Peter Fisk

Reinventing banking in a world of change

Banking is one of the oldest industries in human civilization, yet today it stands at a profound inflection point. For centuries, banks have played the same roles: safeguarding money, enabling transactions, and allocating capital. Their architecture—branches, balance sheets, bureaucracies—has endured revolutions, wars, and crises. But in today’s world of rapid and relentless change, banks face pressures unlike any in their history.

This change is being driven by megatrends—deep, structural forces that reshape economies and societies over decades. Megatrends are not fads or short-term shifts; they are global, transformative, and unavoidable. Among the most powerful are digitization, democratization, personalization, and sustainability. Together, they are redefining markets, reshaping customer aspirations, and opening the door to radical new business models. For banks, they pose a stark question: are you fit for the future, or destined for irrelevance?

Megatrends shaking up every market

Megatrends are already disrupting industries once thought stable:

• Digitization has transformed music from physical products (vinyl, CDs) into streaming experiences. Spotify doesn’t sell songs; it sells moods, discovery, and personalization. Banking too will move from rigid products to seamless financial experiences.

• Democratization has reshaped retail. Platforms like Shopify and TikTok empower anyone to become a merchant or influencer. The power is shifting from institutions to individuals. In finance, democratization means fintech apps that let people invest, trade, and borrow without a traditional bank.

• Personalization has redefined travel. Airbnb offers not just rooms but customized experiences, curated through data and algorithms. For banking, personalization means moving beyond one-size-fits-all products to services tailored to individual life goals.

• Sustainability is transforming professional services. Leading consultancies and law firms now advise on ESG, inclusion, and climate strategy, recognizing clients expect impact beyond profit. For banks, sustainability will define lending portfolios, risk models, and purpose.

These examples reveal a profound truth: markets are no longer about selling standardized products within rigid sectors. They are becoming customer-centric spaces—health, mobility, wealth, learning—where solutions are fluid, integrated, and often invisible.

Why banks are not fit for the future

Traditional banks struggle to adapt to this new reality. Their weaknesses are structural:

• They are product-centric—mortgages, credit cards, savings accounts—rather than customer-centric.

• They are bound by legacy IT systems and compliance-heavy cultures that slow down innovation.

• They are focused on risk avoidance rather than value creation.

Worse, banks face a deeper existential problem: their core functions—moving money, safeguarding deposits, assessing risk, and allocating capital—can now be done by algorithms, platforms, and protocols. AI can underwrite credit instantly. Blockchain can move assets across borders in seconds. Platforms like Revolut or Nubank deliver financial services without the bureaucracy of traditional banks.

Just as music labels lost control to streaming platforms, or travel agents vanished in the age of Expedia and Airbnb, banks face the risk of becoming irrelevant intermediaries—utilities in the background of ecosystems they no longer control.

Thinking differently

Banks have traditionally looked inward for inspiration—benchmarking peers, regulators, or fintechs. But to truly reinvent themselves, they should look to unexpected innovators in culture and technology.

Take Taylor Swift. She has reinvented herself repeatedly across genres and eras, owning her narrative and deepening emotional bonds with fans. The “Eras Tour” is more than music; it’s an immersive experience and community. For banks, the lesson is that reinvention is not just about products—it’s about storytelling, transparency, and belonging. Just as Swift re-recorded her masters to reclaim ownership, banks could help customers reclaim ownership of their data and financial future, turning dry transactions into empowering journeys.

Or consider Roblox, the gaming platform where users create, trade, and interact in virtual worlds. It thrives on co-creation and ecosystems, not top-down control. Banking could move from closed systems to open, participatory platforms where customers, fintechs, and even communities co-create value—whether in the metaverse, through programmable money, or shared investment spaces.

Other inspiring parallels abound. Lego rebuilt itself by listening to fans, opening its innovation process, and turning into a collaborative platform for creativity. Banks could follow, letting customers shape services, from personalized savings “quests” to community-driven lending. Patagonia shows how purpose-led reinvention can build trust and resilience; banks could embed sustainability and ethical finance at the core, not the periphery.

The common thread? These innovators put people, participation, and purpose at the heart of reinvention. They treat audiences as collaborators, not passive consumers. If banks could learn to think like a pop star, a gaming platform, or a purpose-driven brand, they could transform themselves from bureaucratic utilities into living, adaptive, customer-centric ecosystems.

