In the age of disruption, businesses and their leaders will rise or fall based on their ability to spot and creatively respond to rapid technological change. Some companies notice an emerging technology and take a “wait and see” attitude. Others see a new technology and take action. They begin experimenting, making small bets, and learning. Alan Oviatt is a business Leader including versatile skill-set, a lot of integrity and many more. No matter the business discipline or the size of the arena, he always aspired himself to do the best.

1. Eight Technology Trends Ready For
Exploitation In 2018

2. In the age of disruption, businesses and their leaders will rise or
fall based on their ability to spot and creatively respond to rapid
technological change. Some companies notice an emerging
technology and take a “wait and see” attitude. Others see a new
technology and take action. They begin experimenting, making
small bets, and learning.
Their attitude is that it’s never too early to start. It’s never too
early to begin looking at what others are already doing. It’s never
too early to engage the imagination to conceive of how the new
technology could be used to create competitive advantage.

3. These "fast movers" often jumpstart creative applications by
asking themselves leading questions such as
 Where is this technology likely to be in five years?
 When will it become mainstream?
 How might it help us differentiate, and to add value to customers?
To improve speed of satisfaction, manage choice and complexity,
and enhance customer experience?
 How will/could this new technology help us gain productivity and
become a better place to work?
With such questions in mind, what follows are eight technologies that
are ripe for exploitation by your company in 2018, and beyond:

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is about to go
mainstream.
Real Estate giant Coldwell Banker is experimenting with AI to target classes of likely buyers for a specific property, and
piloting new AI software that helps identify likely sellers. Leading law firms use AI to scan thousands of legal documents in
minutes, rather than weeks, to build stronger cases at a fraction of the cost.
While Netflix, Amazon, Google and Facebook pioneered artificial intelligence, AI is beginning to be deployed by increasing
numbers of mid-sized and even small businesses. Here, the applications are exploding. At Coldwell Banker, when their data
shows a confluence of events, the software alerts the company to a likely new prospect. For example, the homeowner’s
youngest kid just went off to college. The couple has been in their home beyond the average of 10 years. And it sees that
the couple has been online browsing for properties in North Carolina. AI brings these data-points together and concludes
that this household is likely to be selling soon. “If we can find those people before they even know they’re selling, we’re
that much ahead,” Coldwell Banker CEO Charles Young tells Chief Executive Magazine.

5. Apps are becoming essential tools for boosting customer convenience and
employee productivity. What are you app to do next?
Fort Worth, Texas-based startup Booster Fuels saves time-
strapped motorists a trip to the gas station. When you order fuel
on your Booster app, they bring the gasoline to you. Startup
businesses like Booster Fuels are taking advantage of the app
trend to address unmet customer needs. And established
companies like Safeco auto insurance are finding new ways to use
apps to add value to customers — and improve worker
productivity.
Safeco’s auto insurance customers can now report an auto
accident using the company’s app. Right from the accident scene,
customers can submit photos, report what happened, and arrange
for a tow — all by using Safeco’s innovative app. Fast movers will
increasingly use mobile apps for on-the spot-troubleshooting,
managing inventory, providing on-site estimates, generating
invoices, and gathering data that can be used to better understand
customer preferences.
Pest control operator Rentokil uses a proprietary app to give its
field technicians a productivity edge. When confused by a type of
bug or rodent, they simply snap a photo and run the app, which
sifts through a data-bank of pest images to quickly identify the
intruder. The app even suggests remediation solutions. Voila,
problem solved.

6. Wearable technology. Already enhancing guest
experience at Carnival Cruise Lines.
Modern cruise ships carry over 6000 passengers and offer everything from violin concerts to bungee jumping to
belly dancing classes. But there’s a problem. Carnival Cruise Lines’ research showed that so many choices were
overwhelming guests and creating an anxious-prone customer experience. So, Carnival created a wearable
technology to help customers avoid “over-choice.” Passengers are given the option to wear a wristband device
synced with a companion app on their smartphone to serve as a kind of constant guide while onboard. As you
partake of various onboard activities, the wearable tool responds by guiding you to activities that you’re bound
to like, providing a new level of customized service for passengers. Result: Carnival customer data shows that
guests come away happier, less stressed, and more apt to return to Carnival for their next cruise.

