There’s no doubt that cloud computing has revolutionized the way businesses operate. From making it possible for employees to work remotely, allowing flexible hours, to making business communication and collaboration a lot easier, while also amplifying the company’s growth by modernizing operations and expanding IT capabilities – cloud computing has given us all! Rahul Joshi, CTO at Movate (formerly CSS Corp), shared his thoughts on cloud computing trends. Also, he talks about how AI/ML can be leveraged to become more efficient in 2023.

▾Cloud Computing Trends in 2023

• Investment in cloud security and resilience: The industry will keep spending on cyber security and building resilience against everything from data loss to the impact of a pandemic on global business in the coming years. At Movate, we have made investments in our Contelli platform which offers great cloud security and resilience. Our solutions combined with industry leading solutions gives a greater realtime detection and prevention of known and unknown threats.

• Multi-cloud to become popular strategy: In 2023, most businesses will start leveraging the advantages of diversifying their services to different cloud providers taking a multi-cloud approach. This approach offers several benefits, including improved flexibility and security with no vendor lock-in.

• Low-code and no-code cloud services: We can expect continued innovation in the field of hyper-scale cloud services. Low-code and no-code solutions are becoming available for building AIpowered applications for companies wanting to leverage AI/ML without getting into the complex coding job. Many of these services are provided via the cloud, i.e., people can access them “as-a-service” This trend will pick up in the upcoming years. At Movate, we have built our Analytics and BI platform on top of LCNC platform. This has helped us to reduce our GTM over ~60%. This also enabled our business users to develop the dashboards on their own through DIY model.

• Leveraging the efficiency of the cloud to meet sustainability goals: Today, sustainability is the most critical criterion in IT buying decisions. Organizations will continue to shift towards sustainable efficiencies by leveraging software and cloud-based infrastructures.

• Innovation and consolidation in cloud gaming: We all enjoy binge-watching and listening to music. Thanks to the cloud that has brought us streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, etc., revolutionizing the way we consume content today. Although, streaming video gaming is taking a little longer to gain a foothold as it requires higher bandwidth than music or videos. With the ongoing rollout of 5G and other ultra-fast networking technologies, 2023 could be the year cloud gaming will impact.

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Organizations are focusing on short-term goals to create operational efficiencies quickly and reduce costs and not taking customer experience seriously enough. Rising customer expectations are increasingly placing more demands on every product, service, and experience, which should be one of the driving forces of your digital strategy.

The past few years have witnessed the rise of the digital transformation market, predicted to surpass the trillion-dollar market size by 2025, according to an IDC report (and let’s be honest, it’s only getting started). Nevertheless, companies are still struggling to reach their estimated returns on digital transformation investments.

A Deloitte report points out that 70% of digital transformation efforts fail. The reason? Organizations are focusing on short-term goals to create operational efficiencies quickly and reduce costs and not taking customer experience seriously enough. Rising customer expectations are increasingly placing more demands on every product, service, and experience, which should be one of the driving forces of your digital strategy

The future of digital transformation is experience-driven. Industry leaders realize that creating systems that deliver unmatched always-on customer experiences; can drive incredibly consistent revenue and bring higher returns than high-performing marketing campaigns.

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In the last three years, the pandemic and economic headwinds changed the world radically and transformed the entire digital customer experience (CX) ecosystem. With the rising economic uncertainty and dire need to engage customers anywhere they prefer, enterprises are pushed to move away from their legacy systems and accelerate the adoption of next-gen technologies to transform their CX value chain.

A PWC report tells us that in the post-Covid world, 59% of customers said they care about CX. Hence in 2023 and beyond, enterprises will continue to focus on enhancing CX through data and analytics, customer journeys, the voice of customers, and intuitive automation. But, with lower demand and pressure on margins, enterprises will also focus on pruning efforts that are not bringing any business value.

Amidst these market forces, will 2023 be the year of reckoning for CX? It may well be, given the five key trends we see evolving over the next year.

1. CONVERSATIONAL AI TO LEAD THE CONVERSATIONS

According to Gartner, 70% of workers now interact regularly with conversational platforms.

We expect this number to rise in 2023 as enterprises adopt conversational artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to blur the line between agent-led and chatbot interactions and enable customers and agents to engage in more complex exchanges with digital assistants.

