In its latest “5 in 5” forecast of trends that will change the way people interact with technology, IBM names cloud computing and machine learning as the innovations that are poised to make the biggest impact on our lives, potentially even helping traditional retailers get back in the saddle.

First on the list is personalized education, in which instructions and materials are tailored on an individual basis using the student’s unique data exhaust. IBM sees this model gaining traction in emerging markets and democratizing knowledge “from kindergarten to high school,” better preparing graduates for the job market. Companies like Udacity and Cerego are leading the way by democratizing Hadoop and helping tomorrow’s healthcare professionals study more efficiently.

Next up is data-driven retail, which Big Blue says will enable traditional brick-and-mortar businesses to push back against e-commerce and ultimately make a comeback. The company anticipates that retailers will exploit analytics to create experiences that cannot be replicated online, where competitive pricing and convenience are the only differentiators. With supply chains becoming more efficient, that edge is now quickly eroding.

Third on the list is genome sequencing. Big Data combined with cognitive computing systems like Watson will empower doctors to accurately diagnose patients and create treatment plans “personalized right down to a genomic level.”

The fourth trend is intelligent security, which IBM envisions as a “digital guardian” that will draw on multiple data sources to identify a person across different platforms and greatly reduce the risk of identify theft. It sounds promising, but the NSA surveillance scandal has left many with a bitter taste.

Finally, the tech giant predicts that municipalities will tap into new information streams to provide better services for citizens. In the next five years, mobile and social will help city leaders engage their constituents and address public issues much more effectively.