Reimagining money

If megatrends continue to accelerate, what replaces banks? Three radical models emerge:

1. The AI Money OS

An intelligent operating system manages your entire financial life. You tell it your aspirations—buying a home, retiring early—and it orchestrates everything: saving, investing, insuring, paying. It reallocates resources dynamically and negotiates across providers. Think of ChatGPT for your finances: autonomous, adaptive, personalized. In this model, you don’t “use a bank”; you trust an AI financial companion.

2. The Embedded Finance Mesh

Finance dissolves into everyday life. Paying for groceries automatically adjusts your budget. Renting an electric car auto-finances itself based on usage. Insurance is bundled into travel apps. Social platforms double as payment systems. In this model, banking disappears into the mesh of experiences. Nubank, Revolut, and Apple Pay hint at this future, but big tech ecosystems could make it universal.

3. The Decentralized Wealth Commons

Communities pool, lend, and invest directly through decentralized finance (DeFi). Trust lies in protocols, not institutions. Smart contracts replace bankers. Imagine neighborhood credit unions run on-chain, with AI governance ensuring fairness. In this world, the very concept of a “bank” becomes obsolete.

Inspired by pioneering peers

Some organizations already glimpse the future:

• DBS talks about “invisible banking”—embedding finance seamlessly into life’s moments.

• Nubank disrupted Latin America by offering simplicity, transparency, and fairness to customers exploited by traditional banks.

• Revolut is building a financial super-app: payments, crypto, insurance, investments, all in one interface.

• Apple shows how non-banks can dominate finance by leveraging trust, design, and integration. Millions use Apple Pay and Apple Card without thinking of them as “banking.”

The lesson is clear: the most transformative financial services may not come from banks at all.

The big shifts

Are banks doomed? Not if they are willing to reinvent themselves radically. Reinvention requires:

• Shifting from products to platforms: Don’t just sell loans or cards—curate ecosystems like “housing journeys” or “mobility solutions” that integrate finance with life goals.

• Owning the trust layer: In a world of AI and decentralized systems, banks could reposition as the guarantors of security, ethics, and fairness. Trust may be their last—and greatest—asset.

• Partnering with big tech and fintechs: Rather than fighting Apple or Amazon, banks can provide the regulated backbone while tech partners deliver user experiences.

• Radical transparency and purpose: Future customers will demand values-driven finance—carbon-neutral, inclusive, fair. Reinvention means putting purpose at the heart of business models.

• Becoming AI-powered organisms: Banks must evolve from bureaucracies into intelligent systems that learn, adapt, and anticipate customer needs.

Leading the change

Leadership is the critical differentiator. To reinvent, leaders must shift their mindset:

• From ownership to orchestration: Banking’s future is about co-creating ecosystems, not controlling customers.

• From safety to experimentation: Standing still is now the riskiest strategy. Leaders must embrace experimentation and fast learning.

• From scarcity to abundance: In digital finance, value comes not from scarcity but from personalization, trust, and insight.

• From institutions to intelligence: Reimagine banks as intelligent, adaptive systems that think and act in real time for customers.

• From sectors to spaces: Stop defining banking as a narrow sector. Instead, think about wealth, health, mobility, or learning as integrated customer spaces where finance plays an enabling role.

Reinvention or irrelevance

The megatrends of digitization, democratization, personalization, and sustainability are shaking every market—and banking is no exception. The question is not whether finance will change, but whether banks will be part of that change.

The future of banking may not be about banks at all. It may be about AI Money OS systems, embedded finance meshes, or decentralized wealth commons. It may be about fintech super-apps or tech giants embedding finance invisibly into daily life.

Traditional banks still have assets—scale, regulation, and trust—but they must reinvent radically to stay relevant. They must move beyond products to experiences, from intermediaries to platforms, from risk-averse bureaucracies to adaptive, intelligent systems.

The winners will not be those who protect the past, but those who embrace the future—who recognize that the world doesn’t need “banks” so much as it needs better ways to enable people to live, thrive, and achieve their aspirations.

For leaders, the choice is stark: reinvent or disappear.

In a world of relentless change, consumer brands can no longer think of themselves as isolated businesses with a product to sell and a market to capture. Instead, they must be understood as part of a living system — interconnected with people, technologies, societies, and environments. The future of successful consumer brands lies in how they navigate these interdependencies, creating a nexus of value, meaning, and innovation.

At its core, nexus means connection — and for consumer brands, connections are the most valuable form of capital. Connections link a brand to its consumers, employees, communities, and collaborators. They also connect intangible assets: trust, reputation, culture, and data.

