E-solutions and Artificial Intelligence. What Awaits Us in 2022?

Every year begins with the hope that it will be better than the previous one and bring new opportunities. While the fulfillment of the first wish doesn't always go smoothly, the second rarely disappoints. At least since we've become familiar with household electronics and digital solutions. The year 2022 also promises to bring several innovations and change some of our habits, largely driven by the relentless pandemic and the increasingly prominent "green agenda." As is known, its goal is to transform the European Union into a modern, resource-efficient, and competitive economy where net greenhouse gas emissions will be eliminated by 2050. The requirements aimed at reducing climate change will push even those who have so far managed to organize work without radical changes toward digitalization.

E-solutions for Everyone

We can confidently predict that the use of various e-solutions will gain momentum in 2022, driven by something as trivial as a global paper shortage. Adding to this is the push toward environmentally friendly practices, which include abandoning tree cutting for short-term gains, such as paper production. More companies will adopt e-solutions, ranging from creating digital document circulation and issuing digital receipts via mobile apps to electronic invoices and signatures. Piles of paper on office desks will gradually become a memory, and we'll increasingly witness the "Millennial trend"—an employee's entire professional life in one box. No cluttered desks, no shelves filled with folders. Historical documents will be digitized, and new ones will no longer be created. To achieve the goals of the "green agenda," government institutions will also be forced to become more lenient toward companies that don't prepare paper applications, authorizations, and other remnants of 20th-century business practices.

"Surveying nearly 400 Latvian companies, we found that 42.9% plan to implement electronic invoices this year. 28.8% will start signing and storing contracts digitally, 26.5% will begin using electronic signatures, and one-fifth will transfer orders and applications from paper to computer screens. Only a quarter of respondents do not plan to implement any digital solutions this year," says Jumis Pro manager Viesturs Slaidiņš.

Everyone Uses the Cloud

Cloud solutions are already an integral part of many companies' daily operations, but there is still room for growth in this area. In 2022, we will see large companies start to abandon their server rooms and migrate to secure cloud storage to make data access easier for employees and optimize costs. The ability to flexibly reduce the amount of "cloud" used and accordingly cut costs is extremely important in unstable business conditions. The past 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 artificial intelligence solutions can be used for specific tasks. For example, you can input company data and have the platform calculate the best action models. These platforms are becoming easier to use and more understandable, so it is expected that more users will adopt them than before, which will, in turn, promote the development of new platforms and solutions. The time is not far off when mobile apps utilizing artificial intelligence algorithms will gain popularity, helping not only businesses but also individuals make decisions.

Mobilizing Dispersed Teams

While last year companies focused more on keeping their businesses alive, in 2022, the focus will shift to employees. Many companies have learned how to work successfully under new conditions, but during the learning process, the team often got neglected. Various studies show that team spirit has weakened, corporate identity is unclear, and employees are confused. Some want to return to the office, while others have grown too fond of working from home and no longer want to go to the office. Therefore, companies will need to put significant effort into team-building processes and creating effective hybrid work models. To cater to both groups of employees, companies will need to balance between in-person and remote work. Employment contracts might even include clauses allowing employees to live and work abroad for several months a year, as many have become accustomed to doing.

Although management will try to occasionally bring the team together and strengthen team spirit through in-person events, online concerts, training, and discussions will remain on the agenda.

Conferences and seminars will also continue to be held remotely for some time, both for safety reasons and lower costs. Moreover, business travel does not align with the "green agenda" goals, so online solutions in this area might be here to stay. However, organizers will need to find more engaging formats to involve people and expand opportunities for informal communication. Spending an entire day alone in front of a computer screen has become so tiresome for people that attracting participants to traditional online seminars will become more challenging.

The IT Industry Will Seek Product Managers

For many years, information technology companies have competed fiercely for programmers and developers, outbidding each other in a relentless competition. The year 2022 will mark a shift toward a new sought-after profession. So-called product managers, who identify client needs, analyze them, and seek solutions, will become highly demanded. They create prototypes and, through discussions with clients, arrive at solutions to be developed by the team.

Such product specialists are not adequately trained globally, but clients increasingly demand personalized approaches rather than mass-produced solutions. While developers are still in short supply, they are being trained in many educational institutions, whereas product specialists are trained by companies themselves and learn on the job.