IoT Security will Rise to the Top of the Security Trend List in 2018

In an exclusive interaction with Dataquest, Arun Rajamani, Country General Manager, Pluralsight India talks about top technology trends that will rule in 2018, the impact of emerging technologies in the industry. Excerpts:

Q. What will be the Top technology trends that will rule in 2018?

The biggest trend we will see in 2018 is easily Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning. Augmented Reality (AR) is going to take off commercially. Apple ARKit, Google ARCore and Windows Mixed Reality will dominate this space and create experiences that will delight and enhance our everyday life. As a result of this boom, there will be a focus on hiring engineers that understand virtual and augmented reality and can build efficient and engaging experiences. As the number of servers and other assets under management continues to increase, without a corresponding increase in staffing, the decade-old approach to IT management simply starts to fail. Extreme automation becomes a necessity, not a luxury. With that in mind, I think the most in-demand skills will all revolve around DevOps and automation, including scripting languages like Python and PowerShell, cloud-based compute and automation solutions, and DevOps stacks that include build integration tooling.  Domain-driven design, is a key trend that aligns perfectly with microservices which partner with containers. Comprehending this type of architecture will very important for devs seeking to take advantage of the microservices wave.  Internet of Things (IoT) security will rise to the top of the security trend list in 2018. IoT security is a complex and multifaceted problem, and one that affects all organizations. Businesses need to be proactive with the security of their IoT devices, whether it’s those they produce or those they consume.

Q. According to you, how has been the impact of emerging technologies such as big data, AI, Machine learning, IoT in the industry?

Today, Indian businesses are looking to AI and machine learning algorithms in a bid to smooth processes and make well-informed decisions. Amid the pushover AI, the IT companies are also realized the need to skill its workforce for the evolving technology trends. From our catalog of 6000+ tech courses, we have nearly 500 courses on all aspects of automation, covering IT Ops, testing, and development. For example, a tester today in the era of test automation evolves to become a developer who leverages automation systems to write test scripts that scale. Pluralsight uses IRIS, an AI-based platform that creates a personalized experience for each learner based on their interests and usage patterns on the platform.

Automation has the biggest impact at the 0 – 2 year stage, because that’s the volume at the base of the pyramid that companies try to make more efficient.

• Automation forces companies and individuals to re-skill and up-skill themselves in a short span of time to add higher-value to their existing skill set or learn a new skill set. It also forces them to think about skill development as continuous learning which will stay with them throughout their careers versus treating it as a short-term milestone driven exercise.
• Automation brings in efficiencies within job roles which enables individuals to provide a higher level of output than before, leveraging the power of automation
• Automation allows a technologist to focus on the bigger picture, to focus more on functionality, experience, efficiency of the product or service instead of spending more time getting the nuts and bolts in place
• Automation ultimately benefits customers and markets on the demand side by providing them the benefits of efficiency.

Q. What is your business plan for 2018?

Pluralsight has demonstrated a strong growth trajectory over the last 14 years and in the last 3 years of operations in India. 50% of the Fortune 500 today is a Pluralsight customer. Our 2018 focus will continue to be on working with enterprises with strengthening the skill sets of their developer workforce as they look to implement their technology strategy plans to realize their digital transformation visions and to embrace a whole new ecosystem of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality, IoT and Cloud. Our focus on continuous learning as the best approach to skills development has become an industry requirement to remain adaptive to technology change.

Q. What is the scope of AI in India?

The scope of AI is massive. Today AI is already being used to personalize web experiences for users. AI can also be used in credit analysis and risk estimation in financial services. The automotive sector can use AI to predict component failure based on usage patterns. Today’s enterprise software systems are moving towards the self-healing mode so that engineers can focus on building solution architectures than on applying patches. In healthcare, AI is being tested to see if treatment outcomes can be predicted. In short, AI has a lot of use cases in India and with re-skilling, India can become the AI-technology stack builder for the world.

Q. Any other information that would like to share.

We have strengthened our technology learning platform by launching IRIS, our AI engine that gives us the capability to automatically customize our platform experience based on the inferred preferences and learning style of the learner. IRIS is powering Pluralsight IQ, our adaptive assessments engine that can determine the skill IQ of a learner within a 5-minute window and provide a percentile score for her comparing her with a global ecosystem of learners that have taken the same test. We provide a complete learning platform with content, assessments, mentoring, skill paths, channels, and analytics that any enterprise can use to implement their technology strategy plans.