(Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from “Digital Transformation Initiatives are Just Getting Started,” part of 8x8’s 2022 Business Communications Trends.)

Digital transformation will be continually at the top of the corporate agenda this year because innovation is happening so quickly with tools becoming stronger, faster, and less expensive. Just look at automation, analytics, and AI. As all three become more accessible, we’re seeing companies dive right in to explore how they can benefit from each.

Additionally, collaboration and other technologies are maturing all the time. Expect prime time soon for more advanced virtual assistants including conversational interfaces, innovative SMS/Text applications, and AI-based monitoring tools. Plus, there will be companies that find game-changing ways to use 5G.

Perhaps the only bigger buzzword than digital transformation right now is the hybrid workplace. But they are intertwined this year. With the specter of continuing public health situations, hybrid is the new norm, perhaps forever. People and businesses are still trying to determine how they can make hybrid work environments sustainable.

While 71% of the global workforce now sees the physical office space simply as a social amenity rather than a mandatory way of working, 85% feel that being confident in their technology allows them to excel at work. - Forget Flexibility. Your Employees Want Autonomy, Harvard Business Review

Many of our customers I speak with take a holistic view about their transformation activities. They are investigating how they can reimagine business processes to make work smarter and more efficient no matter where work happens. What tools do employees need to have to be the most productive and collaborative? This is all at a time when concerns about “shadow IT” have disappeared. It is common now for employees to be connected to networks that IT doesn’t control. So it is no easy task.

As a result, a big transformational challenge for IT leaders this year is to optimize each and every employee experience beyond just remote access so they can get work done with as little friction as possible while concurrently serving the demands of the larger organization.

For this reason and others, digital transformation will be one of the biggest macro IT trends of 2022. Businesses do not want to thrive just for this year, they want to be agile enough to thrive for the long haul. Read more from my article in 8x8’s 2022 Business Communications Trends.