#92-TRANSFORMATION MATTERS- Why I have been writing books and blogs about Startups Ecosystem, Venture funds, Digital Maturity Models, and Future tech for the last few years?

I have been blessed enough to have written a book titled ‘Digital Event Horizon’, over 100+ technology blogs, designed CXO podcasts, digital topic workshops, and published 700+ Linkedin digital playbook posts.

Learning is the most important skill to possess in the 21st century and intellectual humility will allow you to develop it. The more I study, the more I realize how much is there to learn and internalize.

Study the megatrends, and then choose the micro-trends that are relevant for your career and business growth. No one can learn everything, but you can learn enough to be part of the top 1% quartile.

1. Level 0- Are you learning to defend what you already know or past biases?
2. Level-1-Are you learning to learn new things? You view learning only as a journey and a great way to pass time.
3. Level-2-Are you learning to be a thought-leader? For you, the implementation does not matter much as long as you have followers?
4. Level-3-Are you learning to earn and grow? The outcome is also important as your time is limited.

My suggestion- Go for level 3, as by being on that level you can switch gears to another level anytime plus your learning will have the evidence of results. Be a doer and an observer, in the world of talkers.

Here is a quick cheat sheet from the research and the reason why I write?

1. The years between 1990 and 2050, will do down in history as the age of ‘Technology Renessaince’
2. The world will be connected for the first time (with the internet and smartphone acting as a P2P infrastructure highway)
3. Customers will accept and expect personalization as a requirement to get optimal service from businesses
4. Data privacy concerns will arise and will be sorted
5. The world will be moving from unorganized enterprises to organized businesses, and then to centralized platforms
6. The centralized platforms will finally be disrupted into decentralized entities with blockchain technology.

Future tech is closer than you think: 2020’s the world will see exponential change

1. Metaverse will become real in the 2020s with scope going beyond gaming
2. 5g and 6g’s will be the normal speed globally
3. Consumer hardware and smartphones will reach maturity by the 2030s
4. Smartphones and work screens may even become replaceable by cheap (1–2 dollar hologram screens). Before this becomes a reality, it will require wearable platforms and metaverse ecosystems to mature as computing platforms.
5. By 2025 EV’s will be normal and Autonomous vehicles will become real by the 2030s. However, will require substantial investments and supporting regulations.
6. AI (artificial intelligence)will be used by all industries like electricity.
7. Singularity may be reached by 2040 and it will be possible to download human consciousness into bots
8. Consumer bots looking like humans and powered by advanced AI and robotic dexterity will be real mainstream gadgets by 2030
9. Trust will be digitized and intermediaries will be eliminated with help of smart contracts and decentralized protocols embedded with settlement algorithms and resolution models based on all possible scenarios.
10. Money and digital assets as we know now will undergo big shifts. The world will be divided into crypto have’s and have nots.
11. Biotech- plant tissue and stem cell advancements will enhance the quality of human life
12. A full climate-tech ecosystem (startups, VC’s and governments) will be able to solve the climate crisis. It will be tough, but the only way out of the existential crisis.

How to navigate the future?

1. All industries will be required to optimize themselves as technology-first industries.
2. To survive businesses will have to understand the ‘digital maturity models’ within their industry and competitive threats from outside the core industry
3. Goes without saying all businesses and companies will become technology organizations too. If the product is not digital, the selling channels and the customer interactions will be digital
4. To survive keep an eye on the start-up ecosystem and do not miss game-changing innovation?
5. Build and orchestrate a digital ecosystem startegy-If you cannot beat them, buy them. If you cannot buy them, join them.
6. As a consumer, digital detox and mental health will become very important
7. Governments will have to find the right balance between innovation and regulation
8. Climate change, Biowarfare/virus attacks, and space missiles are three forces that can derail all innovation if not taken care of.

Best regards,

Sidhartha Sharma (views are personal)

Sidhartha S. - Director, ASEAN- Digital Strategy & Transformation, Global Innovation - EY |…