The future is now, whether you like it or not. The world as we knew it has become a thing of the past. With the evolution of smartphones and smart “appliances” to the birth of AI design programs, do we ever stop and ask ourselves how it works? Well the simple answer is, is modern technology is powered by IT, but how much do we know about modern tech? Here are some interesting facts about the IT industry.

The Big Four (Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook) are collectively worth $4 trillion.

Yes, that’s right your favorite online one-stop shop, linked to your social media, running on your aesthetically pleasing computer all add pennies to this unimaginable number. The Big Four dominate many aspects of our life that we may not be aware of. Think about it, if you don’t know the answer to something, you, that’s right… Google it. Want to know what your friends are up to, but think Facebook is for aunts. Sorry to burst your bubble, but Instagram and WhatsApp are both under the Meta umbrella.

Technology is responsible for driving more of the US economy than any other profession aside from healthcare.

With more than 585,000 tech companies in the US, and more springing up every day, the need for developers, programmers, securities, and the list goes on and on for the vacant positions. The advantage of working in tech is that after the shift from the pandemic, most of these jobs are now remote. An additional incentive is that the median salary for Computer Science and IT careers ranges between $70,000-$90,000 annually. Start taking those courses!

91.6% of Fortune 1000 companies have plans to invest more in big data and AI initiatives

AI is expected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the economy by the year 2030. These figures change the landscape of the market and have the big companies looking to invest in the future with AI. Now, AI isn’t just a computer trying to mimic human behavior, it is what makes our lives easier. Think of Tesla and their autopilot technology. The future for AI looks promising, let’s see how it integrates with society.

Data is the new currency

Forget NFTs and crypto, marketers and companies pay top dollar for our data. Interestingly enough, 90% of the world’s data was generated between 2019 and the present. So, just recently the use of data has become a business in tech. That’s why if you ever mention a vacation while on Meta (Facebook) apps, or type it into Alphabet (Google) apps you’ll start to see ads for the product on your timelines. If you have ever tried to create a campaign on Meta, you’ll see all of the options you can use to narrow down your target audience and be as precise with your campaign as possible. Sometimes I see myself scrolling and thinking when did I follow this brand just to realize it was a targeted ad that hit perfectly with my interests. 

The tech world is ever changing so in a year we may be revisiting this article only to see that I was wrong in my predictions.