At each corporate treasury and banking event, we're urged to innovate, digitalise and automate – even though it's difficult to keep up with technology's pace of development. Here are Deloitte's Tech Trends for 2018 to keep us updated on the direction technology will take in the coming year. The report includes an 18-24 month outlook on tech trends and picks out several key trends that could impact business strategies:

No-collar workforce

Get ready for workplaces in which humans and machines work together as equals. The rise of automation, artificial intelligence and cognitive technologies will impact jobs and 'job families'. The organisation of the future must rewire talent management for the new hybrid human-machine workforce – simultaneously retraining augmented workers and pioneering new HR processes for managing virtual workers.

Blockchain to blockchains

Blockchain is moving rapidly from exploration into mission-critical production scenarios. Advanced use cases and increased adoption drives the need to coordinate, integrate and orchestrate multiple blockchains across a value chain.

Digital reality

In the next phase of augmented reality and virtual reality’s evolution, companies are focusing less on the novelty of cool devices, and are focusing instead on developing strategies and innovative use cases. As this trend unfolds, IT leaders will work to tackle persistent challenges in core integration, cloud deployment, connectivity and access.

Reengineering technology

Organisations are fundamentally rethinking technology and are building new IT models from the top down and bottom up – making IT departments into “engines for driving business growth, with responsibilities that span back-office systems, operations, and even product and platform offerings”.

---

CTMfile take: Technology develops so fast these days, by the time you've finished today's to-do list (including reading this article), they may well have announced another new iPhone and your Roomba will be renting out your spare room on Airbnb. This colourful report from Deloitte might give you the head's up about the direction of tech change to come.