To drive customer satisfaction and make each experience memorable, enterprises will invest in creating AI personas for their conversational AI solutions, bringing relevancy and transparency to the customers and their conversations. Additionally, we will see enterprises using thousands of data points to improve chatbot features, navigation, and customer experience.

As we move along, we will see even more disruptions in the conversational AI space. Gartner expects that 40% of enterprise applications will have some form of built-in, more conversational AI by the end of 2024. And Juniper Research indicates that chatbots would save a staggering $11 billion in costs by 2023.

2. EMPATHY-DRIVEN CX THAT BOLSTERS RELATIONSHIPS

Despite the broader prospect of conversational AI adoption, chatbots still need to prove that they can create great CX experiences. A Zendesk CX Trends 2022 report highlighted that 60% of the customers were disappointed with chatbots as they lacked empathy. The solution? More conversational, empathetic AI.

It’s clear that customers crave authentic, individualized, and personalized conversations to drive their experience, and 2023 will be the year of reimagining natural human connection and delivering empathy at scale.

Empathy-driven CX across all forms of customer engagement is the answer. Forrester’s research shows that over 70% of customers want a more personalized online shopping experience. To achieve this, enterprises will offer an elevated, intimate level of personalized experience
at every customer touchpoint by leveraging integrated CX solutions, persona-based conversational AI, and data-driven customer insights. Leading tech enterprises can further strengthen their CX delivery by leveraging their passionate product users and advocates to provide empathetic support in a gig model.

Most enterprises will gather more intelligence across the entire CX ecosystem, empower teams to create customer-centric products and services using AI, ML, and NLP, and develop intuitive product recommendations and chat experiences.

3. METAVERSE — AN EXTENDED CX CHANNEL

Until now, the metaverse has been a concept more than a reality due to its complexity. Nonetheless, everyone has acknowledged its potential to revolutionize how customers and enterprises communicate, socialize, and consume products and services.

Many top brands have launched their metaverses in the last two years, including Nike, Adidas, Hyundai, BMW, Samsung, and Verizon. The metaverse will continue to gain attention as enterprises would not want to fall behind or miss out altogether on this fascinating trend. At the same time, because of the looming economic volatility, enterprises will be cautious while investing in the metaverse and focus on the use cases that can deliver assured ROI. In 2023, businesses will gradually move from the exploratory phase toward more real-world use case implementations and start creating valuable and integrated immersive experiences for their customers.

In the world of CX and support, metaverse as a new, extended channel can add tangible business value and would be one of the leading use cases in 2023. Consider this: Gartner predicts by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse for work, shopping, education, social, and entertainment.

There are immense possibilities for brands to leverage the metaverse in the context of CX — virtual guides, immersive shopping, virtual learning, avatar-based support, and so on. It will not only transform the interaction in the real and digital worlds, but also provide strategic opportunities and innovative business models. It is just a matter of time before the metaverse becomes an integral part of the overall customer experience.

 

4. THE RIGHT TIME TO INCREASE CX OUTSOURCING

According to a KPMG survey, 91% of U.S. CEOs anticipate a recession in 2023. Therefore, enterprises are looking for ways to reduce costs, de-risk, and sustain business growth. One of the ways is with CX outsourcing. This year, enterprises will move to new-age CX providers to deliver a superlative experience and to lower overall costs.

As per a NelsonHall report, by 2026, the total CX services market will be around $116 billion and grow at 5.2% CAGR. With the rising economic turbulence and meeting ever-changing customer expectations, this is the right time to leverage CX outsourcing services across the customer experience value chain. It will enable companies to fill the gap during unexpected demand spikes and optimize and automate CX cycles and shortages of skilled talent.

With cloud-based contact centers and exciting advances in CX technology, service providers can drive hyper-efficiency and growth for enterprises. Additionally, CX outsourcing will reduce the cost of talent onboarding, enterprise spending on infrastructure and utilities, and building a maximally adaptive, resilient, flexible, and agile workforce to scale as per the demand.

5. RISE OF GIG-ENABLED SUPPORT MODELS

Gig models have gained momentum recently with the growth of internet-backed digital platforms that facilitate easy access to gig work. Today, with technology-enabled gig work, platforms are flourishing. It is estimated that there are as many as 1.1 billion gig workers worldwide, with over 55 million in the U.S. alone. A research study from TSIA partner Kantata found that more than 50% of Millennial and Gen-Z workers have considered becoming freelancers or contractors.

