Futuresinfocus

The network effect is the essence of the power of the internet. It adds exponential power and opportunities the more and more people get to use it. Ideas like internet-scale mean we can exponentially expand usage and interconnectedness without major investments. Digital opportunities mean we can seamlessly move from one environment to another and across any device type, almost no matter where we are. The economic opportunities created by these seamless experiences are all around us. Access to this seamless internet is seen as a human right no matter who you are (economically, disability-wise).  Now imagine a transportation system (planes, trains, cars) that could deliver such a seamless, interconnected experience for everyone. Our guest, Matt Jones the director of technology at Ford talks about how software factory thinking across all forms of transportation could deliver the same scale and experiences to those less able and less financially advantaged than now. The world of transportation and the a

This conversation occurred before Covid-19 in the US. Its ideas and messages feel even more appropriate than before with Anne’s focus on inclusion and diversity at its core. One thing that especially makes Anne stand out is the description of herself in her LinkedIn profile: Transformation executive, servant leader, diversity & inclusion champion, culture expert, and blogger.AT&T’s construct of rotating executives is not unheard of elsewhere, but it is still very common in most global leading brands. While AT&T is significantly ahead of its peer competitors there is still some way to go to have women and women of color properly represented in the halls of executive leadership. Anne’s own journey to be the CEO of a unit that would in itself be a Fortune 50 company should serve as a shining example of what is possible with some key variables.Think of these four facts and how they are going to affect our futures and our, future leaders.In 2019 29% of management roles were held by women even although

We live in a converging world of physical and virtual opportunities. Sometimes these converge with interesting positive upsides like Amazon, or Uber Eats, or Airbnb. AI is at the center of these digital companies as they scale massively to deliver near-instant value through data, from physical data to the virtual world and from the virtual world to the physical world. Those able to combine physical and virtual have been able to dominate traditional thinking and established norms in transformative ways, This is the new world order, the new way business will happen. Data-driven, near-instant, AI instructed, and near-instantly agile and effective.  Now apply that thinking to the world of intelligence and national defense. Converging virtual and physical threats and opportunities and the realization that a digital-led, data model is where we are going. The US Airforce’s first chief software officer talks to us about that future and our choices in the 2030s.

Much of the challenge with the next great technology is the ability to connect the innovation or the technology directly to the idea of changing the world. A faster cell phone, a more powerful processor, a smaller footprint all feel good, but they don’t shift the power in the world to do better for all. Our guest today, Cristina Rodriguez is Vice President in Intel Corporation’s Network and Edge Group and general manager of the Wireless Access Network Division see this as the moment that the traditional model should be stepped over for how ideas like the edge, latency-free and 5G all connect together and will vastly stretch technologies in this new world to directly open up opportunities for underserved communities across the globe, first and foremost. It’s a unique view about how technology companies can change the velocity for their effect on the whole world by 2031. 

This week’s guest is an important indicator of a future world where doing the right things will directly correlate with getting the financial results. As the ex-Chief Ethics Officer of Airbnb, Robert Chesnut. Robert has lived the journey of doing the right things actually driving better results. What was once a paradox of trying to achieve profits (for shareholders) versus doing the right things for employees, customers and the environment is no longer the case now and he argues will need to be the norm for operating practices and leadership by 2031.  It’s a lesson in the choices we no longer need to make to be successful.

Leadership often takes outsiders to redefine highly established industries. Five chocolate vendors own the vast majority of the global chocolate market’s delivery and production. Our guest Nate Saal, the founder of CocoTerra believes that this should not be the case by 2031 when creating highly personalized versions of chocolate should be as easy as baking at home or making wine. He is a technologist from the software industry bringing a whole new way of thinking to an industry dominated by traditional thinking and methods for production. Innovation invariably has to come from way outside the industry to change the very traditions that have dominated its shape and form over time. Five companies make the vast majority of the world’s chocolate product and their techniques prevent easy home construction. His promise is an indicator of how we as consumers are changing the lens for how companies will need to innovate and deliver in order for them to keep ahead of the curve as old production mon

Amy Webb is a rare breed of industry-respected thinker (Thinkers 50 Radar award winner in 2018), author (The Big Nine and The Signals Are Talking), and somebody prepared to look at signals in the world now and draw out what possible challenges, opportunities, and discussions we need to have that are new in order for humankind to thrive by 2030The control and ownership of AI patents, development of IP, and people are very much centered on the Big Nine (it includes Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Google, Facebook). In effect, the capital base for an AI or data-centered global economy sits in the hands of just nine organizations. This could be very scary as it throws up new ideas, debates, and even lexicography that is not very present in the way we think today.For example, should person A be presented with a different price for the same product as person B depending on their profile or online data?  This could range from the price of toilet paper to even maybe healthcare. 

