Independent Thinking Blog

These 22 Trends Point to the Future of Business

Look no further to understand the future of business.

Wired has released its 2nd annual list of the people creating the future of business. The magazine calls them “the unsung creative, technical, and social visionaries working to bring the incredible world of tomorrow to you today.”

These really smart people include Moxie Marlinspike, who baked unbreakable encryption into WhatsApp, and Meron Gribetz, who’s working to build affordable augmented reality.

These 22 trends offer clues to the future of business.

Here’s the list of the challenges Wired‘s “geniuses” are working on:

  • mass encryption
  • instant (shopping) gratification
  • data-point-driven advertising

Future of Business: Diversity

  • diversity from day 1
  • open-access networks
  • smarter coding
  • speech-recognition technology
  • facial-recognition technology
  • open-source AI
  • bio-engineering

Future of Business: Gene Editing

  • gene editing
  • affordable augmented reality
  • global streaming TV
  • self-flying drones
  • ride-sharing in China
  • e-commerce in India
  • the Google cloud

Future of Business: Growth of the Blockchain

  • the blockchain
  • the messaging hub

Other trends include classification of workers in the gig economy (a huge issue that doesn’t get nearly enough attention), new opportunities for independent filmmakers, and combating inequality.

Read the article, and then think about which of these might matter — and matter soon — to your business.

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