Gartner highlighted more than two dozen emerging technologies, including metaverse and Web3, that are driving advancements in immersive experiences, accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) automation, and “optimized technologist delivery.”

The analyst firm's latest Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies report plotted out the trajectory for 25 specific technologies feeding these advances. They ranged from decentralized identity, NFT, and cloud data ecosystems as about to pass into the "trough of disillusionment," all the way back to cybersecurity/mesh architecture, autonomic systems, and generative design AI in the earliest stages of "innovation trigger."

Gary Olliffe, a VP analyst at Gartner, stated that “all technologies on this Hype Cycle are at an early stage, but some are nascent, and great uncertainty exists about how they will evolve,” and that they "present greater risks for deployment, but potentially greater benefits for early adopters who can assess and exploit them in line with their organization’s ability to handle unproven technologies.”

Gartner broke down the 25 technologies within the big three key topics – and which technologies play pivotal roles within them.

In the evolution of immersive experience – metaverse, super applications, and Web3 are driving the movement “through dynamic virtual representations, environments and ecosystems of customers and people, as well as new modes of user engagement,” Gartner stated.

Gartner added that NFTs, decentralized identity, digital humans, customer digital twins, and internal talent marketplaces will further push this evolution.

“With these technologies, individuals can control their own identities and data and experience virtual ecosystems that can be integrated with digital currencies,” Gartner stated.

AI model acceleration – guided by causal AI and autonomic systems – marked a second takeaway from the report, asserting that automation refocuses human roles in AI development, “resulting in more accurate predictions and decisions and faster time to expected benefits.”

Several critical technologies – chiefly cloud sustainability and data observability – are helping technologists meet high emerging business demands. “Successful digital businesses are built, not bought,” Gartner stated. “These technologies provide feedback and insight that optimize and accelerate product, service, and solution delivery and increase sustainability of business operations."

Gartner's Melissa Davis noted that despite the value of emerging technologies, “CIOs and technology innovation leaders are challenged to scale digital capabilities while improving sustainability in the face of expanding resource constraints.” She added “it is essential that organizations cut through the noise surrounding emerging technologies to accelerate change by leveraging innovations that drive competitive differentiation and efficiency."