Tech decision makers become early adopters. Here’s why.

By 2025, 10 disruptive technologies are expected to generate trillions of dollars of economic impact. As a leader in these technologies, Panasonic Corporation of North America decided to delve deeper into this massive economic opportunity, and how it’s impacting the way businesses think about technology adoption.

In this sixth article from the Moving Forward research series, we summarize some of the key findings from our surveys of 400 senior technology decision makers across 13 industries in North America. We take a closer look at their view of various disruptive technologies, as well as their current and future plans for adoption.

Our study reveals that adopting disruptive technology is now seen as a necessity, causing two of three businesses today to think and behave like “early adopters.”

The mainstreaming of the “early adopter” mindset

Technology is no longer just a useful tool to efficiently manage operations. It’s become fundamental to the way companies create value and is increasingly integrated into core offerings.

Our research identified a number of strategic challenges that arise from delaying investment in disruptive technologies. Nearly two in three businesses see a risk in competitors pulling ahead. And one in two believes they could be impacted by falling revenue, the failure of products and services, and loss of market relevance.

For all these reasons, nearly two in three have embraced a classic “early adopter” mindset. While they may have concerns about a weaker ROI from adopting too soon, they believe the bigger risk is adopting too late, leading to a weaker competitive position.

Cloud, mobility and IoT most critical

Enthusiasm for disruptive technologies has already translated into decisive action. On average, organizations have adopted four of 10 disruptive technologies, with nearly half adopting five or more, and one in five adopting seven or more.

When decision makers were asked to identify the disruptive technologies most critical to their companies’ future success, three stood out:

Cloud: 77% of businesses surveyed have already adopted it, and that number is expected to increase to 87% in the near future
Mobility: 75% have adopted mobile devices, apps and commerce, increasing to 88% in the near future
Internet of Things: 61% have adopted IoT, increasing to 79% in the near future

Artificial intelligence: the emerging “must-have” technology. Yet, only two in five companies have adopted AI. But the same number believe it will be one of the three most critical technologies for their business moving forward. And adoption is expected to grow by more than 50% in the near future. Industries where we expect to see significant growth in artificial intelligence include:

Industry	Adoption in near future
Retail	83%
Sports, Entertainment and Media	75%
Technology and Telecom	74%
Automotive	73%
Aviation	67%
Government and Public Safety	62%

As one retail executive stated, “It will be a huge game changer for whoever can use it most efficiently."

Robotics, energy storage and 3-D printing: demand accelerates

These three technologies stand poised for rapid growth, as evidenced by the gap between current and future adoption.

Driven by strong interest from manufacturing, automotive, education and retail, robotics adoption will grow +24 points overall to 61% adoption in the near future. 3-D printing adoption will also grow +24 points to 56% adoption, thanks to bullishness from education, aviation and manufacturing, plus sports, entertainment and media.

Following close behind is energy storage adoption. It’s projected to double in automotive, where it will play a central role in the shift to electric vehicles. (Panasonic is leading this transformation through strategic partnerships with Tesla and Toyota, among others.) Energy storage will also double in retail, government and public safety, building and construction, and logistics. In addition, almost two in three organizations believe battery storage of solar and wind energy will be mainstream within 10 years.

Renewable energy: three in five to adopt

At least half of the companies in 11 of 13 industries surveyed expect to adopt renewable energy. Overall, adoption will increase from 44% today to 60% in the near future.

One of the big drivers in the future could be net-zero energy building codes, which require residential and commercial buildings to produce their own electric energy. Seven in 10 organizations surveyed expressed interest in adopting technologies that create carbon-neutral or net-zero energy buildings.

Overcoming obstacles to change

Of course, progress doesn’t come without some setbacks along the way. A full 35% of organizations cited lack of expertise as a major challenge in effectively implementing disruptive technologies. And, in certain industries, more than a third of respondents lamented the lack of a partner with the necessary knowledge.

As a company with an innovation heritage and leadership in these technologies, Panasonic is uniquely positioned to help. Across key industries we are working with customers to help them embrace the changes that these technologies bring and enable them to evolve and enable their businesses. And we look forward to helping more customers create advantages for their businesses and customers in this digital future.

About the research

This researched was commissioned by Panasonic Corporation of North America and fielded in the U.S. and Canada. The survey included 400 CTOs and other senior technology decision makers in organizations with at least 200 employees.