7. Big Data is empowering Starbucks’ location scouting. What’s your next
move?
Ever wondered how Starbucks can open multiple shops in the
same neighborhood without cannibalizing existing store traffic?
Answer: they use big data.
Until now, big data was available exclusively to big companies.
No longer. As more and more digital data gets collected (as
when you give your phone number to the clerk at the grocery
store), mid-sized and even small firms are now able to tap the
power of big data analytics to carve out new strategic
advantage: to lower the cost of customer acquisition, find new
ways to cut costs, increase sales, personalize product offerings,
and enter new markets.
Starbucks was a first mover in using big data to give their
location scouts a tool to reduce guesswork. Big data — the
technology that allows more people to analyze more
information from more sources in more ways than ever before
— helps Starbucks’ staffers crunch data on foot traffic patterns,
area demographic trends and customer behavior profiles,
greatly reducing the complexity of decision making.

8. Amazon’s Alexa is bringing the Internet of Things
(IoT) to consumers living rooms. Now may be your
time to jump aboard.
Modern cruise ships carry over 6000 passengers and offer everything from violin concerts to bungee
jumping to belly dancing classes. But there’s a problem. Carnival Cruise Lines’ research showed that so
many choices were overwhelming guests and creating an anxious-prone customer experience. So,
Carnival created a wearable technology to help customers avoid “over-choice.” Passengers are given
the option to wear a wristband device synced with a companion app on their smartphone to serve as a
kind of constant guide while onboard. As you partake of various onboard activities, the wearable tool
responds by guiding you to activities that you’re bound to like, providing a new level of customized
service for passengers. Result: Carnival customer data shows that guests come away happier, less
stressed, and more apt to return to Carnival for their next cruise.

9. Advanced robotics. Not just for factories now.
Hotel chain Aloft uses robotic bellhops to
supplement their bell staff — delivering extra
towels, keys and whatever else to guest rooms
without delay. Suddenly, agile, trainable,
lightweight robots aren’t just found on the
factory floor, they’re showing up everywhere.
And they won’t replace workers in most cases,
they will enable smarter labor deployment by
taking on repetitive, backbreaking and higher
risk tasks and introducing logistical efficiency. In
many a business, the question is not: will we or
won’t we? The question is: where will we and
when will we deploy robots, and in what kinds
of uses do they make the most sense?

10. Drones. Not just for the military anymore
While Amazon's drone delivery seems to be stalled by regulators and other hurdles, last year, a New Zealand
couple became the first persons to have a pizza delivered by drone. The successful delivery came just three
months after Domino's announced a partnership with a local drone delivery service. Suddenly drones — aircraft
without a human pilot aboard — are everywhere. The commercial drone industry already touches almost every
sector of the economy, 38 types of businesses have already been approved for drone operations, and the
industry is poised to be one of the fastest-growing sectors in the U.S. From inspecting infrastructure, to
providing farmers with aerial views of their crops, to enabling rescues of swimmers in heavy surf, to allowing law
enforcement agencies greater access to monitor criminal behavior, it’s no wonder businesses — small and large
are clamoring to use this technology.

11. Virtual Reality. The possibilities are virtually limitless.
Home improvement pioneer Lowe’s created Holoroom, where
customers plug in the dimensions of a room and can then see a
VR mockup of their renovation plans, transfer design to Google
Cardboard and take the VR mockup home. Cirque du Soleil’s
traveling Kurious exhibit puts VR users in the center of the
action via a 360-degree camera in the center of the
performance. North Face brings the Yosemite wilderness to
retail stores. Thomas Cook, Europe’s biggest tour operator, uses
VR headsets to show customers what certain vacations would
be like.
Virtual reality — computer technology that uses special
headsets or multi-projected environments, sometimes in
combination with physical environments or props, to generate
realistic images, sounds and other sensations — is poised to
take off, and not just in the consumer space. Increasingly, firms
are using VR to lower the cost of training.