The business landscape has experienced massive changes in 2024. More so, business operations and client engagement have seen the most disruption as owners look to tech-led innovations to improve efficiency. As the year 2024 ends, we look back at the tech trends that have put businesses ahead of the game in this fast-paced, innovative decade.
AI shift from theory to practice
2024 has seen massive real-world implementation of AI activities that were once just creative ideas. Almost all industries have benefited from applying AI to improve their operations. In business management, AI has been leveraged to improve production processes, automate task-intensive processes, analyze data, and optimize search engine optimization. Some of the most popular adaptations of AI across industries in 2024 include:
● Use of AI in customer service through AI chatbots to address message queries.
● Application of AI tools in communication for optimized emails as well as personalized response
● Leveraging AI in content generation, especially for written content such as website copy, as well as idea generation for social media
● Use of AI-powered management systems for business operations such as accounting, supply chain operations, recruitment, and talent sourcing
The most popular AI innovation in 2024 remains ChatGPT, which officially had 200 million weekly active users in August 2024 since its launch in 2022.
Focus on guardrails to mitigate AI risks
While the popularity and use of AI is on the rise, so is the risk of unethical, unsafe, and untrustworthy AI use. This is where guardrails come in place to shape the development and deployment of AI systems. Guardrails refer to sets of filters, rules, best practices and tools that are in between the generative AI inputs, the machine learning model, and AI outputs. The goal of guardrails is to effectively lower the possibility of erroneous outputs while guaranteeing AI conforms to the user’s expectations of values and correctness. They ensure the AI design and creation process remains in line with final expectations.
The past year has also seen businesses focus on enforcing guardrails to ensure that the utilization of AI tools remains in line with the organization’s policies, values, and standards. Furthermore, there has been a great push for strong tools, processes, and governance policies to be implemented in the testing, validation, and monitoring of AI-generated content.
The rise of social engineering
Technological advancements are a double-edged sword. While these innovations propel us to better business effectiveness and improved efficiency, cyber-attack exposure also rises. Safety on the internet has become a gamble thanks to AI tools and systems creating new possibilities for cyber-attacks, especially through social engineering. Social engineering is the psychological manipulation of human behavior on the internet that results in someone compromising their digital security. This compromise can occur by sharing credentials, disclosing sensitive data, or granting access to personal devices.
Social engineering tactics such as phishing have become more challenging to detect as using AI tools like ChatGPT can ensure the communication is sophisticated enough to appear real and believable from the sender. AI can also be used to create deepfake videos and virtual images imitating someone real to lure unsuspecting victims.
Today, whether you are visiting a website with top online casinos or logging into your social media account, cyberattacks are a massive threat on the internet. Last year, MGM was hit by a string of high-profile security breaches that experts believed to be enabled by social engineering techniques.
Focus on zero-trust models
The Covid-19 pandemic paved the way for businesses to embrace either purely online or hybrid-working environments. This change from traditional office spaces has led to reliance on cloud systems to ensure the interconnectivity of all persons, data, and information necessary to facilitate work getting done. Today, a majority of the workforce uses services, devices, and apps that are not within the jurisdiction of corporate IT to get their job done. Therefore, to mitigate potential security breaches and threats associated with cloud systems, businesses have prioritized adding extra security layers and adopting zero-trust security models.
Zero trust security models operate from the basis that no device or user has implicit trust to gain access to resources on private networks and thus must prove their identity first to be granted permission. These models assume every request originating from inside or outside the network can be a breach and, therefore, must be verified first. Businesses employ zero-trust security models to exact security policies on every individual connection between users, devices, applications, and data for maximum protection.
AI is being implemented to strengthen the data security of zero-trust models by developing intelligent systems that can employ machine learning to learn routine vs abnormal behavior and easily flag security breaches.
It is expected that the pace of technological advancements will continue to accelerate in 2025. Businesses that want to stay ahead of the game will have to not only employ new technologies but also ensure that these technologies align with ethical standards.
Disclaimer:
CBD:
Qrius does not provide medical advice.
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) outlaws the recreational use of cannabis products in India. CBD oil, manufactured under a license issued by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, can be legally used in India for medicinal purposes only with a prescription, subject to specific conditions. Kindly refer to the legalities here.
The information on this website is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
Gambling:
As per the Public Gambling Act of 1867, all Indian states, except Goa, Daman, and Sikkim, prohibit gambling. Land-based casinos are legalized in Goa and Daman under the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976. In Sikkim, land-based casinos, online gambling, and e-gaming (games of chance) are legalized under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules 2009. Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries, subject to state laws. Refer to the legalities here. Horse racing and betting on horse racing, including online betting, is permitted only in licensed premises in select states. Refer to the 1996 Supreme Court judgment for more information.
This article does not endorse or express the views of Qrius and/or its staff.
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