ORLANDO, Florida – Flying cars, digital humans, and the metaverse are among technologies Gartner analyst Daryl Plummer likened to unexpected cold weather at this week’s Gartner IT Symposium 2022 in Orlando, where he addressed “disruptions” CIOs might not see coming in the next five years.

According to Plummer, notable digital disruptions often follow a trajectory, from enhancing to extending, transforming, reinventing, and revolutionizing the market. Each of the disruptive technologies he discussed at the event sit on the lower end of that curve, but Plummer said CIOs should try to get ahead while they still can.

“We have to ask ourselves what if it gets colder between now and tomorrow? The ‘what if’ question is one of the biggest questions of our time, because the idea of possibilities is where opportunity lies and risk rises,” he said.

Many of these futuristic products and services will rely heavily on IT investments in multicloud, 5G standalone (SA) cores, data center, compute, and network security.

Gartner this week released projections for IT spending into 2025, reflecting that the industry is already headed in this direction. The firm projects spending to grow 5% next year to $4.6 trillion.

Plummer said that a long-standing vision of flying cars in the 21st century might soon come to life, adding they’re now “closer than you might imagine.”

He noted that we are not far from a reality where flying taxis and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts are readily available to the public, with United Airlines already investing $10 million for multiple-engine aircrafts to be available by 2024.

We are on the brink of a “massive transportation shift,” Plummer explained, where he expects the emergence of advertising “airspace,” new air traffic control infrastructure, and the reshaping and “pedestrianizing” of cities. In the face of this shift, he said CIOs should assess what transportation problems these vehicles might solve.

Digital humans like artificial intelligence (AI) bots and avatars – also once a futuristic dream – are already among us, and there are more to come, Plummer said. Digital humans present the possibilities of idea mining, multipresence, machine companionship, and potential challenges with IP rights management.

Gartner’s Maverick Research predicts that by 2035, the digital human economy (DHE) will become a $125 billion market and continue to grow. That said, Plummer suggests CIOs start to embrace digital twin technology, examine guidelines for personal assistant use, and encourage the use of digital avatars in the workplace.

“We have to get used to it,” he added, because we’re looking toward a future where “digital human persona scenarios are endless.”

Plummer said the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way "we're willing to accept certain things,” with more people inclined to try virtual reality experiences.

He noted that by 2027, fully virtual workspaces will account for 30% of the investment growth in metaverse technologies, and that will fundamentally reimagine the office experience. By then, he said there will be new “virtual-world winners” that control data centers, work and play software platforms, devices, virtual currencies, and housing, all centered around metaverse technology.

To prepare for the metaverse disruption, he suggests CIOs reimagine work experiences around the possibilities metaverse presents to avoid “leaving the house without a jacket on a cold day.”

“Remember, it would have been better if you planned ahead,” he said.