10 Artificial Intelligence Predictions for 2024

Did anyone have a tech conversation this year that didn’t touch on artificial intelligence? The consideration or adoption of AI functionality has filtered into almost any tech solution or business process today. And if not, likely soon. As we start a new year, CompTIA asked leaders from its AI Industry Advisory Council, as well as other councils and CompTIA regional communities, for their predictions on what to expect for AI in 2024. Here’s what they had to say:

Generative AI Will Help Organizations Differentiate Themselves

“While AI and machine learning have been around for almost five decades, this past year was a breakthrough when ChatGPT and generative AI (GenAI) became more mainstream than ever before. From creating new content to writing software to building chatbots and creating images, GenAI has upended every organization’s traditional mindset of business workflows. 2024 will see a rapid adoption of private large language models (LLMs) being adopted by organizations to further differentiate themselves from their competition.” — Manoj Suvarna, managing director, AI ecosystems, Deloitte, & chair, CompTIA AI Industry Advisory Council

More Guardrails, Governance Will Help Fight Bias, Inequality in Algorithms

“With the recent U.S. White House Executive Order and emerging regulations in Europe and elsewhere in the world, it is becoming evident that governments and organizations are taking steps to mitigate the risk of bias, inequality and discrimination that could result from using AI algorithms. In 2024, we will see more guardrails and policies around governance in play around any AI-driven decisions impacting humans.” — Manoj Suvarna, managing director, AI ecosystems, Deloitte, & chair, CompTIA AI Industry Advisory Council

Expect MSP Discomfort as Business Models, Client Needs Change

“AI usage starts to gain significant traction as a productivity tool. This creates a significant and transformative opportunity for MSPs, but not without some discomfort. Traditional MSP models are based on recurring revenue, set-and-forget systems and protection for clients, selling services as a form of ‘insurance’ pain sale in a very commoditized market. This won’t cut it as we move through 2024 and beyond.” — Jamie Claret, head of automation, Amazing Support & member, CompTIA AI Industry Advisory Council

Clients Will Expect the Benefits of AI Functionality

“I can’t imagine a business that does not have AI in its strategy for 2024. Clients will be using AI in their daily lives and will expect their businesses to embrace and take advantage of it. They will expect their MSPs, as trusted advisors, to be proactively educating them and their staff, demonstrating the benefits and implementing projects. The sales process will be consultative and the services more project-based. MSP leaders need to be on their front foot, proactively and pre-emptively finding ways to help their clients with their transformation.” — Jamie Claret, head of automation, Amazing Support & member, CompTIA AI Industry Advisory Council

AI Will Enable More Powerful, Useful Cybersecurity Solutions

“AI poses a risk of increasingly sophisticated attacks, but also a chance for companies to advance their own technologies. All cybersecurity vendors will need to integrate AI into their solution by early 2024, or they will fall behind in market technology offerings. One solution has already added a suite of 14 AI capabilities, including a feature that provides suggestions to help analyze code. Using AI is revolutionizing the software development world, and it makes cybersecurity software, and others, way more powerful and useful.” — Dave Maik, channel director, DefensX & member, CompTIA SaaS Ecosystem Industry Advisory Council

Businesses of All Sizes Will Start to Monetize AI Features

“While the mega-cap companies raced to build and train AI models in 2023, the theme for 2024 will be how businesses across the spectrum are monetizing new AI features. Companies looking to have a growth explosion will be able to easily do this if they are able to incorporate AI technology to increase the protection level and intelligence of their product. The AI learning model will be able to react to market changes far faster than any human can. Another checkmark for the power of AI!” — Dave Maik, channel director, DefensX & member, CompTIA SaaS Ecosystem Industry Advisory Council

We’ll Move From AI Onlookers to Implementers

“2024 will be the year technology solutions providers pivot from curious onlookers to active implementers of AI. Most of the things we do for customers will be deeply integrated with AI, particularly in areas like predictive maintenance, automated IT support and advanced cybersecurity. The solutions for this aren’t around the corner; they exist today, and tech service providers find the ones that work best with their models. Customers will demand AI-infused offerings from their providers as they move through implementing AI across their own organizations.” — West McDonald, founder, GoWest.ai & member, CompTIA AI Industry Advisory Council

M&A Activity Will Accelerate as AI Adopters Gain Value

“The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) trend will continue for MSPs in 2024, and valuations will see positive increases and increased multipliers for those adopting AI solutions for their workflows and customer-facing offerings versus those who do not. AI will dramatically reduce the time and human expertise required for managing technology assets, help desks and even cybersecurity governance, and those doing the buying will be looking for it. Those looking to sell their business will capitalize on the benefits of AI in 2024 to gain as much value for their organizations as possible.” — West McDonald, founder, GoWest.ai & member, CompTIA AI Industry Advisory Council

Changes Will Open the Door for More Competition

“With the recent upheaval at OpenAI, there will be a war for the top between OpenAI, Anthropic and TII. The chaos at OpenAI will open the door to otherwise distant players. Also, the big players will have problems with data compliance regulations such as GDPR, CCPA and the EU AI Act.” — Seth Dobrin, founder and CEO, Qantm AI & member, CompTIA AI Industry Advisory Council

Next-Gen Generative AI Brings More Disruption

“The next generation of generative AI will begin to see the light of day. It will be similarly disruptive generative AI that more closely mimics the function of the human brain, using fewer resources—computer and data.” — Seth Dobrin, founder and CEO, Qantm AI & member, CompTIA AI Industry Advisory Council