Remember when the personal computer was the smartest device at home or work? Today, it’s hard to imagine any device that isn’t ‘smart’ these days. Smartphones, smart TVs, smart washing machines and dryers, smart entertainment systems, smart security systems – the list goes on. At the heart of each device is a chip or sensor of some sort, instructing the device on how to act or react. Our world is driven by technology more than ever before. The hardware is getting smaller, the software more intelligent, and the demand for more capabilities at a lower cost is louder.

The high tech industry has played – and continues to play – a vital role in shaping the modern world. Yet, the world itself has changed and changed again, impacted by economic recessions, a global pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and climate change, the effects of which have rippled across industries. The high tech industry, known for its innovations and adoption of emerging technologies, is struggling with these changes.

A challenging few years in a changing technology landscape

According to an article in Forbes magazine¹, demand for consumer electronic devices, which peaked during the pandemic, declined in 2023. At the same time, demand for products such as networking equipment and semiconductors has increased significantly as technology has evolved, requiring equipment upgrades. In this complex landscape, high-tech companies are stuck between adopting newer technologies and creating new business models to drive growth.

Besides these, high-tech companies have also had to grapple with challenges such as keeping costs low while meeting consumer needs. The products they build are at the heart of solutions across industries, from automotive and manufacturing to home automation, in the sensors and chips that play a vital role in daily life and are at the heart of systems that power technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things.

Ergo, the old ways are no longer serving the new world in which we live, and high-tech companies need to adopt new strategies in order to capitalize on the opportunities that abound in the market.

Which leads to the subject of AI, specifically generative AI

Generative AI or genAI has been possibly the buzziest of buzzwords in the last year. Every industry titan on the planet has talked about genAI and its implications ad nauseam for at least the last six months. This is not to say that artificial intelligence did not exist before this – it has. Yet the excitement at this new era of artificial intelligence has reached unprecedented levels in the last twelve or so months. While the most visible and accessible applications of generative AI have been seen in programs that are able to create images and art from words, write just about anything from a headline to a marketing pamphlet to an essay [no, this blog was not written by genAI, but maybe it should have been?], and automate repetitive tasks, its applications do not stop there. According to Gartner^®, “Generative AI will play a role in 70% of text- and data-heavy tasks by 2025, up from less than 10% in 2023”^2.. The same article also states, “By 2025, Gartner expects 95% of developers will regularly use generative AI to assist with code creation, up from 50% in 2023”² . In fact, a GitHub survey revealed that 92% of developers were already using generative AI for coding and reported as much as a 50% reduction in time to write code.

So what can it do for the high tech industry?

Generative AI offers an effective solution to some of the industry’s current woes by harnessing the power of machine learning, automating repetitive tasks, and unlocking hidden insights within data sets. If data drives the world that we live in today, then generative AI is, perhaps, one of the most powerful tools that these enterprises can have at their disposal. Imagine a world where high-tech companies can generate realistic simulations for product testing and development, design and optimize complex systems, leverage data more effectively to make data-driven decisions, and personalize products and experiences like never before. It’s not out of the realm of possibility. According to Gartner, “By 2025, Gartner expects 95% of developers will regularly use generative AI to assist with code creation, up from 50% in 2023”².

Here are three reasons why we think the high tech industry, whose products are at the heart of all technology advances and innovations, should adopt generative AI solutions.

1. Shrink innovation cycles and boost innovation – The time it takes to bring a product or service from concept to market is shrinking. Companies that want to stay competitive no longer have the luxury of extended design and development cycles: they need to be able to create and iterate quickly in order to remain competitive. Generative AI can generate new design concepts and codes, thereby speeding up the innovation process end to end.
   
   
2. Unlock data Insights from the data deluge – The amount of data that enterprises generate every day is staggering. Yet, most of them struggle to consolidate and extract meaningful insights from this seemingly bottomless pool of information. Enter generative AI with the ability to analyze vast data sets to identify patterns and trends that can inform product development, marketing strategies, and business decisions.
   
   
3. Boost productivity and enhance efficiency – Constantly coming up with new ideas isn’t easy. On the other hand, it can be a time and resource intensive task. Generative AI can automate repetitive tasks, freeing humans on the job to focus on strategic thinking and problem solving, which in turn leads to increased efficiency. Bonus: Operational costs are reduced as routine tasks are automated, human errors are minimized, and businesses are able to focus on their core competencies.

Bonus: Hyper personalization enables organizations to keep up with customer needs. Today’s customers are demanding a new level of personalization that the traditional way of doing things simply cannot deliver. Generative AI, however, can help to personalize content and experiences to an unprecedented degree, offering them the means to not only retain existing customers but also cater to new ones.

Exploring generative AI at Virtusa

As a technology company that believes in an Engineering First approach to finding solutions to both new and old problems, we wouldn’t be who we are if we didn’t take the time to investigate, recalibrate, and offer our clients bespoke generative AI strategies and solutions that set them up for success. To that end, we’ve spent the last year and change building our own generative AI center of excellence, responsible for staying on top of this rapidly evolving technology. From studying AI developments from CSPs such as AWS and Azure to delving into the world of open-source generative AI modules, we believe that it is important for us to experiment with solutions and models and create a powerhouse of solutions that will help our clients in the high tech industry, among others, make AI work for their specific needs. 

References:

¹     Alam, Syed. It’s Time To Reinvent The High-Tech Industry. November 29, 2023. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2023/11/29/its-time-to-reinvent-the-high-tech-industry/?sh=7b300b17e016.

² Gartner: Emerging Tech: Generative AI Adoption Trends and Future Opportunities, Danielle Casey, Bill Ray, Roberta Cozza et al., 1 September 2023.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.