7 Predictions for Insight Apps and the Future of Search

The advent of Natural Language Understanding (NLU) with Neural Search will open up new possibilities in enterprise search.

After 2021, marked by disruption and digital transformation at a scale not previously imagined, we look to a new year and the top trends and opportunities for strategic growth. With digital workplace transformation taking precedence among business priorities, enterprise search is an unsung hero in the modern way of work.

Here are seven trends – and predictions – shaping the future of work and how enterprise search impacts digital transformation strategies in 2022 and beyond:

1. Natural Language Understanding comes to the forefront: Search technology to date has primarily been focused on counting words and statistical analysis of word forms, enhanced by Natural Language Processing. The advent of large language models (such as Google’s BERT) changed that – bringing Natural Language Understanding to web search. But its complexity and need for computing power have kept these advances out of enterprise search until now. Advances in Neural Search and applying this technology efficiently for corporate environments will come to the forefront and transform the enterprise search experience by bringing an unprecedented level of accuracy and contextual relevance by understanding meaning.

Prediction: Like any “new” technology, expect incremental adoption in early 2022, with Neural Search capabilities accelerating from a nice-to-have to absolutely essential over the course of the year. Expect a tremendous amount of market noise…and confusion…around this topic as providers struggle to deliver and customers grapple to apply NLU.

2. Resurgence of Knowledge Management: Although the idea has been around for half a century, waxing and waning in popularity and priority, Knowledge Management has taken on new focus with the rapid push to remote work. It will continue an assertive resurgence in 2022 as it makes its way higher on the CEO’s agenda to ensure workers have the information they need to drive the business. The cause of this resurgence is a confluence of factors, including the ongoing global pandemic, forcing unprecedented changes to the way we work – as well as the proliferation of data and applications increased consumer and employee expectations. Then there is ‘The Great Resignation,’ where many people have tasted or envisioned a different kind of work. This makes KM important in three ways: 1. making employees’ jobs easier increases retention; 2. accessing knowledge irrespective of work location makes hybrid work models easier; and 3. it protects against the loss of institutional knowledge for people who do leave. For all of these reasons, Knowledge Management is a strategic imperative for 2022 and beyond. 

Prediction: Expect to see large enterprises elevate and increase leadership KM positions such as chief knowledge officers (CKO) and chief learning officers (CLO), while chief digital officer titles become table stakes. Post-pandemic, most businesses are digital businesses.