Accenture’s Annual Report Unpacks the Drive for Tech-Life Harmony

Accenture’s annual technology vision report identifies five emerging trends exploring how people feel about and respond to business, technological, and societal change. These trends will help business leaders and CTOs define growth while staying relevant to customers.

This year, the consulting firm anticipates a huge shift toward healthier tech habits, craving a stability and trust in all aspects of their digital lives.

1. Media mistrusts is at an all time-high

For a long time, the sheer convenience of the internet outweighed people’s need for trust, but that equation is beginning to shift. In a matter of time, what people thought they knew and trusted about how they consumed information, socialized, and shopped online has changed. Moreover, Generative AI’s ability to facilitate hyper-personalized harm and harassment, deep-fakes, and scams has quickly become a serious issue. Every day, people are experiencing a setback — questioning the authenticity of the information they are reading, the products they are viewing, the websites they visit, and the calls, texts, and emails they are receiving.

According to a survey done by Accenture, in the past year, 52 percent of people have seen fake news or articles, 38.8 percent have seen fraudulent product reviews online, and 52 percent have experienced deep-fake attacks or scams for personal information and/or money.

Why it matters?

If this trend continues, unchecked by legal or systematic intervention, people will likely start to abandon any platforms and brands they can’t trust. Whether they reduce, change, or stop certain behaviors entirely will be down to the individual. However, it will affect discovery, sharing, shopping, and socializing online.

If brands, organizations, and platforms fail to prioritize authenticity and earn trust, people will stop engaging with them online.

Recommendation:

• Online platforms should evolve and invest to modernize their content moderation value chains to address the known exponential influx of content that is harmful and deceitful.
• Brands/organizations must establish and communicate clear methods for customers to verify authenticity.
• Businesses will need to support and help customers as more people fall victim to these sophisticated scams. 
• If the volume of deep-fake scams continues, insurance companies may want to think through new types of products.

2. The parent trap

Growing up today looks very different from parents’ own experiences. Unfettered access to the internet and social media is causing harm, influencing extreme behaviors, and forcing young people to live with unintended consequences. We are seeing an acceleration of top-down policies from governments and bottom-up action from parents and schools to establish guardrails and protect children. This will undoubtedly have major repercussions for organizations too—and soon.

Parents are really worried about their children. They are justifiably concerned about the mental and emotional harm from online bullying (from both friends and strangers), abuse, unrealistic beauty standards, and age-inappropriate content that, once seen, cannot be unseen.

Parents want their children to be happy and healthy. They are seeing the impact with their own eyes—they are feeling the urgency and all they want is solutions.

According to reports, 56.5 percent of those aged 18-24 are more than twice as likely as those over 55 (23.3 percent) to agree that social media significantly impacts how they think about their own identity. Meanwhile, 65 percent globally think parents should limit the time their children spend on social media.

Why this matters?

This trend could unbalance the whole ecosystem of technology, marketing and entertainment—plus products and services targeted at younger demographics. At the least, if some, or even most, younger customers have reduced access to digital technology and social media, it will affect how brands become visible to them.

Recommendations:

• If reaching younger people matters to a brand, it will be crucial to workshop a less digital/social media-dependent strategy for businesses to thrive. 
• Businesses can impose child- or teen-focused apps and devices – this will create the need to redesign or create services that don’t depend on smartphones. 

• If parents’ gatekeeping role for children and young people expands, brands should consider how to create parent-friendly propositions. 
• While the use of social media likely won’t change for a couple of years, the movements that originate or are perpetuated in non-digital ways may become more important. Organizations and leaders at large should ensure they stay on top of such change.

3. Impatience economy

Many cultures around the world share a core belief that people can shape their desired future through education, hard work, and determination. However, right now, an innate determination is evident in people’s behaviors as they seek the shortest paths to their goals.

Unsurprisingly, the immediacy of modern life is fostering impatience. According to a survey conducted by Accenture, 55 percent of people prefer quick solutions over traditional methods, and many are willing to explore riskier routes to achieve their health and financial goals.

