Global tech report 2024

In the race to keep up with rapid tech innovation, there’s a need to carefully balance speed, security and value, to seize opportunities and drive sustainable value, while avoiding costly mistakes.

As tech innovation opens endless potential, tech leaders are afraid of falling behind. This can lead to the temptation to make hurried decisions, which may prove misguided, risky and expensive.

This year, the KPMG global tech report 2024 – Beyond the hype: balancing speed, security and value, researched how organisations are balancing their need to keep up with the pace of tech advancements with prioritising initiatives based on their business value. The report harnesses insights from 2,450 tech professionals from 26 countries and 9 industries, including 70 tech execs in multiple Irish organisations, from organisations valued at US $100 million and over.

The undeniable pace of tech change led to over two-thirds (70%) of Irish respondents sharing that they worry they struggle to keep up. Meanwhile, only 43 percent of respondents said they review and update value-tracking metrics to stay aligned with market changes.

Read the full report to find out what tech execs are thinking and planning.

KPMG global tech report 2024

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Key highlights

72 percent of respondents in Ireland report higher profits thanks to their tech investments, less than the global average of 87 percent.
Over four in five (84 percent) feel risk aversion makes senior leadership move more slowly than competitors in embracing new technology. (vs. 80 percent globally)
79 percent report centralised decision-making reduces the ability to quickly respond and embrace new technology. (vs. 59 percent globally)
The speed of technology advancements are front of mind with 74 percent worrying they are struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of change. (vs. 78 percent globally)
70 percent (versus 74 percent globally) of respondents say artificial intelligence (AI) is already increasing the productivity of their knowledge workers and, 70 percent worry that users find AI systems difficult to understand.

Organisations need a balanced approach to new tech, where businesses not only keep up with advancements but also focus on initiatives that bring real value.

Liam Cotter

Partner

KPMG in Ireland

Fear of failure

Risk aversion leading to delays

The report also shared insights into threats to digital transformation success: 84 percent of executives say that risk aversion results in senior leadership responding to market forces slower than their competitors.

Meanwhile compliance concerns; ineffective governance and coordination; and an inability to agree on priorities or get stakeholder buy-in were reported as the three factors most likely to slow down a digital transformation programme.

Data is clearly fundamental to the process of digital transformation and harnessing value out of tech investments with 66 percent of respondents citing data investments as embedded in their organisation.

The survey shows leaders view data accessibility and democratisation, 33 percent, data governance, 33 percent, and extracting meaningful insights 30 percent as immediate priorities.

AI unlocking value

AI has occupied the headlines in recent years, and the report shows that 70 percent of organisations are already achieving business value from their AI investments. While this is encouraging, with only 24 per cent of Irish based respondents saying they deploy AI at scale, there is significant room for growth.

To unlock sustainable value and achieve success that outlasts the hype, tech leaders should apply conventional rigor, build consensus, unlock AI capability, and drive trusted AI transformation across their organisations.

Although it is positive to see that 70 percent of respondents say AI is already increasing the productivity of their knowledge workers, the report discloses that AI is also fuelling anxiety in the workforce with 70 percent worrying that users see AI as difficult to understand. .

By creating a culture of openness and continuous learning, organisations can demystify AI and build trust among their employees.

Rory Timlin

Partner, Technology Consulting

KPMG in Ireland

Seven tips to help gain value from tech investment

Resist being hypnotised by FOMO

While a desire to progress and outpace your competition is healthy, do not let this boil over and distort your judgment. Rather than blindly following the herd, anchor decisions in your organisation’s strategic objectives and look for tangible primary evidence of the right path to take.
Be empirical about defining and delivering value

Align stakeholders around a clear definition of success that cascades into a set of tangible metrics. Adopt an “always-on” approach to performance management and continuously monitor and adjust metrics in accordance with internal and external changes. These steps can help the organisation to confidently make decisions and deliver the value promised.
Mitigate technical debt

Embrace structured technical debt management. Establish clear remediation plans and robust architecture principles to contain and rationalise the technology landscape.
Harness the power of partnership

Innovation is not restricted to new technology. Explore new ways to collaborate, co-invest and share risk with your chosen partners. Use their networks to gain access to the latest technology and inventive ideas from around the globe.
Prioritise trust and security

Strive to ensure solutions are secure by design and embed trust and security assurance from the outset. Design, build, deploy and use AI and emerging tech solutions in a responsible and ethical manner so your organisation can accelerate value with confidence.
Build a strong data backbone

Establish a robust data management framework that combines data, people, processes and policies to help ensure information is reliable, relevant and appropriately used. Drive a shared understanding across the organisation of how to harness data more effectively to support rapid and informed decision-making.
Accelerate AI proficiencies through knowledge sharing

Test your workforce competence and sentiment on AI, and use this to determine the best way to bridge knowledge gaps, facilitate continuous learning and encourage cross-functional collaboration.

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