The upward trend of gig work will also reflect in the CX industry. Enterprises will find that they will have to pay increased attention to Gen Z’s expectations of work — it must be flexible and rewarding.

In 2023, more brands will leverage gig-based support models to provide world-class customer support 24/7, while managing demand fluctuations. As new waves of the pandemic threaten to hit us, early adopters of gig-based support will prove to be more resilient against its impact. Leading companies will explore advanced models like Movate’s blended gig-enabled support model. This is a one-of-a-kind model that offers the flexibility of the gig industry and the resilience of a full-time support ecosystem. Moreover, it leverages the product’s existing users to provide high-quality, empathetic support for complex issues, enables brands to manage surges in contact volumes efficiently, and drives tangible cost savings.

A flexible, fluid workforce will be vital for businesses to scale and downsize as required. Frontline gig workers will work with advanced technologies and the existing workforce, resulting in an enhanced CX.

DESIGNING GREAT CX EXPERIENCES IN A MUST-HAVE

Experience is everything today, and great customer experience is key to building trust, loyalty, and a strong connection with a brand. Customer-centric enterprises know that designing great CX is not a “nice-to-have” anymore, but a “must-have.”

From AI to machine learning (ML) to hyper-personalization to the metaverse, enterprises will leave nothing unturned. As per recent Salesforce research, 89% of customers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience. We live in the era of digitally savvy customers who are empowered and willing to make choices based on their interactions on different channels. Brands will be listening to their voice more closely than ever. In 2023, it will be the year of rediscovering CX and placing the customer back as the focus of all business.

 

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There are multiple megatrends that futurists cite which will influence and impact businesses, processes, and workplaces across the board in 2023 and ahead. People Matters gathers some top tech trends across various sectors.

With technology continuing to advance amid – and to surmount the challenges of – the pandemic, there are multiple megatrends that futurists cite which will influence and impact businesses, processes, and workplaces across the board in 2023 and ahead. People Matters gathers some top tech trends across various sectors.

As we enter 2023 under the shadow of global economic uncertainty, the common theme across enterprises globally is the stress on cost reduction and increased productivity. Experts say this will come on the back of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud adoption.

Trends that will shape cloud computing in 2023

There’s no doubt that cloud computing has revolutionised the way businesses operate. From making it possible for employees to work remotely, allowing flexible hours, to making business communication and collaboration a lot easier, while also amplifying the company’s growth by modernising operations and expanding IT capabilities – cloud computing has given us all.

Faiz Shakir, Managing Director – Sales, Nutanix India & SAARC Nutanix says as the dynamic macroeconomic scenario continues to strongly influence cloud economics, the year 2023 is expected to be an eventful year for the technology sector – and primarily for the cloud business.

“New decision-making around applications and their infrastructure will take precedence as companies begin to reconsider their exposure to the cost economics of a single cloud provider or a public cloud only strategy owing to the limited ability to move applications and data between clouds or to on-prem locations. Thus, portability will emerge as an important multi-cloud value as enterprises look to characterise their apps and data for optimal location in terms of performance, sovereignty, and of course, cost,” he says.

Shakir adds that enterprises will also prioritise consolidation of developer environments due to their potential to run development environments where they make the most sense for the business while having the flexibility to pivot and move without fear of lock-in to a single infrastructure provider.

“In addition to this, untethered edge operating models will become more prevalent as applications will be expected to run all the time. Furthermore, sustainably will also emerge as a deciding factor in IT investments, globally, as companies start placing greater emphasis on how technology can lower energy costs and enable the achievement of sustainability mandates.”

Rahul Joshi, CTO at Movate (formerly CSS Corp) shares his list of trends for cloud computing in 2023 and ahead.

Investment in cloud security and resilience: The industry will keep spending on cyber security and building resilience against everything from data loss to the impact of a pandemic on global business in the coming years. At Movate, we have made investments in our Contelli platform which offers great cloud security and resilience.

Multi-cloud to become popular strategy: In 2023, most businesses will start leveraging the advantages of diversifying their services to different cloud providers taking a multi-cloud approach. This approach offers several benefits, including improved flexibility and security with no vendor lock-in.

Low-code and no-code cloud services: We can expect continued innovation in the field of hyper-scale cloud services. Low-code and no-code solutions are becoming available for building AI-powered applications for companies wanting to leverage AI/ML without getting into the complex coding job. Many of these services are provided via the cloud, i.e., people can access them “as-a-service”. This trend will pick up in the upcoming years.