Where classic approaches like hard work and education aren’t sufficing the basic needs, people are thinking laterally and using opportunities presented by social media and other digital platforms – for improvising or creating a new solution to get a quick result – when they lack the time, skills or opportunity to do it the established way.

According to Accenture reports, two-thirds of the survey respondents (63.2 percent) said they get inspiration from social media on how to do things smarter—for those aged 18–34, it’s closer to three-quarters (74.1 percent).

Why it matters?

This global trend can widely impact industries where the customer’s goals are deprioritized. When customers go looking for a shortcut, becoming the brand they want means minimizing the mundane (interactions that get in the way) and maximizing the humane (experiences that are relatable).

Recommendations:

• Leaders should seek ways to enhance customer experiences with a human touch that sets them apart. 

• Leaders need to store and preserve data, as it will enable organizations to anticipate needs and proactively provide useful, relevant experience

• Companies should seek opportunities to position products and services in other contexts and ecosystems, broadening propositions through partnerships that develop the brand’s role in people’s lives. 

4. The dignity of work

The dignity of work is a critical pillar of a healthy workplace, but it’s increasingly being shaken by business pressures, technological advances, and evolving human dynamics. If employees aren’t motivated—it can be quite challenging for organizations to deliver first-rate products, services, and experiences to customers.

These days, emotional distancing between employees and work is becoming clear. Evolving attitudes to work have employees demanding more flexibility, better balance and higher salaries. According to a survey conducted by Accenture, people prize work/life balance most highly (52 percent) – with salary (48.4 percent) and job security (39.1 percent) following close behind. Work-life balance is being elevated above all other factors, which feels significant as it potentially indicates that the promise of money could hold less power in motivating people to work harder.

Why it matters?

These concerning factors can directly impact the company’s performance, reputation, and ability to attract and retain talent—ultimately influencing long-term success and profitability. Addressing this concern certainly requires a new leadership mindset.

Recommendations

• The workforce needs to be re-energized, starting with the leader.
• Leaders should design fulfilling work models – structured with dignity and respect to retain the best talent. 
• People need to be treated like people and machines like machines—and AI shouldn’t be personified.  
• Employees should have their voices heard and respected when it comes to AI or any other tech adoption.  
• For all companies, change management is a constant requirement.

5. Social rewilding

People are seeking depth, authenticity and sensory richness in their experiences. They want to engage with the world in meaningful ways, finding textural experiences that connect them with their environment and each other. This is social rewilding—a quest to reconnect socially in the real world, often but not always around nature, and to balance technology’s role in the moments that bring people joy and well-being.

We are on the cusp of a cultural movement that sees people rebalancing their relationship with the physical world. Social rewilding is prompted by the fatigue of a digital-first lifestyle and is characterized as an intentional shift toward a more balanced and simplified existence. In a recently conducted survey, 41.9 percent of respondents said their most enjoyable experience is a physical one, while only 15.3 percent said it is digital. In fact, 37.9 percent increasingly appreciate the  ‘joy of missing out’ on technology.

Why it matters?

While experts don’t believe that people will completely abandon digital technology,  they do believe more people will seek to adjust the right balance, scaling their use of screens back in favor of real-world experiences.

This movement is happening now, and we expect to see it grow in scope and popularity, so businesses that embrace it now will likely set themselves apart and stay relevant in the future.

Recommendations

• Brands should seek out non-digital ways to authentically connect with customers in the moments when they’re looking for textural, face-to-face experiences. It may mean bringing additional joy to moments of fun, or being there physically when customers need a helping hand.

• Organizations need to understand that people do value simpler technology.
• Certain businesses may benefit from embracing the nature-led aesthetic that is becoming increasingly important to people. It’s time for them to go green,

In brief

Accenture’s latest 2025 report identifies five trends forecasting the changing dynamic between technology and users. It highlights the concerns and opportunities for businesses as they adapt their strategies to meet evolving customer needs.