Shawn DuBravac

Elon Musk argues artificial intelligence (AI) poses a greater threat to humanity than nuclear weapons while Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes AI will save lives. This juxtaposition reveals the existential threat and potential AI possesses. From accelerating information flow on major weather events to writing sophisticated texts, spreading fake news and undermining public trust, AI is ushering in a new digital paradigm. What’s clear is that AI is going to change all that we know about the digital world and in turn, have massive ramifications on the physical world.

Ten years ago the number of “things” connected to the Internet surpassed the number of people on the planet and this technological tsunami continues to escalate. As objects add capabilities such as context awareness, processing power, energy independence the Internet of Things will grow exponentially. illions or even trillions of connections becomes a network of networks and create boundless opportunities for businesses, individuals and countries. There is a tremendous amount of experimentation taking place today that will redefine our future and influence how we work, communicate and live. The fuel of the next industrial revolution is upon us but it will not be mechanical inventions as it has been through all the ages of history.

A profusion of technological changes on the horizon are poised to forever change the way we work, live and communicate. Voice computing is ushering in a new user interface and changing the way we compute. Virtual reality and augmented reality are altering the way we interact and blurring the lines between the physical and digital worlds. New use-cases for drones, 3D-printers and wearables are arising daily. Self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and the blockchain are fundamentally changing business processes. Increasing swaths of our lives are connected but cybersecurity and privacy concerns are just some of the challenges as we usher a new world filled with technological innovations.

Not long ago we talked about “going online.” In these early days our experiences in the digital world were largely isolated from our analog lives. Today, we dedicate an escalating amount of our time each day to smartphones and spend much of our waking hours consuming media across an assortment of devices. Two-thirds of Americans report they get at least some of their news on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and as a result, technology is having an oversized impact on social norms and culture. The lines between what happens digitally and what happens in our physical lives as blurred beyond recognition. Our identities are increasingly being digitally defined and this has pronounced implications for society as romantic relationships, politics and everything in between are transformed.

The digital revolution is both consolidating and fragmenting the landscape in retail, hospitality, and a plethora of service industries. The internet opened a wide gamut of competition from merchandising to pricing to creating a curated consumer experience. Brands are bidding for loyalty but at the same time ever-more demanding consumer expectations are colliding with legacy service models. Emerging technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, drones, and digital payments are changing how we interact, shop, and make decisions. Executives are facing immeasurable challenges as the confront a digital world redefining service.

Technological shifts are reshaping the urban landscape and producing social change in cities around the global. Municipalities are rethinking infrastructure and transportation investments while seeking ways to protect and optimize scarce resources to improve the quality of life for it’s residents. At the same time consumers are embedding smart technologies throughout their home and personal lives. Wearable sensors are facilitating robust and dynamic real-time data while technological transformations like self-driving vehicles are poised to massively change structural elements of cities throughout the world.