E-solutions and artificial intelligence. What lies ahead in 2022?

Every year begins with the hope that it will be better than the last and bring new opportunities. While the fulfillment of the first wish does not always go smoothly, the second rarely disappoints—at least not since we became familiar with consumer electronics and digital solutions. 2022 also promises to bring several innovations and change some of our habits, largely driven by both the relentless pandemic and the increasingly urgent "Green Deal." As is well known, its goal is to transform the European Union into a modern, resource-efficient, and competitive economy that will reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Requirements aimed at mitigating climate change will encourage even those who have managed to organize their work without radical changes to embrace digitalization.

E-solutions for everyone

We can safely predict that the use of various e-solutions will gain momentum in 2022, driven by something as trivial as a global paper shortage. Coupled with the move toward environmentally friendly operations—which includes abandoning the felling of trees for short-term gains, a category that certainly includes paper production—more and more companies will implement e-solutions. This ranges from creating digital document workflows and issuing digital receipts in mobile apps to electronic invoices and signatures. Piles of paper on office desks will gradually become a memory, and we will increasingly see the "Millennial trend" in action: an employee's entire professional life contained in a single box. No cluttered desks, no shelves full of binders. Historical documents will be digitized, and new ones will no longer be created. To achieve the goals of the "Green Deal," government institutions will also be forced to become more lenient toward companies that do not prepare paper applications, authorizations, and other "echoes" of the last century's business practices.

"Surveying nearly 400 Latvian companies, we found that 42.9% of them plan to introduce electronic invoicing this year. 28.8% will henceforth conclude and store contracts in digital format, 26.5% will start using electronic signatures, and a fifth will move orders and applications from paper to computer screens. Only a quarter of respondents do not plan to implement any digital solutions this year," says Viesturs Slaidiņš, head of Jumis Pro.

Everyone uses the cloud

Cloud solutions are already an integral part of daily life for a large portion of companies, yet there is still room for growth in this area. In 2022, we will see large companies begin to abandon their own server rooms and migrate to secure cloud storage to facilitate employee data access and optimize costs. The ability to flexibly reduce the volume of "cloud" usage and cut costs accordingly is extremely important in unstable business conditions. And the last couple of years have taught us that unexpected events can halt business at any moment.

Practical artificial intelligence

The much-discussed artificial intelligence will take on practical forms in 2022. Platforms are already emerging where AI solutions can be used to perform specific tasks. For example, one can input company data and have the platform calculate the best courses of action. These platforms are becoming easier to use and more intuitive, so it is expected that they will be used by more people than before, which in turn will encourage the development of new platforms and solutions. It won't be long before mobile apps using AI algorithms gain popularity, helping not only companies but also individuals with decision-making.

Mobilizing scattered teams

If last year companies were more focused on keeping their businesses alive, in 2022 the focus will shift to employees. Most companies have figured out how to work successfully in the new environment, but in the learning process, the team often fell by the wayside. Various studies show that team spirit has waned, corporate identity is quite unclear, and employees are confused. Some want to return to the office, while others have grown so fond of working from home that they no longer want to go to the office at all. Therefore, employers will have to work hard on the team-building process and the creation of an effective hybrid work model. To satisfy both groups of workers, a balance between in-person and remote work will need to be struck. Employment contracts might even include a clause allowing employees to live and work from abroad for several months a year, as many have become accustomed to doing.

Although management will try to bring the team together from time to time and strengthen team spirit through in-person events, online concerts, training sessions, and meetings will not disappear from the agenda.

Conferences and seminars will also continue to take place remotely for some time, both for safety and lower costs. Furthermore, business travel does not align with the goals of the "Green Deal," so online solutions in this area are likely here to stay. Admittedly, organizers will have to look for more interesting formats to engage people and expand opportunities for informal communication. People have become so tired of spending the whole day alone in front of a computer screen that attracting participants to classic online seminars will become more difficult.

The IT sector will be looking for product managers

For many years, information technology companies have fought over programmers and software developers, outbidding each other in a fierce competitive struggle. 2022 will mark a turning point toward a new most-sought-after profession. So-called product management professionals, or product managers, who identify customer needs, analyze them, and seek solutions, will become highly in demand. They create prototypes and, through discussions with the client, arrive at the solution that developers need to build.

Such product professionals are not being trained in sufficient numbers globally, yet clients increasingly want an individual approach rather than mass-produced goods. Although there is still a shortage of developers, they are currently being trained in many educational institutions, whereas product professionals are trained by the companies themselves and learn on the job.