AWS will purchase a SaaS firm, and different 2022 enterprise predictions – TechCrunch

It’s all the time a sticky enterprise predicting what’s going to occur in tech, as a result of who is aware of what’s happening behind the scenes or what’s coming subsequent.

Would you’ve gotten thought, for example, that Salesforce would spend virtually $28 billion to purchase Slack on the finish of 2020? Or that in 2021, Jeff Bezos would step again at Amazon with a domino impact of Andy Jassy transferring into his position, and Adam Selipsky coming again after a stint at Tableau to take Jassy’s previous job operating AWS?

I certain didn’t see that coming, and I’m betting most individuals didn’t. The tech world strikes so shortly, it’s typically onerous to maintain up.

We weren’t utilizing the phrases metaverse and web3 (full with lowercase spelling), after which fairly out of the blue in 2021, we had been. When you informed me that the blockchain was going to return again in a giant method in 2021, or Fb would change its title to Meta, I’d have laughed in your face. But, right here we’re.

So let’s admit that there are issues that we are able to’t probably predict, nevertheless it appears it’s part of my job to rear again and throw out some predictions. I wish to assume that mine are primarily based on my cautious statement of the world I cowl within the enterprise, slightly than some random musings, but when I’m being sincere, it’s most likely a mix.

So with that in thoughts, and the standard caveats, listed here are my predictions for the approaching yr:

• Talking of web3, firms (and particularly governments) will study simply how troublesome it’s to retrofit brittle legacy programs to simply accept digital foreign money. There’ll should be some form of reckoning to both modernize or let it go in the intervening time, probably the latter. Updating programs is difficult and costly, and it’s onerous to see governments spending the cash to do it to accommodate digital foreign money, which continues to be in its infancy. Pew not too long ago reported that simply 16% of People have traded, invested or used crypto currencies.
• Whereas we’re at it, though the hype is uncontrolled, I’m betting that almost all firms will proceed to undertake AR/VR slowly within the enterprise in 2022. Simply as previously earlier than the time period “metaverse” began trending, there will probably be some experimental dabbling in areas the place it is sensible, however most individuals will notice they don’t need to do their work with VR {hardware} on their face all day. And, it’s additionally costly to create content material.
• With Bret Taylor getting promoted to co-CEO of Salesforce this yr, the following logical step is for him to take over as solo CEO, and let Marc Benioff comply with Bezos into the chairman’s position, the place he can focus extra on his charity work. Benioff has been the face of the corporate for over 20 years, and he could need to lastly step again from that grinding duty and luxuriate in his wealth.