Changing consumer trends driving innovation

UBS hosted the Global Technology Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, bringing together technology industry leaders and investors to discuss the factors shaping the future landscape. We spoke to several of the companies in attendance to discover how technology is disrupting their industries and providing new opportunities to evolve. From moving to a new house to buying a car, travelling for business or staying home to play the latest gaming release, new technologies such as AI, paired with shifting consumer trends towards digital transactions, have provided a hotbed for innovation and investors are watching closely. 

As US consumers have become accustomed to buying more products and services online, benefiting from greater choice and convenience factors, there are still a number of markets yet to transition to a fully digitial transaction.

One example is the consumer auto market, with around 80% of US car buyers preferring to go to dealers in person¹ to experience products, test drive and complete their transaction, will car dealerships ever move completely online?

Real estate is also predominately an in-person industry for US consumers. From home viewings to signing legal documents, many aspects of the home buying process are yet to migrate to a digital solution, providing opportunites for digital innovation. Tamir Poleg, Co-Founder and CEO at The Real Brokerage, believes “there is so much to be done using innovation” and that even in real estate, “technology can create great experiences,” when paired with human expertise from a real estate agent.

Poleg predicts that “the industry has come to a place where there is sufficient innovation to allow us to digitally stitch everything together for the home buying transaction to be smooth and seamless.”

In the current macroeconomic environment, another factor driving both consumer and business demand for the adoption of new digital solutions is the potential cost saving that digital solutions can offer by providing access to even greater choice. 

Small-medium size enterprises spend approx. $900 billion per year on travel, acording to AMEX GBT, with demand for business travel picking back up post-pandemic . This is often one of their highest expenses, so how can digital solutions help companies manage costs? 

Generative AI remained top of mind with investors and companies throughout the UBS Global Technology Conference, as this has quickly become a cornerstone of business operations across almost every industry.

For software and services companies, AI could bring significant efficiencies in how they operate. Paul Abbott, CEO, American Express Global Business Travel, explains that ”we’re at a really interesting turning point, generative AI and large language models enables us to open up some powerful new user cases to execute with greater speed and scale”.

Even though more than 70% of their transactions are digital, Paul outlines that 40% of their costs are driven by people serving customers in the voice channel teams and using AI and automation can drive further efficiency. AI is also being used within product and tech teams to improve the productivity of software engineers, performing tasks such as writing code.

As well as efficiency gains, companies are leveraging AI in their product development to support the next phase of growth with consumers.

The home video game market has seen “a generational shift towards interactive entertainment” according to Andy Paul, CEO of Corsair Gaming, spured by an influx of new gamers during the pandemic. 

“Every device that's evolved around gaming is going to get smarter and use AI” added Andy. “We’re getting very close to the point where as a creator, you can be anything you want to be,” opening up a realm of new possibilities for gamers and growth opportunties for the market.