Technology grows more and more integral in the way humanity communicates, conducts business and simply lives everyday life.

 

Smart technology is found throughout the home and the office. From Alexa units to smartphones, everyone in Western society is becoming accustomed to the conveniences these devices have to offer.

 

Not only do these innovations manage to help us organize our schedules and daily tasks, but they also provide incredible opportunities to enhance our overall efficiency.

 

The use of smart technology in the business world has had a slow upstart. However, as smart technology has made its way into the hands of the common consumer, businesses have come to realize that these technologies need to find their way into their products.

 

Even more so, business owners have found that using these technologies in their day to day operations would make more sense than manual processes.

 

The following trends for the implementation of business technology are projected to grow and adapt as 2019 turns into the third decade of the 21st century.

 

1. AI

AI has a plethora of uses in small business and corporate setting alike.

 

While AI on smartphones is great for research usage, AI on a larger scale can not only optimize workflow across departments but it can run data analytics which will help leaders to make more informed decisions.

 

The use of AI in an industry standard can be found in many places. The most common use is to invest in AI systems which take monotonous tasks off the plate of paid employees.

 

By giving employees more time to work on more challenging tasks, businesses save time, energy and revenue through their newfound employee productivity.

 

An example of an AI tool in the business world is the chatbot. Chatbots are typically used as customer service aids. When a consumer first clicks on your website, they almost immediately have questions. The chatbot pops up as an opportunity for consumers to interact with your website more freely.

 

This way, they do not need to pick up a phone in order to get their questions answered. They can simply choose from a menu of options offered by the chatbot to learn more.

 

The chatbot can also answer frequently asked questions—which saves your customer service reps the trouble of answering the same questions again and again.

 

This time saving on both ends ultimately means more leads which are actually interested in the product. By the time you reach out to them or they call you, they already feel informed about their decision.

 

Your sales reps’ jobs at that point are to give more personalized answers to questions—to assure the consumer that they are making the right choice.

 

2. Big Data

Big data is meant to provide data analytics across all departments. This allows companies to fully optimize their system from employee projects all the way through to machine operations.

 

By analyzing employee productivity through daily trackers and behavioral analyses, big data is capable of giving leaders the tools to work with their employees on a personal basis.

 

This data will help employers understand where their employees are strongest and where leaders may need to implement more training or learn leadership skills. By learning where departments have slacked and where they are shining, leaders are enabled to course correct their business plan whenever it goes off kilter. The same concept is applicable to managing finances, scheduling, marketing, project management and every other aspect of the business.

 

3. Cloud Sharing

Cloud sharing is a big buzzword in the modern content creation world. In a market which demands more and more creative content generation, teams need to be on their A-game when it comes to communication and collaboration. Cloud sharing is an ideal way to do this.

 

Not only do clouds like OneDrive allow you to store your content outside of a hard drive—keeping is safe from system crashes—but you are also able to collaborate across departments.

 

This way, when Sylvia finishes the presentation form, Brendan can go in and add his infographics to the slideshow. Then when Margret pulls up the slideshow in the boardroom, she finds the entire project is completed while she was preparing her speech for the investors.

 

This kind of symbiotic partnership is made easy through cloud sharing. While teams still need to communicate in conventional manners and get their jobs done effectively, using cloud share technology is an easy way to monitor progress and keep each other informed of project updates.

 

Whether you’ve implemented a few of these technologies or you are a complete newbie, the reality is that businesses need more hours in the day than actually exist.

 

The use of smart tech—specifically AI—allows you to complete more tasks at a time than ever before. You are able to multitask without really multitasking at all.

 

It’s all about the method of delivery, and smart technology delivers content in timely, efficient manners. Obviously, smart technology will not create content for you, but it makes an excellent way to get that content out to the masses.

 

With a little research and diligence, you’ll be able to find a combination of smart technology that works for your brand.