The future is assistive: How AI and accessibility will shape the next decade of work

Great experiences should not be reserved for consumer apps; employees want and need great tools too. And with emerging technologies like multimodal interfaces, intelligent agents, and ambient computing, that vision can become a reality.

Multimodal interfaces: Technology that speaks, listens, and understands

Imagine a workday where you switch effortlessly between voice, touch, gesture, and even eye or head movement to interact with your tools. That’s the promise of multimodal interfaces, and they’re already reshaping how we communicate and collaborate.

The basic two-senses principle of accessibility is the perfect match for multimodal interfaces. At least two ways of interacting must be available: if you can see it on a screen, you should be able to hear it via screen reader or read aloud or touch it via braille or haptic feedback.

For people with disabilities, these interfaces aren’t just cool features — they can be the difference between being able to do their job or not.

AI has accelerated the advances in natural language processing (NLP) that powers many assistive technologies. A person with limited dexterity or a limb difference might dictate notes while walking or rolling along, or someone with hearing impairment might rely on real-time sound recognition, captions and haptic feedback in an emergency. Even for those without disabilities, multimodal input means more natural, efficient workflows tailored to how you work best. As a non-native speaker, you can use the captions and translation embedded in our communications tools and devices to better understand content. The system now can adapt to human needs instead of you having to learn and adapt to the IT systems around you.

There is huge potential for breaking down barriers between humans and machines to make everyone’s lives easier and more efficient. In the next decade, I expect these interfaces will become more intuitive, adaptive, and personalized, learning your needs, capabilities and helping enhance your interactions. Accessibility is a great example of the benefits of hyper-personalization. This is assistive technology at its finest — fed and enhanced by lived experience, embedded seamlessly in everyday tools to help us focus on what matters: human connection.

Intelligent agents: The digital colleagues who know you

AI-powered intelligent agents are already buzzing in our inboxes and calendars, but the future holds so much more. Picture an assistant that understands your working style, anticipates your access needs, and proactively helps without being intrusive.

Have you heard the term access intimacy? It is a term coined by disability justice activist Mia Mingus, and it refers to the deep understanding and ease in navigating access needs between people, particularly between disabled and non-disabled individuals. She describes it as “that elusive, hard to describe feeling when someone else “gets” your access needs.”

AI, or rather Machine Learning (ML) has been an inherent part of their work life for disabled employees using assistive tech for decades, but now it’s becoming more conversational and more personal. That said, AI cannot replace the human touch, but I believe it is a tool that can indeed facilitate the process of ensuring everyone is included and able to realize their full potential.

For employees with cognitive disabilities or neurodivergent colleagues, these agents can provide customized reminders, simplify or interpret the tone of complex information, even help prioritize tasks — all tailored to individual preferences and situational context.

I’ve seen how AI-driven agents can reduce stress and increase productivity simply by automatic repetitive tasks, reducing the fear of the white page or making work interactions feel less overwhelming. In fact, I use it every day to find a file or a link I share in the myriad of Teams channels and email boxes I work with!

Looking forward, I believe intelligent agents will evolve into valued collaborators, capable of nuanced understanding and provide finer interpretation of context and tone — not just executing commands but maybe even enhancing human creativity and decision-making further, way beyond being brainstorming partners to a creative human being.  I deliberately chose to call agents “valuable collaborators” as the issue of trust is something that will need to be addressed as we roll out ever more capable technology that knows more and more about us and has complete access to the most personal of our data.

Ambient computing: Work that fades into the background

One of the most exciting trends I follow is ambient computing — the idea that computing power becomes invisible, embedded in our environment, responding naturally to our presence and needs. Imagine walking into your office or home workspace and your digital environment adjusts automatically: lighting shifts for optimal comfort, documents you need appear on any screen nearby, your assistant reads your messages aloud as you prepare coffee.

For accessibility, ambient computing means assistive tech won’t require active setup, expensive third party software or high technical profile training and interventions. It’ll just be there — quietly supporting you, learning about your needs, and removing friction from your day. This was the dream set out by Professor Gregg Vanderheiden’s vision of a Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) over a decade ago but advances in the capabilities of technology make it closer to reality than ever.

This ambient intelligence will be especially transformative for those access needs, mental health conditions, or long-term conditions that create fatigue or lack of focus, helping level the playing field like never before.

The assistive revolution: Technology that sees people first

As a digital workplace and accessibility specialist, my guiding principle is simple: technology should serve people — not just see nameless users or data points. Technology should solve real human needs. It should be a tool made by and for people.  It should respect diverse needs and amplify human potential with no exceptions.