Agentic AI; AI governance platforms; disinformation security; postquantum cryptography; ambient invisible intelligence; energy efficient computing; hybrid computing; spatial computing; polyfunctional robots and neurological enhancement have been identified as the top ten strategic tech trends according to Gartner. The trends revolve around drivers of “significant disruption and opportunity” within the next 10 years, Gartner said. “This year’s top strategic technology trends span AI imperatives and risks, new frontiers of computing and human-machine synergy,” said Gene Alvarez, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner. “Tracking these trends will help IT leaders shape the future of their organisations with responsible and ethical innovation.” Intelligence Among the various innovations in AI, agentic AI systems – which can autonomously plan and take actions to meet user-defined goals – is one trend to follow in the years ahead. Gartner claimed agentic AI “offers the promise of a virtual workforce that can offload and augment human work”, with at least 15 per cent of day-to-day work decisions predicted to be made by the intelligence by 2028. “The goal-driven capabilities of this technology will deliver more adaptable software systems, capable of completing a wide variety of tasks,” the firm said On the topic of AI, governance platforms for the technology are also expected to be hot in the short term for the management of legal, ethical and operational performance of AI systems. “These technology solutions have the capability to create, manage and enforce policies for responsible AI use, explain how AI systems work and provide transparency to build trust and accountability,” the firm claimed. As such, Gartner predicted that by 2028, organisations that use AI governance platforms will see 40 per cent fewer AI-related ethical incidents compared to companies that don’t use them. Another form of intelligence predicted for future success is ambient invisible intelligence, which uses ultra-low cost, small smart tags and sensors for large-scale affordable tracking and sensing. “Through 2027, early examples of ambient invisible intelligence will focus on solving immediate problems, such as retail stock checking or perishable goods logistics, by enabling low-cost, real-time tracking and sensing of items to improve visibility and efficiency,” Gartner said. Not to be outdone by machine-only intelligence, the research firm also said neurological enhancement – technologies that read and decode brain activity to improve human cognitive abilities – is something that should be expected in the near future. The technology works by reading a person’s brain with unidirectional brain-machine interfaces or bidirectional brain-machine interfaces (BBMI) and has “huge potential” for human upskilling, next-generation marketing and performance. “Neurological enhancement will enhance cognitive abilities, enable brands to know what consumers are thinking and feeling and enhance human neural capabilities to optimise outcomes.” By 2030, Gartner expects 30 per cent of knowledge workers will be both enhanced by and dependent on technologies like BBMIs – both those funded by employers and individuals) to “stay relevant with the rise of AI in the workplace”. Security Because of AI potential to be used for “nefarious purposes”, disinformation security is expected to emerge as a technology to combat impersonation and the misuse of harmful information, as well as ensuring integrity and authenticity. Further, Gartner predicts that 50 per cent of enterprises will take up disinformation security solutions by 2028. “The wide availability and advanced state of AI and machine learning tools being leveraged for nefarious purposes is expected to increase the number of disinformation incidents targeting enterprises,” Gartner claimed. “If this is left unchecked, disinformation can cause significant and lasting damage to any organisation.” Another aspect of security expected to be embraced by the tech industry is postquantum cryptography, which offers data protection that is resistant to the risks of quantum computing decryption. “As quantum computing developments have progressed over the last several years, it is expected there will be an end to several types of conventional cryptography that is widely used,” Gartner said. “It is not easy to switch cryptography methods so organisations must have a longer lead time to ready themselves for robust protection of anything sensitive or confidential.” By 2029, Gartner predicts that quantum computing advances will make most conventional asymmetric cryptography “unsafe to use”.  Computing Outside of AI and security, another major trend is that the manner in how individuals use computers will change, with the uptake of spatial computing in organisations expected to rise in the next five to seven years. Using various technologies like augmented and virtual reality, Gartner claimed that “this is the next level of interaction between physical and virtual experiences”. The special computer space is expected to pick up steam in the next nine years, growing from $110 billion in 2023 to $1.7 trillion by 2033. Additionally, hybrid computing is also predicted to crop up from next year onwards, which combine various compute, storage and network elements to solve computational problems. “This form of computing helps organisations explore and solve problems which helps technologies, such as AI, perform beyond current technological limits,” Gartner said. “Hybrid computing will be used to create highly efficient transformative innovation environments that perform more effectively than conventional environments.” Sustainability is still sticking around as a major trend, having previously showed up in Gartner’s top 10 tech trends list for 2024. This time however the focus is on energy-efficient computing, especially in the face of compute-intensive applications like AI training, as well as simulation, optimisation and media rendering. As a result, the research firm claimed that from the late 2020s, new compute technologies like optical, neuromorphic and novel accelerators will become prevalent for special purpose tasks, like AI and optimisation, in using “significantly” less energy. Lastly, robots are expected to rise up in popularity – specifically polyfunctional robots, or those that have the ability to do more than one task, which are already replacing robots that have been designed to perform only one task. Additionally, polyfunctional robots is expected to improve efficiency and provide a faster return on investment.  “Polyfunctional robots are designed to operate in a world with humans which will make for fast deployment and easy scalability,” the research firm claimed. “Gartner predicts that by 2030, 80 per cent of humans will engage with smart robots on a daily basis, up from less than 10 per cent today.”