Top Emerging Technologies to Watch: AI, IoT, and Quantum Security Lead the Way

A recent trends report from global technology research company Forrester disclosed ten technologies crucial for companies to monitor.

The comprehensive 30-page document identified four technologies anticipated to provide immediate benefits, four expected to pay off in the medium term, and two poised for long-term impact.

Each trend’s benefits, business value, critical use cases, current applications, and potential risks were detailed in the report.

Technologies offering short-term benefits include:

• Generative AI for visual content;
• Generative AI for language;
• IoT security; and
• TuringBots, leveraging AI in software development.

Medium-term advantageous technologies are:

• AI agents;
• Autonomous mobility;
• Edge Intelligence; and
• Quantum security.

Long-term impactful technologies include:

• Extended Reality (XR); and
• Zero Trust Edge (ZTE), a comprehensive security and networking solution.

Accelerating Creativity

Forrester indicates that generative AI for visual content holds considerable potential, particularly for marketers and creatives. This technology is expected to significantly boost creativity, especially for global enterprises managing diverse brands.

However, these benefits come with risks such as visual output distortions, unintended likenesses of public figures, inaccurate images, and legal complications due to copyright infringement.

Aaron J. Rafferty, founder of Tech Buzz and StandardDAO in California, illustrated the profound impact of generative AI on visual content.

“What previously took ten steps can now be achieved in one,” he stated.

“A lengthy video can be auto-clipped into engaging short videos, redesigned by AI personas for various consumer profiles, translated into multiple languages, and adapted for viral text formats on newsletters, social media threads, and posts across various platforms,” he explained.

“Top creators will streamline their teams and enhance their content, with their distribution channels expanding significantly overnight,” he added.

Transforming Customer Service

Forrester also sees promise in generative AI for language, predicting its transformation of knowledge work. A key area of impact will be customer service, where the technology’s ability to extract and retrieve information from unstructured data will allow high volumes of queries to be managed cost-effectively.

“In service industries, we are already witnessing a transformation,” Rafferty noted, mentioning Klarna’s substantial headcount reduction and savings. “Building a chatbot or call agent that comprehensively understands your company can address customer inquiries in real time while improving over time,” he said.

Although generative AI is yielding immediate results within specific use cases, Forrester acknowledges the low trust in the technology. “There’s a ‘black box’ aspect to these large language models, with limited transparency,” said Zeid Khater, a customer data and analytics analyst at Forrester, and one of the report’s contributors.

“As we become more familiar with the technology’s capabilities and limitations, trust will grow,” he added. “For sensitive decision-making, AI will not replace human judgment entirely until we develop highly reliable explainability frameworks.”

Rising Importance of IoT Security

The report highlights the significance of IoT security, noting its evolution to protect essential data and devices. IoT security technologies can reduce the likelihood of critical data breaches and enhance the value of edge intelligence technology, as traditional endpoint security measures fall short in protecting these devices.

“IoT security is vital as these devices are increasingly integrated into critical infrastructure and daily operations,” stated Krishna Vishnubhotla, VP of product strategy at Zimperium, a mobile security company based in Dallas.

“With growing connectivity, every IoT and mobile device can be a potential cyberthreat entry point. Ensuring robust security for both is essential to protect sensitive information and maintain network integrity,” he said.

John Gallagher, VP at Viakoo Labs, an IoT security enterprise, noted the vast attack surface that IoT represents.

“Protecting vulnerable IoT devices is crucial for enterprises, as breached devices can lead to ransomware attacks, data loss, tampering with municipal water supplies, creating deepfake videos, or disrupting transport systems,” he stated.

“Security measures for IoT typically gain traction post-threat realization,” added Richard Stiennon, founder and chief research analyst of IT-Harvest, a cybersecurity industry analysis firm.

“The discovery of persistent infiltration of critical control systems by entities like China has heightened the emphasis on IoT security,” he explained.

“With the number of connected devices growing daily, the escalation in attacks on these devices is unsurprising,” he concluded.

Revolutionizing Cryptography

Forrester’s report projects that quantum security, which employs quantum mechanics principles and quantum-resistant algorithms for cryptographic tasks and secure communications, will reform existing encryption and identity-and-access-management systems.

“Reform might be a more accurate term than uproot,” argued Stiennon. “We are still years away from fully operational quantum computing. Currently, we’re at the stage comparable to the first transistor in 1947, relative to subsequent semiconductor-based computers.”

“Nonetheless, it’s prudent for organizations to organize their encryption keys. While doing so, they can identify areas requiring quantum-safe encryption and devise a long-term re-keying and transition plan,” he advised.

However, Duncan Jones, head of cybersecurity at Quantinuum, a quantum computing firm, affirms Forrester’s prediction, noting, “Quantum computing will overhaul cybersecurity, affecting every facet of cyberspace.”

“Despite future quantum computers potentially breaking many encryption systems, we can already fortify systems using quantum technologies today, such as enhancing keys with quantum randomness. In the long run, quantum technology will be a boon to cybersecurity rather than a threat,” he asserted.