Highlights of the ‘2019 CIO Virtual Event: Technology Trends of the Future’

Signing up for a virtual event can feel more aspirational than realistic—do you really have time to learn about (insert latest tech trend that promises to change your business) when there are dozens of emails and more than a few deadlines looming?

That said, I’d heartily recommend making the time for the “2019 CIO Virtual Event: Technology Trends of the Future,”an extremely information-rich 85 minutes. And while IT leaders from Workday and other companies participated, thanks to host Argyle’s strict content-neutrality policy, this virtual event is closer to an MBA master class than a pitch for a particular product or company.

In the first half hour, Mike Brinker, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, gives a good overview of the “Tech Trends 2019: Beyond the Digital Frontier” report, including the three major technology changes on the near horizon: digital reality, cognitive technology, and blockchain. This is the tenth year of the report, and these three trends fit into the “mega trends” of the last decade: cloud, analytics, and experience (social media, mobility, etc.). In fact, these newer trends extend on the power of the three mega trends and connect these transformative forces in new ways (per the Deloitte illustration below).

The last 45 minutes of the virtual event are dedicated to the perspectives of four technology leaders: Colin Forth, vice president of IT, Workday; Jerry Hope, vice president of IT, Legrand; Alex Ilg, global head of research and product strategy, business information services, Morgan Stanley; and Archana Jain, vice president, global technology solutions, Verizon Consumer Group.  

These IT leaders shared thoughts on the technologies they’re most excited about, anecdotes about some of the difficulties their companies face, and answered audience questions.

My biggest takeaway, as an avid consumer of technology and professional business writer: 5G, which I’d always assumed was a fancy way of saying “better 4G,” promises to be a much bigger deal than I had assumed. In fact, according to some of the panelists, 5G will be an order of magnitude more impactful than most of the other technologies discussed at the event.

On top of that, hearing about the technologies companies are already taking advantage of (Forth gave a great overview of Workday’s machine learning initiatives) were well worth the time.

You can watch a replay of the “2019 CIO Virtual Event: Technology Trends of the Future” here, or, register for the webinar series that we’re hosting with Forrester Research to help technology leaders (including CIOs, CTOs, and enterprise architects) better understand the trends that are shaping their roles.