Tweet
“Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. And then there are those who wonder, 'What the hell just happened?”
― Carroll Bryant
― Carroll Bryant
Six Disruptors That Are Changing Businesses
It used to be that a single technological breakthrough could change everything. In the 1970s, it was the minicomputer. In the ’80s, the personal computer. And in the ‘90s, the internet.
Today, it’s not just one breakthrough. It’s a constant wave of innovation that relentlessly disrupts how people, businesses and governments interact and create value.
Right now, the four big disruptive technologies are social media, mobile, analytics and data, and the cloud. But they’re already maturing and being joined by newer ones such as the “internet of things,” where devices communicate with one another without human intervention.
The availability of powerful on demand and cheap computing, access to vast amounts of data and advances in algorithms, natural language processing and artificial intelligence are also enabling breakthroughs in robotic process automation and cognitive automation.
Taken together, these advances are disrupting business models, organizations and even entire industries.
The Cloud
Of all the disruptors, this is clearly the biggest. It’s what gives most other technologies the platform required to become disruptors themselves.
The cloud has now evolved well beyond being a utility for storage and servers. Many companies are applying a cloud-first strategy to keep up with the latest innovations and to reduce the need for a large IT staff.
Digital Labor
“Smart” robots and software systems will soon replace people in performing increasingly sophisticated tasks.
According to Forrester, digital automation will displace 22.7 million jobs in less than a decade. Needless to say, the disruptive impact could be enormous.
But it won’t happen all at once. Initially, the focus will be on replacing low-level jobs that perform repetitive tasks, like call centers and claims processing.
Eventually, cognitive automation will be able to learn and adapt, much like humans. But it will likely augment existing roles at first rather than replacing people.
