Fashion Tech

Jecka Glasman, Chief Commercial Officer, Kornit Digital

“Don’t be surprised when you hear the word nearshoring in 2023. In fact, it will become fashion tech’s buzzword of the year. On the one hand, labour shortages, inflation, and shipping delays are wreaking havoc in supply chains. On the other hand, retailers are working hard to decrease lead times and become more sustainable to be more responsive to consumer preferences. The answer of course is nearshoring– bringing production back home. Naturally, the technological solution is digital, on-demand printing. Eco-factory models enable the entire fashion production cycle to take place in a single location while reducing the carbon footprint and limiting ecological impact, saving costs and giving businesses – small and large – maximum control of their operations while generating higher margins.

In addition, conscientious consumerism and purpose-driven businesses are increasing demand for more responsible business practices, for which nearshoring will once again be a good answer. By producing fashion locally, businesses can continue to keep up with the latest trends consumers so badly want, while meeting their demand for sustainability. It's really a win-win for everyone – manufacturers, retailers, consumers, creators, designers and the environment.”

Gaming

Boaz Pasco, VP of Growth of Buff Technologies

"Gaming is becoming a leader in the entertainment industry, and many marketers have been wondering about the relationship between gaming and advertising. As we are swiftly approaching the intersection of the physical and the virtual worlds, it seems inevitable that the industry will integrate more into the gaming world. In this field, one of the most important trends and buzzwords in the next few years will be “Gamevertising”– the next level of advertising products within a video game. According to Report Ocean, it is estimated that the value of the in-game advertising market is expected to reach $18.4 billion by 2027.

The simplest way of Gamevertising is to insert a product in the background of an already existing game. Gamevertising can drive revenue both inside and outside a game. It’s a friendly, non-intrusive way to advertise products, and its highly integrated nature means that players don’t feel burdened by the interruption of an ad. Today there are other ways to advertise within a game that involves in-game branding and experiences beyond simple media placement and represents a paradigm shift in communication that does not disturb the players, resulting in new game value."

Noga Halperin, CRO of Sciplay

“As the gaming industry continues to grow and evolve, it's important to stay ahead of the curve, innovate, and anticipate trends that will shape the industry’s future. With changes in App Store policies and an increasing emphasis on market profitability, acquiring new users can be costly. This year's buzzwords will therefore be retention and engagement; as targeted user acquisition is becoming more challenging, retaining and engaging with existing users will be key for gaming companies looking to stay competitive. This will likely involve a shift in focus from marketing budgets to resources that are dedicated to enhancing the user experience for current, as well as new players.

One way that companies may look to increase retention and engagement is through the integration of prediction models and personalized experiences. By using data to understand the needs and preferences of individual users, companies can create more tailored and personalized in-game experiences that keep players coming back for more.

Companies that can effectively capitalize on this trend will be well-positioned for success in the coming years.”

Cloud Technology

Ori Tabachnik, CRO at CloudZone

"My buzzword for 2023 is Platform Engineering. Platform engineering is a discipline that focuses on the design, development, and maintenance of the underlying software and hardware infrastructure that supports the applications and services that run on a platform. It is a less centralized approach to DevOps, giving engineers more ownership of what they build by creating a specialized blueprint of DevOps tools per team. This concept is in line with Amazon’s approach of ‘what you build is what you run’. We’ve been hearing this buzzword among enterprise and public sector early adopters, and we’re expecting to see it infiltrate their mainstream R&D departments.

Following Project Nimbus (Israel’s cloud computing initiative), we’ll be seeing government and enterprise organizations graduating from the infrastructure phase, which will necessitate advanced solutions like Enterprise Landing Zone to face Day-Two challenges. Such challenges include training and retaining talent to develop new applications on newly-built Cloud environments. Applying platform engineering practices will help in reducing time to market and complexity by providing self-service deployments for infrastructure and application and ease of operating applications in production. We’ll continue to see these organizations seeking to delegate their Cloud operations to MSPs (managed services providers) which will reduce their overheads while they focus on their core domains."

