You may have heard of these disruptions but don’t realize how close and big they are.
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From combinatorial innovation to combinatorial disruption
GenAI is the big splash that has catalyzed a rolling series of ripple effects. On its own, each ripple represents a potentially impactful disruptive technology. In combination, they amplify and accelerate each other, such that between now and 2029, forward-looking CIOs will need to incorporate them into their strategies.
Here are three of the disruptions anticipated to make a huge impact in the next five years, the fields they will unsettle, and the short-term actions that proactive organizations can take to combat or exploit them.
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Global-scale disruptive technologies potentially reinventing markets by 2029
Whereas fads spike in popularity once and then disappear, disruptions are an enduring fundamental shift in a behavior, technology or governance system.
Disruptive technology No.1: Autonomous drones
People still think of drones as the fun machines you see buzzing around at the park or taking pictures at an outdoor concert. The reality is that drones are being put to various commercial uses, like spraying crops or surveilling areas after a natural disaster to provide needed resources. By 2029, intelligent drones will outnumber people. Many drones will be autonomous, making their own decisions without immediate human oversight.
Autonomous drones will disrupt:
Light cargo delivery
Ocean shipping
Warehouse robotics
Troop deployments in conflict zones
Organizations should:
Research the unintended consequences of autonomous drones.
Brainstorm how to leverage or combat drones with “agency.”
Disruptive technology No 2: SEO 3.0
The next big thing in search is not having to search at all — perhaps via advanced personalization and customization for everything we do. The winners in this field will include not just those actors who can choose the content someone is likely to want, but also those who can personalize the content itself. That means going beyond serving a user ads for things they searched for, to designing and displaying those ads in a way the person wants to see them.
This disruption could also unleash a battle between SEO leaders who personalize based on what viewers want and SEO manipulators who capture our personalization designers and use them to push disinformation or social engineering.
SEO 3.0 will disrupt:
Traditional SEO
Marketing tactics
Personalization
Influencer growth algorithms
Organizations should:
Decide to attack or defend in personalized content.
Reduce investments in traditional SEO.
Disruptive technology No 3: Energy power play
The growth in AI to power drones, personalized cinematic experiences, and SEO 3.0 uses a lot of energy. We currently self-generate enough power to cover what we consume, and the infrastructure for distributing power is fragile. That will create massive demand for alternative approaches to creating and distributing power.
Energy power play will disrupt:
Traditional power generation
Grid infrastructure
Power sharing
Energy leaders
Major consumers
Organizations should:
Form consortia to share self-generated power.
Seek renewable power sources.
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Tech disruptions FAQs
What is the difference between a disruptive technology and a fad?
Disruptions are fundamental shifts. They can affect behavior, technology, a system of governance, or another area of impact. Most importantly, disruptive technologies arrive and stay until a new disruption comes to diminish their impact.
Fads, in contrast, spike once and for a limited period before disappearing to make way for the next big thing.
What are some examples of disruptive technologies?
Three of the disruptive technologies Gartner anticipates making a huge impact in the next five years are autonomous drones, SEO 3.0 and energy power play. Each represents a fundamental shift and will unsettle a variety of fields.
What is a combinatorial disruption?
Combinatorial disruption happens when multiple events come together to produce interactions with their own consequences. In contrast to a big event with little aftermath, combinatorial disruption begins after a disruptive catalyst enters the market. The catalyst by itself may dissipate, but it produces secondary effects, which combine into wide-scale disruptions that are larger than their parts and more difficult to predict.
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