Trends Identified
Trust declines, while peer influence rises
                        2017 was a tumultuous ride—we saw the explosion of fake news in public discourse, U.S. President Donald Trump’s unexpected triumph over traditional media, and an erosion of public trust in mainstream institutions. Politics aside, these cultural and technological shifts impacted both businesses and consumers. As Edelman found in their global study of consumer confidence, for the first time in history consumers trust peers just as much as technical experts and more than CEOs, governments, and academics. Marketing leaders are also more skeptical of inflated influencer metrics and wary of paying to reach social media bots instead of humans. We’re moving away from trusting institutions, vanity metrics, and mega-influencer celebrities—and moving towards smaller and actual spheres of influence where customers advocates, genuine customer communities, and engaged employees matter more than ever.
                        2018
                        Social media trends 2018
                        Hootsuit
                        
                    AI advances 
                        2017 was the year AI leapt to the forefront of CEO consciousness. 2018 may be the year that the hype starts to become reality. At CEO Daily, we believe the explosion of connected devices spewing out data that can be transformed into intelligence by ever smarter machine-learning algorithms eventually will spark a new industrial revolution.
                        2018
                        Five Big Business Trends to Watch in 2018
                        Fortune
                        
                    Do-it-yourself biohacking
                        2018 is just the beginning of a “trans-human” age where hacking biology and “extending” humans will increase in popularity and availability. This will range from simple diagnostics to neural implants and be subject to legal and societal questions about ethics and humanity. These biohacks will fall into four categories: technology augmentation, nutrigenomics, experimental biology and grinder biohacking. For example, biochips hold the possibility of detecting diseases from cancer to smallpox before the patient even develops symptoms. These chips are made from an array of molecular sensors on the chip surface that can analyze biological elements and chemicals. Also new to the Hype Cycle this year is biotech, artificially cultured and biologically inspired muscles. Though still in lab development, this technology could eventually allow skin and tissue to grow over a robot exterior, making it sensitive to pressure.
                        2018
                        5 Trends Emerge in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2018
                        Gartner
                        
                    The Trillion-Dollar Sprint
                        2018 is likely to be the year that a leading Fortune 500 company (think tech titans Apple, Google, Microsoft or Amazon, with petroleum giant Saudi Aramco crashing the tech party) surpasses the trillion dollar valuation mark. The trillion-dollar question is which corporate behemoth will be the first to claim this bragging right? Attainment of this benchmark will highlight a new level of corporate power and influence but will also result in closer monitoring by competitors, regulators and consumers. These companies might become trillion dollar babies but key for them will be earning and retaining public trust the world over.
                        2018
                        Top 10 Tech Trends For 2018
                        Forbes
                        
                    AI and Blockchain to Power Numerous Fintech & Insurance Solutions
                        2018 is the year the combination of blockchain and AI will impact upon areas outside of banking. Blockchain offers the possibility of carrying out transactions in transparent way, offering a simple platform for solutions outside of banking. These solutions will include: Money transfer and remittance. Insurance powered by smart contracts.
                        2018
                        Top Tech trends 2018
                        Juniper Research
                        
                    Rebuilding trust
                        2018 represented a crisis year for trust on social media. In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal1 and a Congressional hearing,2 Facebook faced unprecedented pressure from users and regulators to improve security, transparency, and accuracy. Twitter, meanwhile, wrestled with controversies over the unfettered proliferation of bots on its platform, purging millions of fake accounts.3
                        2019
                        Social media trends 2019
                        Hootsuit
                        
                    Contrabrands
                        2018 was a good year for the legal cannabis industry but marketers must work hard to shake off weed’s illicit associations.
                        2018
                        Most contagious report 2018
                        Contagious
                        
                    Quantum Computing AI Applications
                        2019 will be the year of quantum computing AI applications. Quantum technology recently became available for the public on the cloud and is now set to have a large transformative impact on many industries, providing solutions and answers to problems that supercomputers couldn’t solve before. Major applications are expected in health care (material science), trading and in cybersecurity.
                        2018
                        2019 Tech Forecast: 11 Experts Predict The Next Wave Of Breakout Technologies
                        Forbes
                        
                    Improved access to capital at competitive rates
                        21% of KPMG member firm advisors answered that this trend has a large positive impact for the user organizations.
                        2015
                        Top trends and predictions for 2015 and beyond
                        KPMG
                        
                    Emerging market and/or non-traditional competitors
                        21% of the respondents view this as a negative trend.
                        2019
                        4Q 2018 KPMG Global Insights Pulse Survey Report
                        KPMG