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Forrester: Top 10 Emerging Technologies for 2024

GenAI, TuringBots, And IoT Security Poised To Deliver Fastest ROI

According to Forrester's The Top 10 Emerging Technologies In 2024 report, generative AI (genAI) for visual content, genAI for language, TuringBots, and IoT security are the top emerging technologies that will deliver the most immediate ROI for businesses in 2024 and beyond.

With new technologies emerging seemingly every day, business and technology leaders need to time those investments based on value, risk, and potential payout timelines. Forrester organizes its top emerging technologies by benefit horizon to help with these decisions.

Emerging technologies that will offer significant benefits within the next two years

GenAI for visual content: Advanced machine learning models that generate images or video from text, audio, or video prompts, this technology will help firms generate visual content for marketing, experiences, and products.

GenAI for language: GenAI for language is already delivering value in customer support and content creation but continues to advance at a blinding pace. It is accelerating many other technologies as it goes.

TuringBots: Accelerated by advancements in genAI for language, these AI-powered software robots help developers build applications that deliver more than just code generation.

IoT security: The proliferation of devices has led to an exponential explosion in security attacks, raising the importance of security for IoT devices. Vendors are competing and colliding in a rush to offer capabilities.

Midterm emerging technologies that will deliver benefits in the next two to five years

AI agents: The role of autonomous workplace assistants or AI agents has expanded beyond the back office and employee assistance to customer-facing automation. These AI agents will grow increasingly sophisticated to better understand and respond to nuance and context.

Autonomous mobility: This technology will accelerate commercial and urban transportation ecosystem collaborations to orchestrate personalized mobility experiences for both customers and businesses.

Edge intelligence: Advanced edge intelligence capabilities such as edge machine learning are still not yet common, even though many foundational elements like Apple foundation models are becoming available.

Quantum security: This technology will overhaul security systems for on-premises and cloud compute, storage and network infrastructure, commercial off-the-shelf software, commercial software-as-a-service offerings, and in-house built software.

Emerging technologies that will take at least five more years to deliver tangible value for most firms and use cases

Extended reality (XR): Only 8% of US online adults own a virtual-reality headset, and just 16% have used an augmented-reality device or app. While XR is advancing in training and onboarding, companies are resisting investing in tools like these until they see broad adoption.

Zero Trust edge (ZTE): ZTE technology has the potential to protect remote workers, retail outlets, and branch offices with embedded local security, but only a handful of true ZTE solutions exist today, and legacy devices add additional management complexity.

"Tech leaders must be able to identify the right use cases and quantify potential benefits, costs, and risks across multiple horizons," says Brian Hopkins, Forrester VP, Eerging Tech Portfolio. "They need to spread investments out, with shorter-term technologies delivering quick returns and longer-term bets requiring more effort, more foundational investment, and the capacity to manage more risk."

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Forrester: Top 10 Emerging Technologies for 2024

GenAI, TuringBots, And IoT Security Poised To Deliver Fastest ROI

According to Forrester's The Top 10 Emerging Technologies In 2024 report, generative AI (genAI) for visual content, genAI for language, TuringBots, and IoT security are the top emerging technologies that will deliver the most immediate ROI for businesses in 2024 and beyond.

With new technologies emerging seemingly every day, business and technology leaders need to time those investments based on value, risk, and potential payout timelines. Forrester organizes its top emerging technologies by benefit horizon to help with these decisions.

Emerging technologies that will offer significant benefits within the next two years

GenAI for visual content: Advanced machine learning models that generate images or video from text, audio, or video prompts, this technology will help firms generate visual content for marketing, experiences, and products.

GenAI for language: GenAI for language is already delivering value in customer support and content creation but continues to advance at a blinding pace. It is accelerating many other technologies as it goes.

TuringBots: Accelerated by advancements in genAI for language, these AI-powered software robots help developers build applications that deliver more than just code generation.

IoT security: The proliferation of devices has led to an exponential explosion in security attacks, raising the importance of security for IoT devices. Vendors are competing and colliding in a rush to offer capabilities.

Midterm emerging technologies that will deliver benefits in the next two to five years

AI agents: The role of autonomous workplace assistants or AI agents has expanded beyond the back office and employee assistance to customer-facing automation. These AI agents will grow increasingly sophisticated to better understand and respond to nuance and context.

Autonomous mobility: This technology will accelerate commercial and urban transportation ecosystem collaborations to orchestrate personalized mobility experiences for both customers and businesses.

Edge intelligence: Advanced edge intelligence capabilities such as edge machine learning are still not yet common, even though many foundational elements like Apple foundation models are becoming available.

Quantum security: This technology will overhaul security systems for on-premises and cloud compute, storage and network infrastructure, commercial off-the-shelf software, commercial software-as-a-service offerings, and in-house built software.

Emerging technologies that will take at least five more years to deliver tangible value for most firms and use cases

Extended reality (XR): Only 8% of US online adults own a virtual-reality headset, and just 16% have used an augmented-reality device or app. While XR is advancing in training and onboarding, companies are resisting investing in tools like these until they see broad adoption.

Zero Trust edge (ZTE): ZTE technology has the potential to protect remote workers, retail outlets, and branch offices with embedded local security, but only a handful of true ZTE solutions exist today, and legacy devices add additional management complexity.

"Tech leaders must be able to identify the right use cases and quantify potential benefits, costs, and risks across multiple horizons," says Brian Hopkins, Forrester VP, Eerging Tech Portfolio. "They need to spread investments out, with shorter-term technologies delivering quick returns and longer-term bets requiring more effort, more foundational investment, and the capacity to manage more risk."

Hot Topics

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

Image
Broadcom

From growing reliance on FinOps teams to the increasing attention on artificial intelligence (AI), and software licensing, the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report digs into how organizations are improving cloud spend efficiency, while tackling the complexities of emerging technologies ...