The technology works. The benefits are proven. The demand is real. The question is not whether smart glasses will become part of enterprise workflows, but how we plan for a future where hardware keeps changing faster than procurement cycles can keep up.
Remember when autonomous cars were definitely going to be everywhere by 2020? Then 2023?
One of my favourite stories from that era came out of Chandler, Arizona, where a Waymo minivan got itself stuck at an intersection. The company sent a roadside assistance team to rescue it — only for the car to suddenly drive away, swerve into the middle of the road, and end up blocking three lanes of traffic. A rare moment, caught on video, of an autonomous vehicle behaving less like a futuristic marvel and more like a confused learner driver. (If you’re curious, you can watch it here).Now we’re hearing 2030—give or take another decade. Billions invested, prototypes that shine in test conditions, benefits that are clear as day… and yet, most of us are still driving ourselves to work, muttering at traffic lights.
The same déjà vu plays out with AR smart glasses. Every year, the headlines promise we're on the brink of mass adoption. Every year, the demos get more polished, the ROI case studies more persuasive. And every year, we wake up to find the revolution is still "just around the corner."
But here's the thing: this isn't a story of failure. The technology works. The benefits are proven. The demand is real. The question is not whether smart glasses will become part of enterprise workflows, but how we plan for a future where hardware keeps changing faster then procurement cycles can keep up.
On paper, smart glasses should already be as common in factories and warehouses as tablets are in retail.
The market numbers are bullish: IDC predicts the AR/VR market will grow at nearly 39% CAGR between 2025 and 2029, with smart glasses shipments jumping from 2.7 million in 2024 to almost 19 million in 2029. Not everyone agrees on the exact numbers—some forecasts are more conservative, closer to 600,000 units in 2025—but either way, growth is undeniable.
And enterprises aren't just experimenting anymore. They're finding tangible value:
These aren't vanity metrics for glossy reports; they're the sort of numbers CFOs sit up for.
Meanwhile, the ecosystem has matured. Standards like OpenXR make cross-device development possible. Mobile device management tools can treat smart glasses like any other corporate device. And enterprise-friendly AR frameworks are now baked into the major cloud platforms.
So yes, the ingredients are there. The kitchen smells wonderful. But somehow, dinner never quite arrives at the table.
Despite all the positive signs, the smart glasses market is littered with abandoned hardware. Google quietly discontinued Glass Enterprise Edition 2 in 2023. Microsoft wound down HoloLens 2 production in 2024. Magic Leap has reinvented itself more times than most startups survive.
For enterprises, this isn't a curiosity — t's a problem. Nobody wants to explain to the board why last year's £3,000-per-head investment is this year's paperweight. And the pattern keeps repeating: promising device launches, enthusiastic pilots, then silence as the vendor "pivots to new opportunities."
Pick the wrong horse, and you're not just stuck with outdated hardware—you're stuck with support contracts, accessory ecosystems, and training programs for devices that no longer exist.
But here's what the glossy AR roadmaps don't tell you: even when the hardware works perfectly, people don't scale as quickly as software does.
I've seen too many AR pilots that looked brilliant in controlled demos but died quietly when rolled out to actual workers. The technology performed flawlessly. The ROI was proven. But adoption rates flatlined because nobody thought about the human side of the equation.
Unlike code running quietly on a server, AR lives on people's faces. And people default to the familiar unless you give them compelling reasons—and proper support—to change.
The organisations that succeed with AR aren't just investing in better hardware. They're investing in training programs that make workers confident rather than confused. They're building change management processes that treat AR adoption like any other significant workflow change, not like handing out new staplers.
When pilots fail, it's rarely because the technology doesn't work. It's because people don't adopt it. And when people don't adopt it, even the most flexible hardware architecture in the world won't save your project.
The strategic lesson: build for change
The mistake isn't believing in AR's future—that's a safe bet. The mistake is structuring your digital transformation around specific hardware timelines or vendor promises.
Smart organisations are learning to treat smart glasses as interchangeable endpoints in a broader spatial computing strategy. They:
This approach does two things: it lets enterprises extract value today, while hedging against the volatility of the hardware market tomorrow. It's the AR equivalent of "bring your own device"—except the device might be a Vuzix, a RealWear, a Rokid, or something we haven't yet heard of.
But just as importantly, it means building adoption strategies that work regardless of which glasses your workers are wearing. Because hardware flexibility means nothing if your people won't use it.
AR isn't a question of if, but when. The problem is that "when" has been perpetually five years away for at least a decade.
I think, the winners won't be those who perfectly guess the timing or pick the right headset. They'll be the ones who build adaptable strategies, extract value now, and are ready for whatever hardware finally sticks—while ensuring their people are confident and capable users, not reluctant adopters.
Because if there's one lesson from autonomous cars, it's this: the future always seems to be just around the corner. The trick is to make sure your strategy works just fine while you're still waiting at the junction. And that your drivers are actually ready to get in the car when it finally arrives.
