Spending on edge computing is rising. Supply chains are getting automated. AI sentiment depends on who you ask. And back-to-the-office strategies will require new, integrated technology.
That’s some of the latest from leading IT market researchers, analysts and pollsters. And here’s your Performance Intensive Computing research roundup.
Edge Computing: Hot
How hot? Well, global spending on edge solutions, set to approach $261 billion this year, will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 14%, reaching $380 billion by 2028, predicts market watcher IDC.
"Most industries benefit from the ability to process data closer to the source, leading to faster decision-making, improved security and cost savings,” says IDC researcher Alexandra Rotaru. Those industries, she adds, include retail, industrial manufacturing, utilities, high tech, healthcare and life sciences.
Retail and services will account for nearly 28% of global spending on edge solutions this year, making it the leading vertical sector for edge spending, IDC expects. Use cases for this sector include video analytics, real-time carrier performance, and optimized operations.
Edge computing’s fastest-growing sector over the next five years will be financial services, IDC says. That sector’s use cases—including augmented fraud analysis—should spur its edge-solutions spending to exceed a CAGR of 15%.
Not Your Father’s Supply Chain
If you think supply chain managers still rely on clipboards and spreadsheets, think again. There’s a brave new world of supply chain technology that includes agentic AI, ambient invisible intelligence and an augmented connected workforce, according to a new report from IT advisors Gartner. If you don’t know what those are, read on.
Supply chain managers have been under pressure since at least the pandemic. Now they’re looking to boost productivity, gain value from digital investments, and adopt new and innovative operating models. To do all this, Gartner says, they’ll adopt advanced supply-chain tech, including:
- Agentic AI: The term “agentic” basically means AI systems that can make decisions and solve problems autonomously—that is, without human intervention. Supply chains can use it to adjust stock levels based on realtime demand forecasts.
- Ambient Invisible Intelligence: This technology provides real-time visibility into end-to-end supply chains with small, inexpensive smart tags and sensors. It’s especially useful for monitoring food and other perishables.
- Augmented connected workforce: By digitizing standard operating procedures, this technology aims to fill skills gaps in the supply chain workforce.
- Decision Intelligence: Decisions are being automated by this combo of decision modeling, AI and analytics. The technology can also be used to improve the quality of automated decisions over time.
AI Sentiment? Depends on Who You Ask
Is artificial intelligence a positive force leading to innovation, higher productivity and better decisions? Or a negative leading to unemployment and inaccurate results? As a slew of recent surveys show, it depends on who you ask:
- Nearly three-quarters (72%) of small-business owners have a positive view of AI, finds a survey of 500 business owners by Paychex. Of those small-biz owners now using AI, 66% say it’s improved productivity. Others say they’ve enjoyed AI-driven cost savings (cited by 44%), revenue growth (40%) and improved recruiting (35%).
- The same percentage (72%) of C-suite executives say their companies have faced challenges when adopting Generative AI, according to a survey conducted by Writer, a GenAI provider. These challenges include internal power struggles, poor return on investment (ROI), underperforming tools, and clashing perspectives among executives and employers.
- AI can help humans overcome our biases, say nearly half the 2,000 Americans and Canadians recently polled by AI litigation platform Alexi. In addition, nearly three-quarters of them (72%) also support increasing AI literacy in school curriculums by 2026.
- Just over half of U.S. workers (52%) say they’re worried about the future impact of AI, and nearly a third (32%) fear AI will lead to fewer job opportunities for them in the future, finds a Pew Research Center survey of nearly 5,300 employed U.S. adults. Only 6% of those Pew surveyed believe workplace AI will lead to more job opportunities for them in the long term.
Back to the Office? Consolidate Tech
Still working from home? Maybe not for long. About one in three businesses (34%) plan to increase office attendance, according to a survey of 200 business executives worldwide conducted by Eptura, a provider of workplace systems.
However, the transition back to the office isn’t always going smoothly, and Eptura says one reason is disconnected technology. The company’s survey finds that half the respondents (50%) manage workplace operations with an average of 17 standalone technologies.
To make sense of this proliferation of systems, formats and dashboards, companies are turning to human intervention. About a third of organizations Eptura surveyed (37%) say they use 11 or more full-time employees to collate, analyze and report on workplace data.
The solution, Eptura says, will come with a unified operational approach with integrated technology across the enterprise. To get there, companies may need to consolidate operational data; implement AI to enhance the workforce experience (planned by 77% of respondents); and hire a new digital workplace leader, a move already in the works at three-quarters of those surveyed.