Businesses are often swept up by the promise of transformative technologies, yet many fail to live up to the hype. From robot colleagues to meetings in the metaverse, here are four tech trends that fizzled out, and how HR can distinguish a passing fad from a genuine breakthrough.

The dawn of a new year tends to usher in a fresh wave of predictions about what might change in the months and years ahead. Could this be the year that AI becomes capable of human emotion? Or the decade that virtual reality replaces entire office buildings?

Keeping a finger on the pulse of emerging technologies is an important way for HR practitioners to anticipate change and conduct effective scenario planning. However, as we gear up for the year ahead, it’s also important to keep in mind that these predictions are just that: predictions. 

Some of the forecasts cropping up in the coming weeks will hold much more weight than others, and discerning the facts from the fads will be crucial to avoid over-investing time and resources into trendy technology that ultimately comes up short.

“The pace of technological change is relentless, and HR leaders are constantly bombarded with new tools and innovations,” says Dr Philip Gibbs, founding partner of Agile HR Analytics and former Executive of People, Data and Analytics at NAB, CBA and GSK. “The challenge isn’t just keeping up – it’s identifying which technologies truly add value versus those that are just noise.

“It’s important to approach emerging technologies with a healthy dose of skepticism. The challenge isn’t just identifying new solutions – it’s successfully implementing them, customising them to fit organisational needs and achieving measurable outcomes. That’s rarely as simple or immediate as the hype suggests.”

The internet is a graveyard for past technology predictions that didn’t work out as expected, from the proliferation of blockchain at work to swathes of humanoid robot ‘employees’. 

Below, Gibbs provides insight on some of the technologies that were once seen as game-changers, but did not live up to their potential. 

1. Virtual reality for collaboration and training

In 2021, Bill Gates predicted that most virtual meetings would be conducted in the metaverse using virtual avatars by around 2024. 

Considering that most of us are not donning a virtual reality (VR) headset each day to check in with colleagues, it’s safe to say metaverse adoption did not play out as he – and many others – expected.

Hype around the metaverse accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when employers saw it as a way to replace in-person training and collaboration that employees were missing out on due to prolonged lockdowns. 

In 2022, HRM even profiled an organisation using this technology to onboard new employees, building a virtual ‘campus’ where users could complete gamified activities to get to know the organisation.

Initiatives like this were an impressive demonstration of the power of virtual experiences, and are still a useful and exciting tool for organisations training and onboarding dispersed teams at scale. 

However, for most organisations, these initiatives no longer made sense once lockdowns were lifted and employees could interact and collaborate in person once again. 

“While virtual reality has promising applications in certain industries – particularly in specialised training environments – it hasn’t seen widespread adoption in everyday workplace collaboration,” says Dr Gibbs. 

The main reason why workplace VR growth has fallen flat is likely the cost associated with implementing the technology, he says. The hardware, such as high-quality VR headsets, sensors and computing power, carries a hefty price tag – and it doesn’t end there.

“Effective workplace VR requires highly specialised, customised content. Unlike traditional e-learning, VR isn’t a plug-and-play solution – developing training modules is resource-intensive and costly.”

Employers tend to underestimate the effort and resources required to integrate VR into daily business operations, he adds, and user adoption can also be challenging given that some individuals still find VR uncomfortable or disorienting.

2. Robot employees

The prospect of living and working side-by-side with humanoid robots has been explored through books, films and other media for decades. 

The role of robotics in our working lives has expanded hugely in that time, but not in the way that many anticipated. By 2025, robots were not just anticipated to take over menial tasks, but also to understand and emulate human characteristics. 

In 2014, a humanoid robot named ‘Pepper’ was released by Japanese firm SoftBank, branded as the first robot that could read human emotions. Analysts said the robot could work in sectors such as aged care and tackle critical skills shortages. 

In 2015, Gartner predicted that by 2018, millions of workers globally would be supervised by a ‘roboboss’.

Needless to say, not many employees today are having their performance reviews conducted by robots, and, in 2020, production of Pepper stopped due to a lack of demand.

“Like VR, the biggest barriers to humanoid robots in the workplace are cost and complexity. Designing robots that can seamlessly interact with humans in unpredictable environments remains an enormous technical challenge,” says Dr Gibbs.

Consequently, most of the roles and functions that many expected humanoid robots to take over have instead been retained by humans or handed to AI, he says.

