In the last few years, the buzz over AI has been on the rise since penetrating C‐suites of various organizations in the world. As a result, there has been a growth in AI investment, and businesses are adopting this technology to enhance their performance (Afshar 2019). It is expected that AI success in different organizations will be numerous and diverse since it helps them perform better. Even though not every organization has implemented AI, the external investments in technology have been tripling since 2013 (Deloitte 2015). Some organizations are using AI in parts of their organization. Still, in two decades, it is expected that the majority of the companies will adopt the technology to be fully utilized in the entire organization. The five AI technology categories include robotics, computer vision, language, machine learning, and virtual agents (Harris 2011). Different organizations have implemented these categories of technologies in their departments based on their needs and the necessity of usage. Therefore, AI will experience tremendous growth in two decades since businesses are expected to tap into this technology to achieve their goals and maximize their income (Tredinnick 2017).
1.4 Connectivity of Tomorrow
The number of network‐connected devices is rising every day, and thus the implication of both wired and wireless technologies is critical in providing the future of the digital economy. The increase of new connectivity has prompted the business to adopt the newest technologies to run their operations (Prysmian 2017). Growth in fiber cables means that organizations will continue to invest in various infrastructures to deal with their connectivity needs, even in future decades. Both private and governmental organizations are investing heavily in technology since the current trends are meant to make organizations better in terms of digital infrastructures (Conan 2018). The recent trends and changes in technology mean that business is based on fiber‐connected backbone networks since service providers are working towards achieving future‐proof networks. In the next two decades, organizations will have the best services for running their business entities. In the future, demand for quality and excellent network services will increase, and thus organizations will focus on reliable and fault‐proof networks (Tempels 2016). The connectivity of tomorrow is expected to become even better since service providers are innovative and are determined to design and develop solutions that will meet customer's needs.
In the last few years, global communications were achieved through satellite systems where connectivity was slow, expensive, and with limited bandwidth. Due to the demand for more capacity and faster networks, both terrestrial and undersea fiber cables were developed, making communication quicker and easier (Prysmian 2017). Even though microwave networks are still in use, manufacturers have modified them, and currently they can do higher capacities over longer distances. They can now meet customer's needs, which has enhanced communication in different sectors. The presence of 3G, 4G, and 5G networks means that businesses can adopt mobility where employees can work from any location as long they meet all the organization's requirements (Conan 2018). It is expected that in the next two decades, better networks and technologies will be developed and will enhance the performance of different business entities. It is essential to acknowledge that advanced technologies in networking are the current boost of business' future in the digital world. It is meant to offer connectivity that is destined to drive new services and products to transform all the necessary operating models.
Based on tomorrow's connectivity, digital transformation in businesses is achieved through data and networking technologies that are cognitive, with the adoption of IoT, blockchains, and advanced analytics to fuel and implement connectivity progress. Figure 1.2 depicts the importance of AI, IoT, and 5G integration to accelerating technological development.
The connectivity of tomorrow will be enhanced by the presence of emerging technological innovativeness such as 5G, deployment satellites orbiting at lower distances, meshed networks, an edge in computing, and the presence of ultra‐modern and broadband solutions (Tempels 2016). The connectivity of tomorrow will enhance network function virtualization and will help organizations manage and evolve their connectivity options. As tomorrow's connectivity continues to take shape, various advanced building blocks of connectivity must be considered. The first building block is 5G; in this case, the fifth generation of cellular technology is expected to change and redefine the new wireless interfaces for smartphones. It provides faster speeds, low latencies, and the ability to connect many smart devices in the network. This means that different protocols coexist and meet the user requirements seamlessly (Tredinnick 2017). It is a unifying and pervasive technology that brings together different networking capabilities needed to change information flow and density at a specific scale (Tempels 2016). Low earth orbit satellites are also expected to redefine the connectivity of tomorrow.
Figure 1.2 The critical role of fusion of IoT, 5G, and AI in different industry sectors (Durmus 2020).
These clustered satellites can provide high‐performance connectivity to earth instead of traditional geostationary satellites (Millicom 2017). They are expected to play a critical role in different businesses since they can provide infrastructure tools to organizations in remote areas such as mining and transportation. The establishment of network function virtualization is also expected to redefine tomorrow's connectivity in the business sector. In this case, the Network Virtualization Function (NVF) replaces various networking functions such as routing, switching, encryptions, and deployment of firewalls (Norton, Littmann, and Prabhu 2019). It is eliminating various options in networking, such as load balancing and virtualization of software. It is a technology that depends on the deployment of commodity services, which are scaled either horizontally or vertically depending on the current demand. It is expected that this technology will change all the dynamics in tomorrow's connectivity, especially in the business world. As technology continues to grow, tomorrow's connectivity is expected to change various dynamics in the next two decades, especially in the business environment. There is a growing demand where the end device should expedite real‐time computation and ensure low latency. There is also a need to ensure that all the connected devices can monitor and manage various organizations' different resources and services. Therefore, as technology continues to grow, it is expected that it will affect many businesses in the next two decades and manage their operations.
1.4.1 Intelligent Interfaces
In the current technological advancements, the intelligent interface enables communication between two or more entities. The system's intelligence aspect means that the interface can predict what the user wants to do; thus, the system can predict the actions of the mind (Yasar 2019). Due to their technological advances, intelligent interfaces can be helpful while undertaking specific tasks. The intelligence factor enables the system to use the information gathered appropriately. In today's world, individuals have embraced technology, and they interact with it through various intelligent services, and the trend is expected to get better in the future. The presence of intelligent services has enabled people to move from traditional keyboards to touchscreens, while others use voice commands and other upcoming technologies. Therefore, businesses are expected to experience extreme growth from technology advancements since user interfaces will enable people to undertake various procedures more simply. A change in the engagement patterns provides a seamless and natural interaction method (Arxiv 2019).
In the next two decades, the business tech will experience advancements in innovative voice capabilities, which will allow communication with multifunctional systems in natural and active conversations. Since intelligent interfaces are integrated with systems based on AI, they can reply to various non‐verbal commands