InsurTech

Tally Kaplan Porat, Director of Corporate Marketing at Sapiens

"Embedded insurance is the industry buzzword for 2023, as it’s transforming the world of insurance at breakneck speed. Embedded insurance is the bundling and sale of insurance (by a non-insurance retailer) alongside a product or service at the point of sale. Embedded insurance isn’t a new innovation but it is a relatively new term disrupting the market. According to an InsTech London report, the embedded insurance market is expected to grow to $722 billion in GWP by 2030. A very popular use of this exciting new business model is automakers offering insurance together with their new cars. Tesla has been doing exactly that very successfully, but even more traditional carmakers such as Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and Ford have also disrupted the insurance industry by offering embedded insurance. Aside from cars, travel agencies offer travel insurance, jewelry and other luxury retailers offer embedded insurance on the purchase of their goods, and banks offer insurance on their financial products. The ability to offer a highly personalized insurance product makes embedded insurance an ideal solution for life events as diverse as marriage and the purchase of homes and pets. Why is embedded insurance taking off? Quite simply, it puts the customer in control."

IoT

Asaf Green, Director, Tech Partnerships at NTT Israel M

"Formerly a new technology trend to watch, cloud computing has become mainstream, with major players like AWS, Microsoft Azure and GCP dominating the market. The adoption of cloud computing is growing, as more and more businesses migrate to a cloud solution. But it’s no longer the emerging technology trend. Edge Computing is.

Edge computing is the idea of bringing computing power and data storage closer to the edge of a network, thereby reducing latency and improving efficiency. This means that instead of sending data to and from a centralized data center, the data can be processed and stored on the edge, closer to the source. This allows for much faster data processing, which is especially important for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, where real-time response is often needed. Edge computing also helps offload data processing away from the cloud, which can reduce costs and increase reliability. Additionally, edge computing can help provide improved security and privacy, as data doesn’t need to be sent across the internet, but can stay local. Edge computing can reduce power consumption, as powerful computing and storage devices can be run on low-power devices, such as sensors and gateways.

The trend of edge computing is becoming more and more popular due to its many advantages, especially for IoT applications (edge computing will increase as use of the IoT devices increases), and it is expected to be the next big trend in the tech industry in 2023."

Data

Tal Esh-Goldhamer, Data Solutions department manager at Elad Data

"Today, more than ever, organizations understand that data has enormous value and when used properly can become a strategic asset. The data consumers and providers are significant players in the life cycle of the data. They are joined by other players whose role is to ensure that the data is secure, efficient, unified, valuable, accessible, and governed throughout the life cycle. The life cycle of the data has different technological challenges such as security, distributed computing, development of CICD processes and more. Therefore, it is not surprising that one of the most important buzzwords in the next few years will be ‘MDS’ -Modern Data Solution.

MDS is a method that enables the use of different open-source tools to provide a unique solution that fits the organization's specific needs. The implementation of MDS solutions enables focus by dividing large challenges into several smaller ones, creating a flexible solution with the ability to adjust and adapt to future changes, provide suitable solutions to all data consumers both in and outside the organization, and comply with the defined security and performance protocols."

CRM

Itai Margalit, Area Vice President at Salesforce

"How many times have each of us had a bad customer experience where you called a support line and after minutes of waiting you still didn't get the help you needed? Or you go to your favourite online store to buy something and end up spending hours searching for it?

These are familiar scenarios for most of us, and today we expect every experience and encounter with customer service to be connected, updated in real-time and not wasteful. That is why one of the major trends and buzzwords we will hear in the next few years concerning customer relations will be Real-Time CRM.

Real-time CRM means that all the data related to the customers will be available in real-time, at any given moment. Sales and service people will be able to get real-time insights about each customer, based on past data (such as products purchased, history of calls to the service center, etc.) as well as real-time data, to make decisions based on the most relevant information at any given moment. Thus, making it more efficient, saving money and time to both companies and customers."

eCommerce

Lihi Segev - SVP at QUALITEST, Head of Technology division

"According to a recent survey, 79% of customers say they won't give a second chance to a company with a poorly designed website or mobile app, and 53% of mobile users will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. These statistics highlight the importance of providing a high-quality, efficient online experience for customers.

