Welcome to the new Roaring 20s: A transformation tipping point

I've known Jeff Nicholson for almost 20 years. He is one of my oldest and dearest friends in the industry and not just a friend, but a visionary. He is currently the global leader in CRM at Pegasystems, and of course he's doing a great job. There is no shock. But he maintains this visionary picture of the developing world. I've done several events with him at various live and virtual events that Pega sponsors - mostly variations of PegaWorld - and it's a real pleasure to work with him on stage.

Although I know him so well, he surprises me every year. For example, last year I found out that Jeff is a great singer. He sang as one of the leads for Pega's band Layer Cakes, which won the global and fierce CRM Playaz Bring Your Own Band (BYOB) 2020 competition. Here are Jeff's vocals (see "Shut Up and Dance with Me").

He also builds cars. That's a story for another day.

But for industry purposes he remains the visionary I've known for 20 years, and what he presents here is the vision for the next decade of technological advancement and human interaction. Check out what he's saying. What you read is what you might see in real life if we talk about the 30s. Let Jeff (and me) know what you think.

Take it away, dear bud!

We've been here before: a moment in which the rapid pace of social and technological progress has apparently accelerated everything, nothing of which would ever be the same again. Interestingly, the world went through a similar technological moment about a century ago, which was eventually dubbed "the Roaring 20s".

Oddly and coincidentally, after overcoming the massive global influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, the world was brought to one of its greatest turning points. The first golden 20s were marked by economic prosperity and a great outbreak of social, artistic, technological and cultural changes. New forms of communication emerged, including the advent of radio and television, which brought the world closer together. It also marked the birth of mass production of automobiles and a soon-to-explode era of aviation, both of which would change the world of transportation forever.

Now fast forward 100 years and the next "20s" promise to be just as transformative, if not more. Artificial intelligence (AI) is about to change almost all facets of life today. From self-driving cars to self-writing articles to recommending the next great program, binge watch, to augmented reality (AR), the world will never look like another.

Over the next 20's, here are just a few of the technological changes that will forever change the way we live and work:

The transformation of traffic

After a decade of tinkering with hybrid engines, automakers around the world are now rushing to offer all-electric vehicles (EV). Ford is now presenting its brand new electric Mustang. Mercedes plans no fewer than 10 EVs by the end of 2022 and Audi at least 20 EVs by 2025. Of course, in order not to exceed, GM is aiming for 30 by 2025 as well.

Thanks to great advances in AI and automation, autonomous vehicles are about to become a reality, with the ability to literally drive themselves without human intervention (unless you really, really want to). Yes, the Johnny Cab concept of the 1990 film Total Recall is almost a real thing. We'll get more into the subject of autonomous experiences later.

In the meantime, the concept of transport is quickly becoming one of personal mobility. Look no further than the crowds of Bird electric scooters, zipcars, and of course Uber and Lyft. It's not just the means of transport. When it comes to cars, thanks to new subscription models like Zipcar, we no longer even have to own (or even rent) one.

The hour of birth of the bionic workforce

In the last 20's, the very nature of work was forever changed with the advent of true mass production. And for decades, physical robots have been transforming the manufacturing facilities of industries like manufacturing, resulting in both higher quality for consumers and dramatic shifts in results. Now, 100 years later, we are entering the new era of the “bionic workforce”. While exoskeletons and microchip implants may sound exciting, not all bionics will necessarily be physical in nature. A new era of artificial intelligence offers the possibility to give human skills a new level of productivity and effectiveness. Software-based robots employing a technology called Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can automatically enter data on behalf of employees in both front-end and back-end systems without employees having to lift a finger.

Your frontline service agents may even be assisted by a new form of AI-powered “co-pilot” in which the systems they interact with act as their personal wingman - analyzing both customer and business data in real time and gain relevant insights into focus, with the ability to remove friction from both customer and employee experiences. With this new technology, many roles are likely to evolve into new forms of career opportunities.

