2023 is finally here, although some are still trying to adapt to the new reality shaped in the last couple of years. And as a tradition, everyone is setting new goals and behaviors they want to apply with a fresh beginning. But the question is, also used in the business perspective, have we set the right goals, and are we committed to doing the necessary work after the first couple of weeks when usually people fall off the wagon? 

With the ever-changing and more demanding customer expectations, flexibility and implementing the right technologies are crucial to success. So, to try to answer at least the first question about the goals, let’s discover the hottest trends in digital transformation for 2023 to help you determine the next step for your company.

Digital Transformation trends

From Retail to Automotive, every industry can benefit from digital transformation and putting people are the forefront of their efforts, both the customers and the employees. The underlying concept of all transformational plans is to build a solid foundation that offers flexibility while tapping the opportunities presented by cutting-edge technologies. With suitable tools and processes in place, organizations can dramatically change how they interact with customers in the right place and time and also increase the efficiency and satisfaction of their teams. To help you to accelerate your strategy, we have gathered some of the most exciting trends poised to help in 2023.

Low Code/No Code Development Platforms 

Businesses cannot afford to take a deep breath, as recessionary sentiments and a rapidly changing environment continue to cause unexpected disruptions. 

So, we will begin with one of the most important trends in the late years – the development of the so-called cloud-based Low-Code/No-Code Development Platforms that democratize and accelerate the evolution of new applications. This allows businesses to provide new services and realize added value much faster. Low-Code/No-Code Development is an increasingly vital part of the digital transformation strategy. It is usually supported by Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for enhanced efficiency and automation. Leaders, such as ServiceNow, which was recognized as the No.1 Enterprise No-Code Development Platform in 2022, allow users to create intuitive experiences and enable cross-enterprise, low-code app delivery to quickly and safely scale with connected digital workflows. 

According to Gartner, over 70% of large-scale organization-level application development will happen using low-code platforms by 2025. In conclusion, if you haven’t planned to position it in your transformational agenda, maybe you should think twice.

Artificial Intelligence 

Similar to last year, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be once again one of the key trends that are going to reshape the business environment. It is the answer to the growing customer demand for faster and more accurate solutions to their queries regardless of the time zone, location or platform. Combined with Machine Learning (ML), enterprises can unleash the full potential of AI to improve performance and gain an advantage of the collected data over time with valuable insights to drive more informed decisions.   

AI took the world by storm in 2022. For the broader audience, that may refer to the AI-generated picture avatars that went viral on the internet before Christmas and showed their power in creating art. But the groundbreaking discoveries took place mostly in the Pharma and Healthcare fields. For example, AI technologies have successfully predicted proteins’ three-dimensional shapes and helped drug discoveries, started being implemented in fertility practices or created various ‘what if’ scenarios in the fight against mass diseases, and many more. 

In 2023 AI technologies are expected to expand exponentially and become more accessible, transparent, and democratized through governmental initiatives and the use of AI to develop new business models and drive operational decisions. Businesses will focus on AI use cases with high ROI, growth in Human and Machine Collaboration, digital twins, and cybersecurity, looking for new ways to reduce cost and outperform the competitors. Introducing new functional safety standards that define the use of AI in safety is also expected to be released this year. 

And to give you a better perspective covered in numbers, one survey conducted by MIT Sloan Management found that 87% of global organizations believe that AI technologies will provide them with a competitive edge. This equates to an increase of 12% from the previous year. 

Hybrid model of work 

2023 marks three years of the global pandemic and the rapid shift in the way we all work. Although hybrid work has been a concept that has spread around for years, this unprecedented level of remote and flexible work happened by necessity, not by choice, and is now re-evaluated by companies. 

In 2022 many businesses tried to get their employees physically back in the offices, but with the new adaptable way of thinking and the concerns of the upcoming recession and budget caps, the hybrid model is expected to continue growing and being adopted. 

Digital transformation has created a reality where centralized operations are increasingly not essential for vital work and productivity to occur and can, on the contrary, bring better collaboration, improved efficiency, and greater organizational flexibility. One trend to consider in 2023 is upgrading the knowledge-sharing and collaboration tools within the enterprise. 

Composability 

All the volatility of the last three years made the ability to pivot and adjust quickly more critical than ever. Implementing a composable business model requires a change of mindset. Composable thinking is a philosophy that looks at the business structure to see how you can support adaptability and agility with technologies to shift from monolithic digital architecture to composable architecture. 

Continuing this trend we listed last year, in the “Innovation Insight for Composable Modularity of Packaged Business Capabilities” report, Gartner foresees that in 2023, 60% of mainstream organizations will list composable enterprise as a strategic objective and will use an increasing number of packaged business capabilities. 

Organizations that embrace the principles of composable business are more likely to leverage or accelerate existing digital investments successfully and seize opportunities in the so-called “moments of composability,” such as global recession, pandemic, and more. 

Fusion Teams

Fusion Teams are another huge Digital Transformation trend you need to know about. As companies adopt new technologies to digitalize business capabilities as part of their digital transformation agenda, they must evaluate how internal teams operate and communicate with each other to ensure their success.  

Neither the business nor IT teams can overcome the challenges created by the accelerating pace of business change alone. Essentially, organizations need to embrace and strengthen their business-IT collaboration, and Fusion Teams might be the exact answer.  

A Fusion Team is a multi-disciplinary team of developers and business technologists with close domain expertise working in the software development lifecycle. By combining the team’s knowledge with the latest technology, this new way of working can help improve both business outcomes and user experiences by delivering products and solutions faster and better meeting the needs of customers and clients. 

Supporting this notion in their report “Fusion Teams: Democratized and Distributed Technology Delivery for Digital,” Gartner states that the “CIO’s strategic reach grows as IT equips and empowers others to use and build digital capabilities.” It also cites that, as of 2021, IT staff were already reporting more collaborations with business technologists. Another study shows that at least 84% of companies and 59% of government entities have already set up Fusion Teams.

Conclusion 

While the 2023 business environment remains uncertain, enterprises will need to bridge operational and technology siloes to meet the needs of extremely demanding employees and customers. Those who manage to leverage new opportunities and innovations are more likely to achieve their business goals and outperform their peers. 

For more insights about Digital Transformation and ServiceNow, check out our blog.