In the coming years, AI-based hyper-personalization is expected to be a key trend in the eCommerce world. Research has shown that personalization can significantly increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. For example, a study by Epsilon found that personalized emails have an open rate of 29% higher than non-personalized ones and a 41% higher click-through rate. Another study by Accenture found that 73% of consumers prefer to do business with brands that use personal information to make their shopping experiences more relevant.

By using AI to provide hyper-personalization for customers, businesses can differentiate themselves in a crowded online marketplace and win the loyalty of customers. To succeed in the digital age, businesses must adapt to emerging trends and technologies, and AI-based hyper-personalization is a key part of this process."

Cybersecurity

Ofer Schreiber, Senior Partner at YL Ventures

"After the highs of 2021 and the grim investment landscape of 2022, the cybersecurity industry in 2023 will focus on Consolidation. Although cyber-attacks continue to grow in size, scope, and sophistication, CISOs will be increasingly constrained by budgetary considerations and will prefer to acquire one solution that would render at least two others unnecessary, instead of a bevy of niche tools that smaller organizations do not have the budget or capacity to implement. Additionally, the consolidation of vendors by way of mergers and acquisitions within the industry will become more common next year. The 2021 market became saturated with security solutions, and some startups that had a difficult time in 2022 will not have the capital or runway to sustain them into 2023. These are companies that have been in the market for some time but have found no other recourse but to seek an acquisition, and larger vendors will gladly acquire their talent and products, consolidating their offering into their company. Finally, we anticipate that the instability of 2022’s market will seep into 2023, and drive the consolidation of the industry with a decreasing number of cybersecurity startups next year, and serial founders or more established teams will consolidate various offerings into potentially category-leading solutions. While seemingly concerning, we see these trends as healthy reassessments after a turbulent year, which may lead us to 2024 with a stronger and more mature industry."

Information Technology

Batel Assaf Volchek, Senior Solution Architect for the Finance sector in Israel, Greece and Cyprus at Red Hat

“The future and the present is Open Source. Open source is the main accelerator for innovation in organizations and contributes to their independence. In a report conducted by the European Commission, it is said that Open-Source drives open strategic autonomy and state-of-the-art technologies. Lately, the European Commission presented that, 'Open-Source software is estimated to contribute between €65 to €95 billion to the European Union's GDP and promises significant growth opportunities for the region's digital economy. Ensuring transparency, accountability, digital sovereignty, cybersecurity, increasing competition in concentrated digital markets, the provision of cutting-edge digital government services, or for that matter, a digital post-COVID economic recovery, Open Source and the Open-Source industry will play an important role.

Investments

Inbal Perlman, Partner at TAUi Ventures

The buzzword for 2023 in the investment world will be climate tech. The burning need for climate tech solutions to tackle the fierce environmental changes we face isn’t new by any means. The difference in 2023 lies in the industry’s readiness for it.

Over the past century, massive increases in carbon dioxide, methane, and other GHG emissions led to global temperatures rising. Amidst the deepening climate crisis, global regulation to mitigate the climate crisis is expanding. Simultaneously, a growing number of public and private companies are releasing climate pledges that require disrupting tech solutions, coupled with governmental and private funding directed to back these solutions up. Examples include the Race to Zero, an UN-backed global campaign rallying non-state actors to take immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act, directing nearly $400 billion in US federal funding for climate efforts.

Climate tech is defined as technologies explicitly focused on reducing GHG emissions, or addressing the impacts of global warming.  In the second quarter of 2022 alone, a record $1.4 billion was poured into the space, with investments jumping 47% in the first half of 2022 from 2021. According to Pitchbook, in just five years, the climate tech market will be near $1.4 trillion, representing a compound annual growth rate of 8.8%. In Israel, 1 in 7 seven startups founded in Israel in 2022 contributed to combating climate change.

Looking to 2023, the inevitable environmental impacts, dedicated funding and rising public awareness, will produce the optimal setting for a continuous investment surge in startups across stages and sub-sectors in this space. 2023 will consequently bring a myriad of opportunities for employees across the tech industry to contribute their skills to related causes, fueled by Gen Z’s growth in the workforce, for whom climate change is top of mind. Finally, we will witness the impact of these global trends locally, via a wider shift of entrepreneurs and VCs into the field, contributing to the growth of the Israeli climate-tech ecosystem, with the hope of more government action to follow.

