2024 is here, and many of us are curious about what it will bring. 2023 was a transition year; technological advancements – especially in AI and machine learning – reshaped industries and consumer behavior. Economic shifts, including changes in inflation and interest rates, also played a crucial role.
What will shape 2024? We asked Alteryx leaders what they think – read on to see their predictions for the next year.
The rise of the polymath: future-proofing a career in the new era of intelligence.
In all areas of the business, employees will need to become less specialized and pull in from a wide range of knowledge and learning to be effective in the new era of intelligence. This will give rise to the “polymath” – an employee who can quickly adapt to emerging technologies and navigate the AI-driven shift in the business landscape.
The polymath will need to possess both hard and soft skills to complement the strengths of and reliance on AI systems. In fact, an Alteryx survey found that IT decision-makers cited creativity, emotion/relatability, and critical thinking as the top three traits humans will provide while expecting machines to deliver on complex problem-solving, accuracy, and speed.
-Trevor Schulze, CIO, Alteryx
Robust governance frameworks will drive enterprise-wide generative AI adoption.
In 2024, we’ll see enterprises advance their governance frameworks to unlock broad benefits and productivity gains from meaningful application of Generative AI.
Executive buyers understand how ungoverned deployment of Generative AI can damage their organization and reputation. Unsurprisingly, the top two reasons for not yet implementing generative AI came down to data privacy concerns and lack of trust in generative AI results.
Therefore, any governance framework must give executive buyers confidence that it can effectively manage the risks associated with the AI applications, including their embedded LLMs, the end users of those applications, and the exchanges between the first two.
– Suresh Vittal, CPO, Alteryx
The growing threat of ransomware and how to fight it.
In 2024, we will see ransomware attackers continue to get more sophisticated and organized. To combat these attacks, executives at these companies will need to stay ahead of the criminals by staying ahead in cybersecurity measures, including investing in their cybersecurity platforms and backup systems to ensure they are not vulnerable to an attack.
Companies should unite and refuse to pay the ransoms set by the criminals, as it will only fuels more attacks in the future.
– Lucas Moody, CISO, Alteryx
ESG and murky metrics will challenge the office of finance.
With stricter climate disclosure mandates and other potential ESG regulations in place and on the horizon, many companies are bracing for how these new requirements will impact their business strategies.
In 2024, we will see CFOs being held accountable for driving conversations across the enterprise to ensure ESG becomes a corporate– level initiative. While ESG reporting remains murky, companies need to focus on operating more authentically, ethically, and confidently across the business, not just the office of finance.
To further support this meaningful change, data analytics will be at the forefront of helping align their sustainability commitments with credible corporate finance strategies.
– Kevin Rubin, CFO, Alteryx
More companies will move outsourced work back home, while prioritizing the upskilling and reskilling of their workforce.
The rapid rise of easy-to-use AI and automation technologies has made it easier for organizations to decrease their reliance on outsourcing physical and manual tasks. In fact, McKinsey believes the demand for these physical and manual tasks will decrease significantly by 2030 in favor of technological and cognitive skills.
As these skills, which include data analytics, data science, machine learning, and more, are crucial in an AI-driven future, we’ll see more business and tech leaders support the upskilling and reskilling of their current employees – from knowledge workers in lines of business to those in more technical roles. We’ll also see an influx of new graduates entering the workforce already having learned how to work with data as part of their education, given the growing importance of data literacy.
– Alan Jacobson, CDAO, Alteryx