“Sometimes it’s not the most sophisticated solution that’s the best route – sometimes it’s just doing the very basic thing.” – Dr Philip Gibbs, founding partner, Agile HR Analytics

3. Blockchain in HR

Blockchain, a system which stores records across a network of computers in a way that is resistant to tampering, is most commonly associated with cryptocurrencies. The first blockchain system was launched in 2009 to coincide with the launch of Bitcoin. 

However, the potential of blockchain technology to create decentralised employee data systems was soon recognised by employers, and predictions in the mid-2010s hailed blockchain as a game-changer for organisations, particularly for their HR and recruitment functions.

“Blockchain has potential applications across various HR functions, particularly in credential verification and background checks, where it could streamline administrative tasks and reduce fraud,” says Dr Gibbs.

In a 2019 global survey by Gartner, 60 per cent of Chief Information Officers said that they expected some level of adoption of blockchain technologies in the following three years. However, as of 2024, the global business adoption rate of blockchain stood at just 10 per cent.

“Privacy and security concerns remain the biggest barriers to blockchain adoption in HR,” says Dr Gibbs. “Employee records include highly sensitive data – everything from medical histories to performance reviews – and the evolving regulatory landscape makes compliance a complex challenge.”

The lack of regulatory guidelines around blockchain and its susceptibility to technical failures means many organisations have been reluctant to entrust it with sensitive data, he explains. 

What’s more, the power of generative AI to revolutionise data management means that blockchain has been somewhat sidelined as the hype around AI continues to grow.

4. Wearable technology at work 

Wearable fitness trackers have become hugely popular among consumers since the release of the Fitbit in 2012 and the Apple Watch two years later. In 2015, Gartner predicted that millions of employees would soon be required to wear health and fitness tracking devices as a condition of employment. 

However, companies that have implemented these devices to keep tabs on employees have been met with criticism, and the debate over the ethics of their use continues to this day.

“Wearable technology has exciting potential for employee wellbeing, but without the right safeguards, it also carries risks,” says Dr Gibbs.

“Wearables can collect a lot of sensitive data, and not just during work time – things like your location, your biometrics, your productivity… It could encourage over-monitoring and blur the balance between work and personal life, leading to burnout.”

Employers are also subject to complex data privacy laws which make wearables a compliance minefield, he says.

“Data ownership is another critical issue – who controls the data collected from wearables? Is it the employer, the employee, or the vendor? Without clear policies, this ambiguity can create legal and ethical conflicts.”

There are further layers of complexity when employees need to travel for work, he adds, since data protection laws vary by country.

While these concerns have prevented wearable devices for employees from going mainstream, Dr Gibbs has observed initiatives where wearables have helped organisations do genuine good for their employees, including the popular Global Corporate Challenge. 

“The idea was that each person walks 10,000 steps a day over three months, and you see how far across the globe you could walk [cumulatively] in that period,” he says. “If you can report things like that in aggregate levels, you’re protecting individual identities. 

“If it’s part of a structured program with the right transparency, trust and the ability to opt in and opt out, there’s a lot of benefits to these things – but employee choice is really important.”

Determining a technology fad from a real game-changer

Over-investing in the wrong tools and systems can have serious negative knock-on effects. Beyond the financial cost, constantly throwing new technologies and processes at employees can erode trust and create change fatigue. 

“Your employees have got to embrace it,” says Dr Gibbs. “If they’re fearful, if they’re resistant, you’ve just got a waste of money on your hands. We need to adopt a much more human-centric approach to this and think about the end users – who is this for, and what are the problems we’re trying to solve? That’s how we’re going to win and evolve.” 

Starting with the problems the organisation is trying to solve rather than what the technology can do will help HR align the new tool with the existing business strategy and demonstrate to employees how the change will benefit them. 

It’s often helpful to think about bringing in new tools the same way we think about hiring new employees, says Dr Gibbs. 

“We have a very established recruitment process where we do all the assessment, selection, psychometrics, interviews, and then say, ‘Right, here is the preferred candidate,’” he says. 

“It’s not [a case of] the manager just going, ‘I want to bring in my mate.’ And how is that any different [from saying] ‘I’ve been to a conference. I’ve seen this really exciting solution. Let’s get that in’?”

As emerging technologies such as AI continue to transform the HR function, Dr Gibbs says more collaboration is needed between HR, technology and finance to assess the viability of new technologies.

“At the end of the day, we’re all enabling functions and units. But I don’t always see that [collaboration]; we often see some butting heads. I would hope to see those functions start to come together more on this to demystify all the hype,” he says.

“It all comes back to the problem we’re trying to solve, and what solutions are out there that can help solve that problem. Sometimes it’s not the most sophisticated solution that’s the best route – sometimes it’s just doing the very basic thing.”

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