2023 unfolded like a tech thriller, with generative AI captivating everyone from corporations to our next-door neighbours. In an annual tradition, Analytics India Magazine (AIM) laid down the markers for the tech trajectory in India and across the globe. 

The Top Data Science & AI Trends for 2023 report is a detailed guide for industry insiders and newbies to understand the markets and how to move forward. Here are eight on-point predictions made by the team in 2022, which came true in 2023: 

Recession significantly impacted the hiring of data professionals

As per AIM Research’s job tracker, which aggregates information about data science and analytics job listings from various online platforms, India witnessed a decrease in the overall number of data science and analytics job opportunities in the past year. 

While roles in the energy and utilities sector decreased compared to 2022, those in retail & consumer packaged goods (CPG) and pharma & healthcare saw an increase.

Legality of data privacy gained prominence

Safety and the risk issue around AI became a significant part of the public agenda in 2023 all around the world. In India, new data privacy and storage laws were enacted to safeguard users. 

Tech giant Google stepped up its efforts to address this issue with valuable security with the Dark Web Report, which will allow Indians to closely monitor their personal information on the dark web, a hub for illicit activities such as the trading of sensitive personal data. 

Big IT started automating internal processes with Gen AI

IT leaders across the globe have long known that AI-powered automation is essential for survival in a digitally driven economy; the initial steps were visible in 2023. While some companies have hesitated to adopt the new human-mimicking technology, most have tried to embrace it as a workflow tool. 

One well-known example is of Salesforce deploying Einstein Copilot to auto-generate email replies and account updates based on a customer’s specific context. 

CDOs became more critical for collaboration

According to the Deloitte Chief Data Officer survey of 2023, the role of Chief Data Officers (CDOs) became increasingly important in most organisations, with 61% of CDOs stating that creating, updating, or implementing their data strategy became their top priorities.  

As per the latest report, generative AI has created a halo effect for CDOs, opening up their peers and boards to talk about topics they might have previously shied away from. 

Most CDOs recognise that foundational data quality and good use cases are fundamental challenges that must be overcome to take advantage of the technology. Moving ahead, 93% of CDOs believe a practical data strategy is needed if organisations are to succeed with generative AI. 

Cloud computing and multi-cloud became a big part of the IT strategy

The cloud revolution gained more momentum in 2023. It emerged as an equaliser for all sizes of businesses, from global enterprises to startups, offering a field to innovate and optimise workloads. Large enterprises harnessed the cloud to streamline operations, enhance scalability, and reduce costs while using generative AI. The year also saw a rise in businesses born out of the cloud. China’s Alibaba Cloud rolled out Tongyi Qianwen in April to run applications across its ecosystem on the large language model. 

Data scientists’ started focusing on software

There was an unspoken war waging amongst the tech companies regarding data collection and wrangling. Naturally, the ability to process data in huge chunks became critical for data scientists. The volume of data grew at an exponential rate, and being able to handle and analyse it became necessary. A study demonstrated that data scientists were in most demand in IT and tech, accounting for 49% of the job postings on LinkedIn.

Citizen data scientists to grow due to no-code, low-code platforms

Programming became a cakewalk with AI-powered coding assistants and also with low-code/no-code, allowing citizens to build applications for business usage. The global low-code and no-code market was valued at nearly $15 billion according to the ISG Information Services Group. 

Gartner predicts that 70% of new applications will be developed using no-code or low-code frameworks by 2025. These platforms help reduce app development time by 90% and empower non-developers to delve into app development regardless of their technical background. 

Generative AI will become more powerful and accessible

AI officially became the year’s word, thanks to Generative AI. The popularity and mainstream usage of generative AI services have expanded exponentially in 2023, as we saw every second company in tech and across all industries rushing to embrace the tech. Apart from internally implementing the tech, the companies put efforts into making the tech available to the general public through waitlists, APIs and open-source projects. 

McKinsey reported that while reported, overall AI adoption remains steady at around 55%, more than two-thirds of respondents say their companies plan on using generative AI. Furthermore, four in five online teenagers aged 13-17 now use generative AI tools and services.

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