael Kagan, CTO of Nvidia
If 2022 was the year the metaverse came to global attention, then 2023 will be the year it becomes a reality for users of all sorts: consumers, employees, researchers, and more. The metaverse is the transformation of the internet into a fully immersive, integrated, 3D virtual world. Businesses and other organizations are already adopting technologies like Nvidia Omniverse to enable highly effective, real-time virtual interactions.
In 2023, we’ll also see a dramatic increase in the availability of easy-to-adopt, fully supported AI workflows based on what are called Transformer models. AI is becoming the foundation for data-processing platforms and an essential engine of every business and enterprise. Transformer models have provided us a massive ladder to advance AI workflows, and next year will see remarkable progress in our everyday interactions with AI. Generative AI models will become digital partners of researchers and will serve various businesses like logistics and transportation, the travel industry, healthcare, and marketing.
Jeremy Legg, CTO of AT&T
If it feels like the coming year has been “The Year of 5G” for a while now—hey, I hear you! In fact, we’ve constantly been making major strides in the development and deployment of this network technology since we made the first 5G connection. Fiber-powered 5G has absolutely made our mobile devices faster and more resilient. Now we’re expanding what 5G can do and embedding its capabilities in all sorts of devices and services. With our “edge zones,” we’ve linked our 5G to cloud computing providers to create the ultimate developer toolbox for our business customers. Whether it’s deploying lightweight AR applications in retail stores, factories, and hospitals, or connecting cars in ways that serve both drivers and passengers, we think the edge and 5G are transformative. We’re all in for 2023.
Amit Verma, CTO, Enterprise Solutions at Comcast Business
The past few years have seen enterprises adopt change at breakneck speeds. In 2023, [we] will find technology leaders assessing the impact of this change, driving operational efficiencies, and securing the enterprise—and many will be talking about SASE (secure access security edge). This emerging tech category, which combines multiple networking and security functions into a single solution, is an area Comcast Business will continue to expand on.
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Enterprises wanting to make remote work sustainable for the long term and enable safe access to cloud and web services will accelerate interest and investment in SASE. But it’s not something that you can run out and implement—and getting it right presents significant challenges. To be successful, companies will need to weigh the implications of shifting away from the typical “castle and moat” security approach to cloud-based security models and choose a solution that works for them.
Michael Schmidt, CTO of DataRobot
In 2023, I expect to see continued momentum in AI investments, particularly among businesses most directly impacted by economic and supply-chain disruptions, as well as mature industries generally able to scale AI adoption the most, such as financial services, retail, healthcare, manufacturing. Specifically, I predict companies that invest more in tools to fully integrate AI into their business will be better suited to handle market uncertainty and drive long-term success. Additionally, in an effort to make AI investments successful, I predict companies will invest more in tools to counter AI bias—especially as increased regulatory pressures are expected.
Kim Sungjoon, SEVP of the technology management and planning office at KSOE, parent company of Hyundai Heavy Industries
In 2023, we plan to focus on technology that drives “ocean transformation” forward by capitalizing on renewable energy with eco-friendly technologies and AI data platforms. We are determined to fundamentally change the way the ocean is being utilized and explored by creating sustainable, smart ships to transport energy, reducing carbon footprint with AI and analytics of global maritime data, and using autonomous-navigation technology to enable more seamless travel across our oceans. [Our] ocean transformation vision includes a safer and more economical strategy for shipbuilding with innovative digital solutions and a cohesive marine data platform.