In January 2020 the US theater industry was a very solid 9% up on revenue and screen viewings compared to 2019. Various blockbusters, romantic comedies, and the normal array of independent moves were part of a very traditional mix of post-Christmas release programs, increasingly seeing near parallel releases around the world. Nothing was in the pipeline that would have changed this perception or even projection that the industry was literally about to fall off a cliff and drop 80%+ in the next few months because of Covid-19.  

We live in a world of exponential change. It affects all of us. However, it has its greatest effect on leadership as we increasingly have to make conscious decisions about the world we want to create in a world of exponential change. To put it in a simple metaphor. We all live in a world of Moore’s law. That underlying challenge sits at the heart of the discussion today with Geoff Tuff and Steven Goldbach the authors of the forthcoming book, Provoke. Do you choose to lead a wind-down or choose to provoke change?

As we have all experienced the first year and half of Covid-19, it is clear that working from home has un-even rules. Some of us have the space at home, some of us can do work remotely. It's assumed most of us have access to a powerful enough internet to work with colleagues and customers. Yet, in reality, and especially in the United States, many do not have that privilege. Yet their work and working habits could be seen on the same level as their peers with the right type of internet access. With the onset of Covid-19, we have transformed from a world where 3% of us worked from home to one where maybe 30% or more work from home; (as of publication, the number is 26%) this rural access divide will become an increasing disadvantage for a sizeable under-served swath of society. Twenty-five percent of the US live in a rural environment. As we all work in a digital world, why would we want to stunt opportunities for one in four of us?

A more intelligent systems approach for energy lies ahead of us as we shift the power generation from boomers to generation X and younger. Ideas like mini power grids that deliver and receive energy might be foreign to most us, but they are inevitable parts of a future that is unfolding in-front of us globally. By 2030 these systems might be normal, and we might reflect on a world where their lack of presence was seen as archaic.

The mass adoption of industrial robots has yet to take place. Automation has been supporting human efforts on manufacturing floors in warehouses for years. However, that shift is going to change by 2030 exponentially. The relationship between robots and humanity will get increasingly attractive as PwC estimates that 70% of global GDP growth by 2030 will come from what we could call the machine economy. Daniel Theobald is the CEO and Founder of Vecna Robotics. Daniel has decades of experience leading research scientists and teams of engineers in developing cutting-edge technology. He has 67 issued patents and more than 30 patents pending. Daniel has also been at the forefront of robotics for more than 20 years, working closely with DARPA, DOD, NASA, NIH, USDA, and others to advance the use of robots and AI software to improve warehouse automation.The journey will be incredibly complex for humanity and robotics, and it has sometimes been damaged by the way Hollywood portrays complex interactions in overly

John Kotter’s book; Leading Change is still a seminal management handbook decades after it was initially published. The questions for its’ author are about its continued relevance in a world that could be radically different in ten years’ time let alone different compared to twenty or thirty years ago. Kotter talks about what it is going to take to win in the 21st Century as leaders. He talks about the balance of traditional and new world thinking and design that needs permeate our daily thinking.Dr. Kotter’s view is that the core DNA for change management and leadership is more important than ever as organizations are living in a state of near constant change. The DNA of that leader is increasingly tested on a higher frequency basis than ever before so strengths are amplified and weakness become more damaging in near real time. Listen as he talks through examples at IBM, Boeing and HMS.

Cadillac is a very unique and old US brand. The term Cadillac has transcended the English language as both a measure of pure US quality and also as a symbol of traditional worldwide automotive quality. The brand has a history of innovation, first electric starter, the first with airbags, and first with actual hands’ free driving. Innovation does not always get rewarded with market share as part of the DNA for innovation has driven internal rewards to keep pushing it forward from design to engineering. The brand has a DNA around innovation, so questions like what does an EV car experience look like should be s key focus for Cadillac?