In the past, consumer brands sought control, building barriers to entry and protecting intellectual property. Today, the most dynamic brands embrace interdependence. They recognise that growth comes not from owning everything but from connecting intelligently.

A nexus is more than a partnership. It is the connective tissue that binds systems together. Consumer brands are no longer isolated entities; they are orchestrators of, or nodes within, dynamic ecosystems. This shift is profound. It changes how brands build meaning, how they develop products, how they engage consumers, and even how they generate financial performance.

Think of Nike. Beyond selling footwear, Nike has built connections across sports, fashion, technology, and community. Its collaborations with designers like Virgil Abloh, its integration with Apple in fitness tracking, and its grassroots initiatives with local sports clubs form a nexus that extends far beyond shoes. Nike thrives because of the breadth and depth of its connections — each reinforcing the brand’s cultural relevance.

1. From Linear Chains to Dynamic Ecosystems

For most of the 20th century, consumer brands were built on linear models: sourcing raw materials, manufacturing products, distributing through retail, and promoting to target audiences. This model worked in relatively stable environments where markets were easier to define and control.

Today, however, business is more like a network than a chain. Digital platforms, cultural movements, and sustainability pressures have created highly interactive, cross-sector systems. Brands must navigate webs of interdependence rather than command simple pipelines.

• Amazon evolved from online bookseller to orchestrator of a vast ecosystem connecting retail, logistics, cloud services, entertainment, and smart devices.

• Tencent built WeChat not just as a messaging service but as a multi-layered ecosystem for payments, shopping, gaming, and community.

• DBS Bank in Singapore transformed itself from a conventional bank into a technology-driven orchestrator, embedding financial services into platforms for transport, e-commerce, and health.

These companies thrive because they operate at strategic nexus points where industries intersect and where multiple systems converge around consumer needs.

2. Brands as Participants and Orchestrators

Being part of a nexus means a brand must play one of two roles:

• Participant: A participant that connects into a larger ecosystem — eg Spotify in music, linking listeners, artists, podcasters, and advertisers.

• Orchestrator: A hub that convenes and integrates flows across an ecosystem — eg Apple with its App Store, or Amazon with Prime.

The critical task for leaders is to determine when to orchestrate, when to participate, and where to connect. Few brands can dominate every ecosystem. Most succeed by intelligently choosing the right nexus points where they can add distinctive value.

3. Brand Building: from Identity to Connectivity

In the old world, brand building focused on identity: logos, taglines, campaigns, and positioning. The goal was to stand out from competitors. But in today’s ecosystem world, differentiation is less about stand-alone identity and more about connectivity — how a brand fits, resonates, and amplifies within networks of culture, technology, and society.

• Nike reinforces its brand through collaborations that extend far beyond footwear: high-fashion designers, grassroots sports clubs, digital fitness platforms.

• Spotify is not just a logo or app icon; its brand lives in the playlists, connections, and discovery journeys it creates for users.

• DBS Bank doesn’t position itself with banking slogans but with lived digital experiences across ecosystems. Its brand is built through seamless connectivity in everyday consumer journeys.

Connectivity gives brands relevance, resilience, and reach that identity alone cannot.

4. Selling More: from Products to Platforms

In a linear model, product development meant designing goods that could be manufactured, distributed, and sold at scale. In a nexus world, products are increasingly platforms — open systems designed for interaction, adaptation, and co-creation.

• Amazon’s Alexa is not just a device but a platform connecting thousands of services.

• Jio in India began by offering cheap mobile access, but quickly evolved into a platform for streaming, payments, and e-health.

• Blue Buffalo, the natural pet food brand, is no longer just selling kibble. Its acquisition by General Mills has enabled it to plug into broader food innovation ecosystems while also integrating with retail partners like Petco and digital platforms like Chewy. The product becomes part of a health and wellness system for pets.

For consumer brands, product innovation must now anticipate where and how it connects into ecosystems, rather than existing as a closed, static object.

5. Consumer Engagement: from Transactions to Participation

Traditional consumer engagement meant advertising messages, point-of-sale promotions, and loyalty programs. It was transactional: persuade, sell, repeat. Nexus thinking reframes engagement as participation. Consumers are not just buyers but active participants in ecosystems.

• Starbucks creates a community through its app, rewards, and personalized experiences. The app connects payments, loyalty, customization, and ethical sourcing stories into one participatory ecosystem.

• Patagonia transforms consumers into activists, inviting them to repair, recycle, and campaign on behalf of environmental causes.

