Making AI Drive Revenue Is The Tech Target For 2024

The big trend of 2023 was artificial intelligence — by a long way. The launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 just created a wave of excitement that has lasted all year, but what is coming next for technology in 2024?

Let’s see what some of the most important analysts have been talking about in their annual predictions.

Forrester Research talks about innovation beyond AI. Their research says: “To succeed in 2024, business leaders will need to embrace the spirit of exploration. The AI inflection point is here. It’s time to move fast, think bold, and be willing to pivot. The most dangerous move is to take a conservative ‘wait and see’ approach.”

Forrester suggests that the wave of AI hype that lasted throughout 2023 will transition into a wave of intent as companies finally realize how they can start using the technology.

Deloitte backs up this view. They believe that as companies find a real use for AI, there will be immediate revenue gains inside 2024. Their research said: “Generative AI (Gen AI) chip sales will likely reach over US$50 billion in 2024 and nearly all enterprise software companies will integrate gen AI in at least some of their offerings by the end of 2024, which could boost revenue by US$10 billion.”

Gartner suggests that Generative AI now needs to be a strategic consideration in every different department of your business. An interesting area that Gartner talks about is the modernization and upgrading of legacy technology systems. Their analysts believe that these projects can be supercharged through the use of AI.

The CTO of Amazon, Werner Vogels, has made an interesting prediction based on AI becoming more commonplace. He said that it will start changing college education and start blending college with businesses. That means companies have to shift not only how they hire but also how they design the workplace to make sure their people are constantly learning.

Talking to Forbes, Vogels said: “I’m very optimistic, not only because of generative AI, I see more and more businesses arriving that want to do good. They really are tackling hard problems … I’m very very optimistic.”

Looking through all these various predictions, there is a common theme, and it still revolves around AI. However, all the analysts are making a very similar point. The launch of ChatGPT created a very strong focus on what Gen AI can do, but most of 2023 was spent experimenting with this — and similar tools. In 2024 the expectation is that AI will now be used in real business solutions that drive revenue. This is a reasonable expectation. Many companies have launched new AI-powered solutions in Q4, and therefore these will only start making a difference in 2024.

I think the macro economy will also play an important factor in 2024. The US economy has not sunk into recession, as many economists predicted. Layoffs are low and retail sales are up. It’s all looking much better than expected a year ago. When consumer confidence returns, we may well start to see a new wave of innovation in areas such as fintech.

It could happen in 2024, but maybe this is really something for 2025. In the meantime, make sure that AI is on the agenda at your board meeting.