The tech scene is expanding rapidly across the world. In fact, in the last year alone, within the UK, a new tech unicorn was created every eleven days - more than doubling the number of UK unicorns from 2017. From AI and automation, to DevOps and data engineering, innovations are continuing to reshape and improve our everyday and working lives, critical at this time of socio economic instability. Here are thoughts from tech leaders, globally, exploring what 2023 has in store.

Hadi Moussa, EMEA Managing Director, Coursera

“Looking ahead, the UK waits to see which of Rishi Sunak’s pledges becomes a reality, with a key commitment to make the UK a ‘science and technology superpower’.

In many ways, the UK is primed for this challenge. Its tech ecosystem is rapidly expanding; in 2021, a new tech unicorn was created every 11 days. Yet, with over 80% of all jobs requiring digital skills and the UK lagging behind Europe when it comes to tech skills, the talent shortage is the biggest growth barrier. With skills as the new currency, a new approach to preparing the UK for the digital economy is required. Coursera encourages a role-based approach — stimulating an ethos of continuous learning, where learners can proactively upskill and reskill for in-demand digital roles. As the world of work evolves, so do they.

Critically, employers and educators can leverage online learning to equip their learners with crucial skills — security engineering, software engineering, data analytics and computer programming — at unprecedented speed and scale. In the face of change, we’re confident the UK’s resilience and adaptability will ensure we meet tomorrow’s challenges.”

Nick Reid, SVP and Managing Director EMEA, DoubleVerify

“As economic uncertainty looms, we’ll see brands increasingly favour technologies which offer a stronger ROI. But, it’s not just macroeconomic circumstances causing this shift; with more and more advertising platforms opening up, advertisers not only need to fuel ROI, but will need to measure performance more accurately than ever before. As a result, attention metrics, from audibility to screen touches, will become a dominant advertising currency in 2023—driving positive media and business outcomes. With this powerful dataset, brands will be able to use attention metrics to predict the outcome of their ads, whether they’re looking to drive awareness or conversion. What’s more, they can use such data to optimise their campaigns. This is vital as our recent ‘Four Fundamental Shifts in Advertising and Media’ Report found that the timing of an ad is essential, with almost two thirds (65%) of consumers in the UK stating they are more likely to pay attention if an ad captures their interest in the first five seconds.”

Paul Williamson, SVP & GM, IoT Line of Business, Arm

“From intelligent, AI-capable endpoint devices to autonomous systems, IoT developers are building a diverse ecosystem of products and services, only set to grow. In 2023, the number of IoT connected devices worldwide is projected to reach over 15 billion. However, despite widespread growth and innovation, fragmentation remains a challenge, with a huge variety of IoT devices across a range of markets. IoT device makers and developers need to port their software for every new product and every new market. This is limiting their ability to invest in differentiation, meaning a limited return on investment because companies are simply unable to scale.

The good news is that industry players large and small are working together to create a consistent set of standards to address this fragmentation. This means 2023 will see the industry making major steps towards achieving the right balance of standardization and differentiation, allowing IoT developers to leverage existing software without worrying about compatibility issues, instead spending time and resources innovating their products and applications.”

Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO, Neeva

“2023 is likely to be a pivotal year for the evolution of how we search online. Everything we’ve known about search stands to be disrupted through the power of AI, a demand for real results from real people and calls for more regulation to protect our data and privacy, as well as that of our future generations.

The impact of AI and machine learning on search has the potential to be ground-breaking. In 2023, it will help us move ever closer to an online search experience where our queries are met with fluent responses, rather than 10 blue links. Because of the digital everything world, real people and real data will also continue to rocket in value. Firms that prosper from consumer data like Reddit, TikTok, and Twitter will do very well if they avoid data misuse and privacy challenges.

Challenges to the broader economic environment may slow down this innovation, but consumer control and defiance against big tech monopoly isn’t going away in 2023 and change is on the horizon.”

Timoni West, Vice President of Emerging Tools, Unity

“As many luxury brands are already dabbling in virtual collectables, fashion and worlds, we anticipate 2023 will be the year of development and maturity for metaverse technologies, as we will establish the next wave of blended physical and virtual world experiences that bring tangible usage benefits to both businesses and consumers.

One of the biggest misconceptions about metaverse technology is that it is a marketing gimmick, has no real-life use benefits, and will only be available to those wearing an XR headset. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We are fast moving towards many real-time 3D technology experiences being readily accessible on smartphones, TVs, game consoles and tablets, and we expect this development to accelerate over the next twelve months. It will help us be more productive, work smarter, and benefit our everyday lives.

Greater investments in technology, particularly for industries like automotive, AEC and prototyping, coupled with further advancements in the democratisation of content tools for more and more creators, means we’ll be closer to establishing the metaverse as the next internet in 2023. Just like the earlier stages of text and video, we believe real-time 3D content is the next step in the evolution of our online world and will shape the metaverse everyone is already starting to experience.”