• Petco redefined itself as “the health + wellness company for pets.” Its engagement strategy connects services like grooming, veterinary care, and insurance with retail and e-commerce. Buying food or toys becomes part of a broader participation in a pet care ecosystem.

• Chewy takes this further online, combining subscription food delivery with tele-vet services, personalized recommendations, and a highly empathetic customer service model. Consumers feel part of a supportive ecosystem of care, not just a transaction.

Participation deepens emotional connection and creates data feedback loops that strengthen the ecosystem.

6. Financial Performance: from Revenues to System Value

Financial success in a linear model meant maximizing product sales and margins. In an ecosystem, value comes from system performance — monetizing networks, unlocking data, and sustaining lifetime engagement.

• Amazon earns retail revenue but its greatest profitability comes from ecosystem synergies: AWS cloud services, Prime subscriptions, logistics, and marketplace fees.

• Spotify builds value from both subscribers and advertisers but its strategic asset is data, which fuels personalization and future partnerships beyond music.

• Chewy demonstrates how ecosystem thinking shifts financial models: recurring revenues from subscriptions, high retention through pet health services, and upselling via connected care. Its financial strength derives from consumer lifetime value in an ecosystem of services, not just one-off sales.

This requires brands to expand how they measure performance. Metrics like ecosystem health, customer lifetime value, and network effects matter as much as sales and margins.

7. DEEP DIVE: The Pet Care Nexus

The transformation of the pet care industry highlights how nexus thinking reshapes entire sectors.

• Blue Buffalo tapped into the humanization of pets, offering natural, premium food that connected into wellness trends. Its integration into General Mills’ portfolio gave it resources to innovate while remaining part of broader food and health systems.

• Petco evolved from being a retail chain to positioning itself as a holistic health and wellness brand for pets. It connects food, services, insurance, and digital engagement into a single system.

• Chewy redefined e-commerce for pets, adding emotional engagement (sending handwritten notes, flowers for bereaved pet parents) alongside digital convenience. By layering on services like telehealth, Chewy turned itself into a nexus of ongoing relationships.

The result: an industry once defined by bags of kibble on store shelves is now an ecosystem of food, healthcare, services, and digital platforms. The nexus is what delivers growth and loyalty.

The idea of nexus is really about identifying the new connections that create disproportionate value. In this example, the biggest nexus opportunities are likely to be where brands connect

• Products + Services → Experiences

• Data + Commerce → Personalisation

• Brands + Lifestyles → Meaning

• Business Models + Ecosystems → New value

• Purpose + Systems → Trust & transformation

Each of these new connections opens up new ways to differentiate, grow, and transform:

Products + Services → Experiences

• Shift: From selling standalone products to bundling with services that create an end-to-end experience.

• Why it matters: Consumers don’t just want objects, they want outcomes and solutions.

• Pet care example: Chewy offering not just pet food but also tele-vet services, auto-shipping, and personalized health plans — creating a seamless experience of care, not just a purchase.

• Other example: Nike’s shoes + Nike Run Club app, where product, coaching, and community merge into one holistic experience.

Data + Commerce → Anticipation and Personalisation

• Shift: From reactive selling to proactive anticipation of needs.

• Why it matters: Data allows brands to move closer to the consumer, predicting behavior, reducing friction, and creating loyalty.

• Pet care example: Petco using data from grooming visits, purchases, and vet checkups to recommend next products or appointments.

• Other example: Spotify’s personalized playlists and recommendations — an ongoing, intimate relationship with consumers based on data.

Brands + Lifestyles → Bigger Context and Meaning

• Shift: From functional value to identity and community.

• Why it matters: Brands that embed themselves in lifestyles and movements gain deeper loyalty and cultural relevance.

• Pet care example: Blue Buffalo positioning itself around the lifestyle of “pets as family,” tapping into values of health, love, and companionship.

• Other example: Starbucks as a “third place” beyond coffee, embedding itself in lifestyle, work, and social rituals.

Business Models + Ecosystems → Redefining Value Creation

• Shift: From vertical, siloed business models to platforms and ecosystems that create new flows of value.

• Why it matters: Ecosystems amplify reach, reduce dependency on single revenue streams, and make the brand indispensable.

• Pet care example: Chewy, Petco, and Blue Buffalo participating in broader pet ecosystems that integrate food, health, insurance, accessories, and services.

• Other example: Amazon connecting e-commerce with AWS, Prime, and Alexa — redefining where and how value is created.

Purpose + