Intelligence is leaving the cloud and moving to the device itself. Robots are on the floor, not just the roadmap. Work is being redivided between people and agents.

What does that mean for your 2027 plan? In this complimentary excerpt, Alan Webber, Program Vice President at IDC, rates eight of the 20 critical external drivers for volatility, maps each to 2031, and shows what to monitor and manage.

What you'll find inside…

  • AI competitive divergence: how differences in data governance, change management, and talent are turning into lasting performance gaps
  • The autonomous economy: what's accelerating and constraining AI agents that transact on their own
  • Physical–digital convergence: where physical AI and robotics are headed as they move into the standard IT budget
  • Regulatory shifts: how to operate when AI rules are strict, fragmented, and fast-moving
  • The human-AI labor market: how AI is reshaping jobs, skills, and the split of work between people and agents
  • Nonhuman identity and agent governance: why the access controls built for people can't govern agents at scale
  • Semiconductor and critical minerals supply: why hardware availability is now a strategic risk, not a procurement detail
  • The decision complexity burden: what happens when data outpaces the people who have to act on it

Get your complimentary excerpt now!

Available in PDF format

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