Oracle Survey: Autonomous Tech Poised to Transform Leading Industries

IT decision makers see real upside in our autonomous future.

By Chris Murphy | January 2020

Autonomous technology is popping up in surprising places, from self-driving bulldozers to an FDA-approved application that can diagnose a vision-threatening eye ailment without a doctor. Oracle last year launched its autonomous database, which handles many tasks technologists once had to do by hand. (Read about these examples and more here.)

Where and how soon will we see autonomous tech in our everyday lives? A closer look at specific industries reveals that respondents believe that technology (72%) and manufacturing (69%) will see significant use within five years, followed by banking and transportation (61% each). Government (28%) and construction (24%) were cited least often. (Perhaps people haven’t seen those self-driving bulldozers in action.)

Despite this autonomous optimism, respondents were skeptical that self-driving cars will soon take over the roads—just 30% said self-driving cars will be common on the highway within four years. In comparison, 39% expect that tech will make diagnoses without a doctor within four years and 67% expect technology to routinely make office decisions such as expense report approvals in that time.