Digital Payment

Ohad Maimon, CEO of Hyp

"The 'Payment' word that we will hear the most in 2023, will be: 'Embedded.' Embedded payments are, in fact, the next level we will reach in Payments. We have started with transforming most of the industries to digital payments, continued with creating seamless payment experience, and now we will see more and more “Embedded Payments”. Embedded Payments provide a seamless and secure way for users to make purchases directly from within a platform or application, without having to leave the app or enter their payment information manually. This can lead to a better user experience and higher conversion rates for businesses. Additionally, embedded payments can help to reduce fraud and simplify the checkout process, making it easier and more convenient for both customers and companies."

Social Media Marketing

Gili fleekop, Founder of Pink Chili

“A buzzword to look out for this coming year is TikTok SEO or TikTok Search Engine Optimization which is the process of optimizing TikTok content so it’s more discoverable when users search the platform. By adding keywords to your TikTok content through places like your caption, hashtags, text on screen, and cover photo, you can prime your content to rank in TikTok’s search results. Seeing how over 40% of Gen Z prefers TikTok as their search engine of choice, the potential here is massive, especially since this number is only growing. What we’re seeing here is a revolution in the way new generations are consuming content. Gen Z is craving and now demanding real, unfiltered, authentic content. And TikTok provides just that. By using TikTok as a search engine, they’re able to see the real-life depictions of the topics they’re looking for (instead of getting lost in ad-filled, fluffy blogs resulting in endless scrolling and no real information gathered). This new shift in search is going to change the game for marketing teams and how they approach SEO and content creation. It’s like being part of the early days of Google … if you play your cards right, you can land on the first page and be top of the search. I predict TikTok SEO will be a massive priority for companies and brands from all sectors in 2023.”

Digital Transformation

Eran Savir, Co-Founder and CEO, Menara Ventures

"The hottest buzzword that will be associated with digital transformation in the year 2023 will be automation. Automation allows for activities and processes to be completed through technology, eliminating manual labour and reducing the need for in-person supervision. Automation also increases efficiency by streamlining processes and creating consistent results. AI-enabled systems can learn and act independently, using large data sets and advanced algorithms to match or even surpass the capabilities of humans. It will be used to increase productivity, support decision-making with data-driven insights, and identify and address potential problems before they arise.

By 2023, automation, and AI will be practically ubiquitous in the business world, serving to optimize and improve the customer experience. Automation will be used to personalize customer interactions, thereby simplifying customer service and shortening the time to resolution when a customer needs assistance. AI algorithms can help businesses anticipate customer needs and make proactive recommendations, enabling a more personalized experience. Additionally, AI can be used to detect and prevent fraudulent activity, enabling businesses to protect their customers and their data. In the coming years, automation and AI will become integral components of digital transformation, helping to move businesses beyond the status quo."

Safety

Lee Sharir, co-founder and CEO of Relyon.ai

“According to the UN, six in seven people worldwide are experiencing feelings of insecurity;  even citizens in countries with some of the best health, wealth, and education outcomes are reporting greater anxiety than a decade ago. So, a buzzword to look out for this year will be impact technology. Safety is just one example of how impact technology can be an enabler to deal with humanity's challenges.

Thanks to the development of various technologies that include sensors, voice, detection of movements in space and the development of ML and AI, it is possible to convert and use many technologies to produce new and innovative solutions to deal with public safety and emergencies in a better way. So we will be seeing even more investments in such impact technology, as more and more people look for solutions to help cope with their day-to-day challenges. In addition, many challenges surrounding personal safety occur both in developed and underdeveloped countries in the same ways, so many solutions do not require substantial adaptation to make them global. And so, there will be an increase in the development and use of new and existing technologies to deal with different phenomena like domestic violence, car accidents, abuse, kidnapping, health, and so many others.”.