Imagine drones being able to get to an emergency destination before the emergency teams arrive in a small town like Paris, Texas. Imagine school-teachers being able to use drones to collect data for a live class trying to learn geometry. Imagine a drone being able to deliver fire retardant to a specific destination in a fire. Imagine being a mid-western lumber company able to use drones to see when timber should be harvested and then transported in autonomous vehicles to a facility.

Ben Marcus is the Chairman of Airmap, a company that aims to deliver a four-dimensional version of Google and Ways maps for the sky that will be filled with drones by 2030.  Unlike Google/Ways the platform will be an autonomous air control system that helps orchestrate in very safe ways how drones of various sizes and with very different purposes navigate the sky’s above us. There is probably nobody better suited to ask about drones of the future and what we should hope for, expect and think about as consumers and leaders for the world of 2030.Ben’s view is that drones will help solve urban over-crowding, bring services and products to rural areas in ways only big cities dwellers have experiences and also widen or perspectives on personal transportation. Drones in 2030 will be as common as seeing cars around you on the road.

This is part two of a two part interview - A world where investing in you might be your best personal financial plan. The world of personal finance in 2030 is going to change in many ways. We are going to work longer and differently and for many of us will have the burden of paying for those that have not managed their own personal finances to accommodate for an extra five, or ten years’ work presents whole range of challenges for us as a society? The podcast with Joel Deitch the founder of the Commonwealth fund ($160bn in assets) is a window into how we can re balance ourselves towards a future where enormous leaps in bio-technology as well as more traditional technologies like 3D printing of organs will become daily realities. AI and the Internet of things, Quantum computing, the cloudification of near everything will change our lives. We should expect both of these technology engines to change how we think about our own personal financial management models for 2030 and beyond. We will be tracked by healthc

This is part one of a two part interview - A world where investing in you might be your best personal financial plan. The world of personal finance in 2030 is going to change in many ways. We are going to work longer and differently and for many of us will have the burden of paying for those that have not managed their own personal finances to accommodate for an extra five, or ten years’ work presents whole range of challenges for us as a society? The podcast with Joel Deitch the founder of the Commonwealth fund ($160bn in assets) is a window into how we can re balance ourselves towards a future where enormous leaps in bio-technology as well as more traditional technologies like 3D printing of organs will become daily realities. AI and the Internet of things, Quantum computing, the cloudification of near everything will change our lives. We should expect both of these technology engines to change how we think about our own personal financial management models for 2030 and beyond. We will be tracked by healthc

The networking world has been one of the last cloud holdouts in an age where we expect everything to be on the cloud. Moving to the cloud makes anything appear and behave in an exponentially larger and more valuable way. Think about the idea of the touchless stadium in the NFL or MLN, or NHL. You turn up, and you don’t need cash or a ticket. Your concierge knows who you are and exactly where you need to go for your favorite refreshment from a stand. Touchless needs cloud. But more importantly, touchless will also make us feel more hygienic, safer, and more comfortable in crowded places in a post-Covid-19 world.Today’s discussion with Wes Durow, the CMO of Extreme Networks, isn’t about the idea of touchless entry and experiences inside a sports stadium. The conversation goes far deeper into the new value models being created by networks based on how the telemetry data which has always been available can now put towards far more value in a world. A world where exactly where you are and where you

Climate change and its implications have been the third rail for much of the world for a long time. No one economy and no one government has ever locked into a sustainable model between government and business. Now might be the moment where that third rail concept is solved. Today’s discussion on a personal and scientific level with one of the world’s leading climate scientists, Dr. Jeff Arnold who is the chief climate researcher for the US army core of engineers is a unique insight into how the moment may now have transpired to make a change.  There are four factors colliding here for real change: Raw processing power, a new generational focus, commercial interests, and pure evidence.  Dr. Arnold talks as a scientist in the global community of climate change professionals about a refreshing view to what could be very possible by 2030 with three driving factors, connecting together in a positive and effective manner.