What Gartner’s 2024 AI Trends Reveal for the Future of Tech

According to Gartner’s 2024 Top Ten Strategic Technology Trends, artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to dominate the technology sector in the short term.

Gartner research vice‑president Bart Willemsen said that, amid rapid technological change and socioeconomic uncertainty, IT leaders must act boldly and strategically to build resilience rather than rely on temporary measures.

Research vice‑president Chris Howard added that evaluating the impact and benefits of strategic technology trends is challenging due to accelerating innovation, especially for generative AI and other AI types, which require rigorous, risk‑aware adoption to deliver long‑term business value.

Democratized Generative AI

Large‑scale pre‑trained models, cloud computing, and open‑source collaboration are driving the democratization of generative AI, making these models accessible to workers worldwide. Gartner predicts that by 2026 more than 80% of enterprises will use generative AI APIs or models, or deploy generative‑AI‑enabled applications in production, up from less than 5% in early 2023.

Generative AI applications enable enterprise users to tap vast internal and external information sources, accelerating the democratization of knowledge and skills. Large language models provide rich semantic understanding, allowing conversational interfaces that connect employees with knowledge.

AI Trust, Risk and Security Management (AI TRiSM)

The widespread adoption of AI heightens the need for AI Trust, Risk and Security Management (AI TRiSM). Without safeguards, AI models can produce uncontrolled negative effects that offset their benefits. AI TRiSM offers tools for ModelOps, proactive data protection, AI‑specific security, model monitoring (including data drift, model drift, and unexpected outcomes), and risk control for third‑party model inputs and outputs.

Gartner forecasts that by 2026 enterprises employing AI TRiSM controls will filter up to 80% of erroneous or illegal information, improving decision‑making accuracy.

AI‑Augmented Development

AI‑augmented development uses generative AI, machine learning, and related technologies to assist software engineers in design, coding, and testing. AI‑assisted engineering boosts developer productivity, enabling teams to meet growing software demand while freeing engineers to focus on higher‑value activities such as designing compelling business applications.

Intelligent Applications

Gartner defines the “intelligent” in intelligent applications as the learned adaptive ability to autonomously respond appropriately. These applications embed AI services—machine learning, vector stores, data connectivity—to continuously adapt to user needs, enhancing automation and user experience.

In a 2023 Gartner CEO survey, 26% of CEOs identified talent shortage as the greatest risk to enterprises, and AI was seen as the technology with the biggest impact on their industry over the next three years.

Augmented‑Connected Workforce (ACWF)

ACWF is a strategic approach to optimize employee value. Growing talent‑scale demands drive ACWF development, which leverages intelligent applications and workforce analytics to improve employee experience, well‑being, and skill growth, while delivering business outcomes for key stakeholders.

By the end of 2027, 25% of CIOs will use ACWF programs to cut competency ramp‑up time for critical roles by 50%.

Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)

CTEM provides a pragmatic, unified method for enterprises to continuously assess the accessibility, exposure, and exploitability of digital and physical assets. By focusing on threat vectors and business initiatives rather than just infrastructure components, CTEM uncovers both fixable vulnerabilities and unremediable threats.

Gartner predicts that by 2026, organizations that prioritize security investments through CTEM will reduce vulnerabilities by two‑thirds.

Machine Customers

Machine customers—also called “customer bots”—are autonomous non‑human economic agents that can negotiate and purchase goods or services for compensation. By 2028, 15 billion connected devices will have the potential to act as customers, growing to tens of billions in subsequent years. By 2030, this trend could generate trillions of dollars in revenue, eventually surpassing the impact of digital commerce.

Sustainable Technology

Sustainable technology is a digital‑solution framework aimed at delivering long‑term ecological balance and human‑rights outcomes (ESG). Technologies such as AI, cryptocurrency, IoT, and cloud computing raise concerns about energy consumption and environmental impact, making efficiency, circularity, and sustainability increasingly critical. Gartner predicts that by 2027, 25% of CIOs’ compensation will be tied to their influence on sustainable technology.

Platform Engineering

Platform engineering is the discipline of building and operating self‑service internal development platforms. Each platform is a layer created and maintained by a dedicated product team, integrating tools and processes to support user needs. The goal is to optimize productivity, improve user experience, and accelerate delivery of business value.

Industry Cloud Platforms (ICP)

Gartner forecasts that by 2027 over 70% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms to accelerate business initiatives, up from less than 15% in 2023. ICPs combine SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS services into composable solutions tailored to specific industries, offering data weaving, packaged business function libraries, toolsets, and other innovations to meet sector‑specific demands.