Automotive

Regev Yativ, CRO of Incredibuild

"2022 was a key crossroads for the future of mobility. As automobile manufacturers rev up EV (electric vehicle) and SDV (software-defined vehicle) development, this historically hardware-centric industry has shifted its development focus to what is becoming known as “software on wheels.” But this shift does not come without significant challenges. This ongoing transition has required a tremendous amount of computing power to uphold the industry’s standards for innovation, safety, security, comfort, and efficiency. To meet the demands for rapid release cycles and continuous Over the Air (OTA) updates in automotive software, automakers and tier 1 suppliers have been progressively leveraging software development acceleration tools to fast-track iteration times and reduce both costs and hardware needs – increasingly crucial as cloud costs climb and chip shortages continue to impact hardware supply chains. With software increasingly defining the way our cars drive, software-driven acceleration will be a key differentiator in 2023 as EV, SDV, and even AV development surges."

Fintech

Lilac Bar David, CO-Founder and CEO of Lili

"For me, the trend to watch in 2023 is Fintech as a Platform. The fintech industry is evolving with market trends to meet customers' expectations and business goals.

With embedded tools and services, Fintech companies can offer complete offerings throughout a customer's journey to increase customer satisfaction and business revenue. It includes financial services such as banking, credit, investment, payment processing, lending, and other tools like accounting, taxes, and invoicing. This evolution of product offering is relevant for both consumers and small business customers.

Overall, an all-in-one platform solution enables customers a seamless, convenient, easy-to-use customer journey, and that is what we will be seeing more of this coming year.”

Renewable Energy

Gal Shofrony, VP of Business Development and Regulation at Teralight

"The buzzword for 2023 in the energy world is definitely Microgrids. With the rise of renewable energy and the changing nature of electricity consumption, I believe there will be a growing number of microgrid projects in the near future. The main reasons are the high cost and the length of time it takes to build new transmission lines, as well as the fact that valuable electricity goes to waste over long distances. In addition, solar projects are now integrating new storage technologies, especially those that combine local consumption. In addition, electric vehicles are becoming more widespread, which increases electricity consumption. Additionally, self-sustaining electricity units are more resilient in times of crisis - whether it is climate change or war. Microgrids are basic concepts that can be implemented anywhere. Imagine a small town that is mostly self-sufficient, producing electricity from the sun and wind and charging electric vehicles during the day and providing heating and lighting to all of its households during the night."

Startup Growth

Vered Raviv Schwarz, President & COO of Guesty.

“Centaur, a mythical creature of half man, half horse, took on new meaning this past year to describe startups that have achieved $100M in Annual-Recurring-Revenue (ARR). It’s the high-tech buzzword of 2023 that everyone should be using, and for good reason. The economic climate of 2022 made it clear that the era of the Unicorn is over, as assessing a company solely on valuation is not a complete indicator of success. In today's market, investors are looking for startups that have product/market fit, a clear path to profitability, and a long-term business model that can adapt to evolving industry demands and needs – and this is what achieving $100M in ARR demonstrates. Especially during the current instability, inflation and fears of recession, focusing on revenue growth is the ‘Bon Ton’ of VCs.”

Software Engineering

Jenny Bruk. Senior Director of Engineering at Armis

“ The buzzword to look out for in the world of software engineering this coming year is Cost-efficiency. Companies will adopt a cost-efficient approach to reduce expenses and increase profitability. By identifying and eliminating waste, streamlining processes, and leveraging cost-effective technologies and practices, companies can lower their operating costs and increase their competitiveness. Cost efficiency is especially important in highly competitive industries, where even small differences in cost can significantly impact a company's bottom line. Adopting a cost-efficient approach can also help companies manage their resources and allocate them more effectively, enabling them to focus on their core business objectives and drive growth. Additionally, a cost-efficient approach can help companies respond more quickly to changing market conditions and stay agile in uncertainty.

For example, Front End software engineers can use design systems and component libraries which allow developers to build and maintain consistent, reusable UI elements and patterns to speed up development and reduce maintenance costs. Back End software engineers on the other hand can use multi-tenant architecture which is a design pattern in which a single application or service serves multiple customers or ‘tenants. This allows the application to be shared among multiple tenants, reducing the cost and complexity of maintaining separate instances for each tenant.”