Autonomous experience

Flanked by the IoT explosion and advances in conversational AI, autonomous experiences such as autonomous service and autonomous commerce will take hold. Thanks to IoT and advances in machine learning and the detection of complex events, systems will literally heal themselves. We will see an increase in proactive and preventive services with the ability to resolve problems fully automatically, often before the customer even realizes there is a problem.

Consider a recent example where, in the past few months of a pandemic, a lifelong bank customer accidentally overdrawn their bank account due to a lack of funds and then faced fines in the form of overdraft fees. In the long term, this experience is neither in the interests of the bank nor in the interests of the customers, but it can be avoided with this new form of preventive autonomy. The answer lies in the bank's own data.

A bank's systems can monitor planned customer deposit withdrawals and available balances and display real-time notifications of potential problems before they occur, along with a suggested solution, e.g. B. to transfer funds or an overdraft protection product. Don't we all want to have the feeling that someone is watching us right now? This is becoming the new normal in customer expectations. And these autonomous experiences can be scaled almost infinitely while costing a fraction of the current alternatives.

And in a world full of digital assistants like Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and others, things are likely to get even more interesting when it comes to autonomous experiences. Soon, personal digital assistants will communicate seamlessly with each other using spoken language (not just backend APIs) and acting on behalf of their respective "owners" - making dinner reservations, filling up recipes, making insurance claims, and yes, even transferring money Funds between accounts.

Innovation acceleration

Low-code tools will soon become no-code tools, enabling a new generation of citizen developers to tackle the tough process and application development challenges of the world. Building applications will indeed be as easy as it is for a ninth grader today to build a flashy new website using WordPress. Here, the decisive factor in the implementation of technological innovations will no longer be the programming ability or even the programming language, but the appetite for innovation itself.

From reinventing processes to challenging entire business models, digital disruptors will literally come from all directions as previous barriers are falling. To paraphrase the great Disney film Ratatouille, this new decade says: "Everyone can be innovative."

From mass communication to micro communication

While the first roaring 20s ushered in a new era of mass communication, this next decade will continue the dynamic towards microcommunication. Conversations between businesses and consumers become much more personal as they use the personal data to re-calibrate their dialogue about what is really important to their customers.

However, this era of micro-communications will encompass not only more effective one-to-one messaging between individuals, but also the increasingly isolated and narrow nature of information consumption in general. With this trend, individuals can hide different opinions and are only exposed to views that are similar to their own. Whether it is social information, political information or any other category of interest, only a small part of the information available can make a difference. And for better or worse, information feels both more personal and more affirmative.

Personal data becomes… personal

The subject of personal data is still a very sensitive area for customers, and rightly so. Customer data has long been perceived as the property of the organization that owns it. And so many companies have done pretty much anything they want with it. The result? Poor data sharing under the guise of personalization efforts. And a flood of news about the next big data breach. And the next. And the next.

In these 20s the sun can finally set on these practices. This is not necessarily due to a change of heart. Legislation is now (finally) beginning to emerge worldwide: From the EU GDPR to the Californian CCPA, to Brazil's LGPD and India's PDPB, change is coming. The deciding factor here is the possible fines that can be imposed for breach of business, which can amount to up to 5% of a company's turnover and in some cases without any limit.

With power slowly returning to consumers and technologies like blockchain maturing, it is possible that you have a "key" to your own data. Imagine a world where you don't have to enter your personal information every time you fill out a form (just to forget where you put it). Or a world where you don't have to worry about how many companies now have your real date of birth ... or mother's maiden name. Providing a key to personal data along with time and purpose access can serve as a new way forward, with the potential to provide both greater control and protection.

These are just a few of the changes that await us in the next roaring 20s. Are we in a world full of flying cars as some predicted? Not now. But we're likely to see a productivity boom like we've never seen before. Robotics, AI, low-code tools, automation and regulation will drive a shift in transformation and innovation. If one thing is certain, in all likelihood the next decade will look very different from the last.

https://dailytechnonewsllc.com/welcome-to-the-new-roaring-20s-a-transformation-tipping-point/