What tech industry disruptors keep leaders up at night?

Cybersecurity, data, and industry regulation are likely to roil the technology industry in the next five years.

“A great deal of uncertainty exists around how technology industry regulation will play out, as do related concerns about different standards increasing complexity and reducing flexibility and innovation.”

In this age of discontinuity, the technology industry is being both propelled and buffeted by powerful winds of change. These include advances in science and technology – for example, AI, quantum computing, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and cyber and biological convergence. They also include new models such as Web3 and next-generation manufacturing, increasing industry regulation, and growing dangers related to data, privacy and surveillance, and cyberwarfare.

Technology industry leaders are closely monitoring these drivers of change to better understand how they might impact their industry and society. In a short survey of industry leaders, Deloitte asked about 11 emerging forces and found that cybersecurity and data-related issues are currently the most disruptive and are expected to remain so in the next three to five years – with industry regulation hot on their heels.

When it comes to cybersecurity – considered very disruptive today by 59% of respondents, with that figure rising to 64% in the next five years – many leaders are continually questioning their organisation’s security status amid the escalating cyber arms race driven by state and nonstate actors and cybercriminals. Hackers with nefarious intentions are becoming more sophisticated in their manner of disruption and finding increasingly severe ways to destabilise core business infrastructure. As more complex and powerful technical tools become available to these individuals and groups, the value of robust protection and security will only increase.

Fifty-five percent of respondents, meanwhile, deem issues related to data very disruptive, and 64% expect the same within five years. Companies today are collecting and protecting ever larger volumes of data and dealing with associated increases in cost and complexity. Data governance and privacy considerations are at the forefront of C-suite and board discussions, and data also powers AI and innovation efforts. Compromised company data can lead to a loss of trust, with impacts on every facet of the business. In short, data’s ubiquity and vitality create both new opportunities and vulnerabilities.

AI, privacy and surveillance, and regulation round out the top five cited issues. Notably, 41% of respondents say regulation is very disruptive today, and an additional 14% expect it to be over the next three to five years – the biggest jump of any of the surveyed issues. Regulatory and government action is afoot across a broad range of areas that could affect the technology industry, including data privacy, content moderation, antitrust, cybersecurity, AI, and cryptocurrency. A great deal of uncertainty exists around how technology industry regulation will play out, as do related concerns about different standards increasing complexity and reducing flexibility and innovation.

Some areas that respondents consider less disruptive today, such as Web3, quantum, and AR/VR, might be viewed as too impractical to achieve widespread disruption just yet. However, given the fast pace of technological change, attitudes and responses could quickly shift.

In this uncertain and evolving future landscape, how might technology companies best manage disruption and create new opportunities? Industry leaders can consider the following:

• Strive to create future-resistant data and cybersecurity strategies. Having structured, collaborative, and crossfunctional data and cybersecurity practices is important, especially to prepare for data-related regulations and global standards that may emerge. To help tackle complexity, leaders can explore adopting AI or machine learning tools to help automate data audit, security, and compliance and free up resources to focus on more strategic tasks.

• Develop a clear, long-term perspective. Leaders can engage in some selfexamination and ask where they realistically see their companies playing in the future marketplace. What changes do they think will most affect their business? How will they interact and evolve? Make sure to align shortand mid-term actions with this longerterm perspective.

• Don’t ignore what isn’t yet disruptive. For the issues that leaders don’t believe are ready to disrupt markets yet, companies can look to set up sensing mechanisms to monitor and evaluate current trends and be on the lookout for changes as they surface. Companies can also proactively engage and collaborate with the broader industry and governments to help prepare for these issues before they reach mainstream adoption.