ClearPoint, a leading digital and technology consultancy, released the latest volume of its Tech Radar, exploring insights, expertise and opinion on technology that is emerging, prevalent or outdated in the industry landscape.
ClearPoint invests significant time in not only researching leading tools, techniques and approaches but also trialling, assessing and implementing these for clients.
Several themes have prevailed across the technology landscape this year, with AI and LLMs, digital collaboration tools and emerging synergies between large platforms all reshaping traditional ways of working, in turn, changing the way businesses serve customers and improve customer and employee experiences.
With the increase in adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and the speed at which these are being embedded into workplace culture, organisations should ensure to adopt a responsible AI framework and policy before members of the organisation start exploring AI capabilities.
Adopting these technologies is not without challenges and there are concerns about data privacy, ethical use of AI, and the need for robust governance frameworks. However, the opportunities outweigh these hurdles. The ability to process vast amounts of data and provide real-time insights with AI’s predictive analytics and data-driven insights is invaluable.
“We have seen that software engineers are early adopters of such tools and technologies with the adoption of AI-powered software development tools such as GitHub Copilot or Azure AI Studio in particular”, says Malen Hurbuns, GM of Microsoft Engineering at ClearPoint.
“Some of the techniques that they are using, such as prompt engineering, can be used across other sectors.”
Partnerships have been a key driver in the success of AI and LLMs, with Microsoft’s partnerships with OpenAI and NVidia helping them become a leader in the space. Cloud-based services such as Azure Open AI increase accessibility to powerful language models and allow organisations to adapt to specific tasks.
As partnerships strengthen and platforms intertwine, there becomes a consolidation trend – where major platforms join forces to create robust ecosystems.
“We are seeing emerging synergies between major platforms, ie. Salesforce-AWS-Snowflake, that are coming together to form major ecosystems,” says Jaco Saunderson, GM of Platform Engineering at ClearPoint.
This interconnectedness between major platforms not only streamlines data management but also sets the stage for unprecedented collaboration and innovation.
There has been an increase in, and trend towards, collaboration across the ecosystem, with the rise of cloud-based collaboration tools such as Miro, Notion and Figjam signifying a major shift in work practices. These tools provide a consistent and persistent toolset, fostering collaboration among in-office and remote teams.
“This change allows for seamless knowledge gathering, presentation creation, solution workshops, feedback sessions, and project tracking from anywhere at any time,” says Dan Cornwall, GM Design at ClearPoint.
“The integration of AI and native video chat transforms collaboration tools into comprehensive, all-in-one work applications, while the ability to spread multiple files on a virtual wall revolutionises information accessibility and streamlines workflows.”
Explore the interactive ClearPoint Technology Radar to discover the latest trends and insights.
About the Tech Radar
The ClearPoint Tech Radar serves as a compass, guiding businesses toward innovative solutions and strategic technology adoption. It monitors new trends in tools, techniques, platforms, frameworks and software languages to gain confidence in their use in the market. The Radar is not a superset of all things in the tech landscape but rather it focuses on the trends of what is changing in the market.