Deloitte’s 12th Annual Tech Trends report finds that enterprises have adapted to fluctuations, accelerated digital transformation, and emerged resilient

7 June, 2021 — Organizations are accelerating their digital transformation efforts not only to make their operations nimbler and more efficient, but to respond to dramatic fluctuations in demand and customer expectation, according to Deloitte’s 12th annual Tech Trends Report.

For organizations reckoning with the seismic shifts of 2020, this year’s Tech Trends report discusses the opportunities, strategies, and technologies that will drive confidence in new planning and implementation during the next 18 to 24 months. The future they find will be distinctly different from the realities of January 2020, yet CIOs are already charting a promising path toward tomorrow, as captured in this year’s report. Trends observed by Deloitte include the future of the workplace, the industrialization of AI initiatives, upgrades for the critical core, and technology that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The nine trends explored in the report fall under three main categories:

The Heart of the Enterprise: Strategy, Engineered; Core Revival; and Supply Unchained focus on the alignment of organizational and technology strategy. These components of the enterprise are complex, but imperative for success, and must work in concert to support each other.

A Better Experience, Inside and Out: Bespoke for Billions: Digital Meets Physical and Rebooting the Digital Workplace offer a view of two sides of the same evolving coin for customers, employees, and stakeholders: how do you better merge the future of digital and physical experiences to drive more value? DEI Tech: Tools for Equity discusses increasingly sophisticated tools to support organizational DEI across the talent lifecycle, which is the spark that powers innovation.

Data: The Art of the Possible: As enterprises move further towards automation and machine-led decisioning, human capacity can be augmented at scale.  MLOps: Industrialized AI; Machine Data Revolution: Feeding the Machine;  and Zero Trust: Never Trust, Always Verify represent three specific opportunities for enterprises to realize more value through industrialization and automation.

“The theme of this year’s report is resilience. We have seen countless, inspiring examples of resilience this past year as organizations assessed their circumstances and revised their strategic plans,” said Tim Parr, CEO, Consulting, Deloitte Middle East. “To us, resilience means a stubborn determination to adapt and thrive in the face of change. We have seen CIOs and other executives confidently lead this journey and prove they can bounce back.”

“Seemingly overnight, COVID-19 disrupted our assumptions and forced us to become more adaptable and responsive than we had previously thought possible. Comfortable plans for “the future” were condensed from years into weeks,” said Parr. “This growth was uncomfortable at best, but has driven important change, and the trends we are seeing suggest a more hopeful dimension to the turbulent events of the past year.”

 To download the full report, visit Deloitte's Tech Trends 2021 Report.

About Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) LLP:

Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) LLP (DME) is the affiliate for the territories of the Middle East and Cyprus of Deloitte NSE LLP (“NSE”), a UK limited liability partnership and member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”).

DME is a leader in professional services with uninterrupted presence in the Middle East since 1926 with 26 offices in 14 countries and around 5,000 partners, directors and staff. DME’s presence in the Middle East and Cyprus is established through its affiliated independent legal entities, which are licensed to operate and to provide services under the applicable laws and regulations of the relevant country. DME’s affiliates and related entities cannot oblige each other and/or DME, and when providing services, each affiliate and related entity engages directly and independently with its own clients and shall only be liable for its own acts or omissions and not those of any other affiliate.

About Deloitte:

Deloitte refers to one or more of DTTL, its global network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities, which cannot obligate or bind each other in respect of third parties. DTTL and each DTTL member firm and related entity is liable only for its own acts and omissions, and not those of each other. DTTL, NSE and DME do not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more.

Deloitte is a leading global provider of audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services. Our network of member firms in more than 150 counties and territories, serves four out of five Fortune Global 500® companies. Learn how Deloitte’s approximately 300,000 people make an impact that matters at www.deloitte.com.