As the world changes, the pressure on companies to succeed ramps up a notch. No one wants to become extinct. The reality is however, that in a hyper connected world, few succeed as competition is fierce and there is no hiding place. We have entered the fourth industrial revolution: a golden time for consumers and a very stressing time for companies.

In the first industrial revolution we saw water and steam power being used in order to boost production. The second industrial revolution saw humans use electric power to produce things en-mass, and the third industrial revolution started to automate that production by using advanced electronics and computer systems.

We are now firmly living in the fourth industrial revolution, and it is hyper-charged. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), data science, biological advances and biotech, nanotech robotics, 5G and blockchains are all technologies which individually would herald a new revolution of their own. They are taking place in parallel to one another, and even more exciting is that they are converging to create exponential growth. Of course, you will know given the December 2019 outbreak of COVID-19 what exponential means: it’s the same effect as the effect of compounding in finance, or the effect of a pyramid scheme (or Ponzi scheme) where one investor invites two more, and those two invite four more, with growth happening at a frightening rate. Growth, and change, has never been so fast, nor will it remain as slow ever again.

THE NEED TO INNOVATE

So, companies find themselves with the need to innovate. Because, if they do not, they will likely fall foul to the fourth industrial revolution. Irrespective of what industry you are in, change is happening around you.