Leveraging the efficiency of the cloud to meet sustainability goals: Today, sustainability is the most critical criterion in IT buying decisions. Organisations will continue to shift towards sustainable efficiencies by leveraging software and cloud-based infrastructures.

Innovation and consolidation in cloud gaming: We all enjoy binge-watching and listening to music. Thanks to the cloud that has brought us streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, etc., revolutionising the way we consume content today. Although, streaming video gaming is taking a little longer to gain a foothold as it requires higher bandwidth than music or videos. With the ongoing rollout of 5G and other ultra-fast networking technologies, 2023 could be the year cloud gaming will impact.

AI/ ML developments to follow in 2023

Out of all the technologies that have been introduced over the last few years, AI has proven to be one of the biggest buzzwords in the IT industry. Every year, new use cases are being discovered and are becoming feasible with advances in AI and efficient hardware.

Joshi shares a few examples that can help companies to be more efficient in leveraging AI.

Advanced cybersecurity: AI and ML can be used to enforce best cybersecurity practices, reduce attack surfaces, and track malicious activity proactively. More and more companies will start to invest in building AI systems that can analyse large volumes of data, including malicious code, malware, and code anomalies, to help cybersecurity teams identify potential threats.

Efficiency in IT operations: As machine data explodes, businesses are in a race to find value in their data and stay competitive. However, metadata initiatives are failing, and data discovery and retrieval are becoming challenging. This paves the way for the Growth of AI-as-a-Service. The emergence of the industrial internet and the integration of complex physical machines with networked sensors and software have forced these two areas to work together to improve resiliency, availability, and cybersecurity. Observability and controllability are areas of focus as organisations leverage AIOPs and data initiatives for enhanced correlation with increased adoption of SRE, DevOps, APM and other technologies.

Customer service excellence: Manikandan Thangarathnam, Senior Director – Platform Engineering, Uber feels 2023 will witness an increased reliance on machine learning and artificial intelligence in every aspect of providing a personalised customer experience and building intuitive systems designed to work in real-time. Applications of artificial intelligence will transcend the realm of core technology companies, and trickle into practically every business process across industries.

Hari Vasudev, SVP – Retail Tech Platforms and Country Head, Walmart Global Tech says it is an exciting time for the retail tech industry.

Recent years have blurred the lines between digital and physical, and technology will play a pivotal role in serving customers when, where, and how they want.

“Agility will be key. Adopting a ‘Four-in-a-box’ model that brings together technology, product, design, and operations will be crucial to innovate with speed and constantly evolve products and services to better serve customers. The coming times will also witness shopping experiences that are more personalised, inclusive, and accessible.

Predictive technology, leveraging AI and ML, will be vital to understand customer preferences more deeply and cater to their unique needs. AR/VR will be a game changer in bringing personalised experiences, such as virtual try-ons for apparel, eyewear, or even scanning shelves to find items that match one’s lifestyle and diet. Over a period of time, voice technology will emerge as a natural part of one’s shopping experience and an important tool for retailers to reduce customer friction,” Vasudev adds.

Saurabh Saxena, Intuit India Site Leader & VP, Product Development says although AI has been the driving force behind accelerated business transformation, it will continue to be foundational and indispensable in 2023.

“We’re already witnessing how AI and powerful data capabilities are redefining the security models and capabilities for companies,” he says.

This is borne out by a Forrester report which states that 46% of data and analytics business and technology decision-makers seek out partners to implement AI that is critical to the business.

Saxena says security practitioners and the industry as a whole will have much better tools and much faster information at their disposal, and they should be able to isolate security risks with much greater precision.

Meanwhile, the Fintech market will experience a massive and fundamental change due to various factors, including the advent of Web3 and huge technology acquisitions that most believe will open up the Internet.Web3 will provide more control for users – digital ownership and a distributed internet based on standards that will fundamentally affect Fintech by speeding decentralisation.

“In 2023, we can anticipate the pioneers to keep laying the foundation that might one day make decentralised virtual environments a reality. We’re going to experience fewer building blocks in Fintech, and these building blocks will be critical for companies and for those using embedded finance. We’ll see superhighways that become the consumer-trusted data and information connection between companies,” he adds.

 

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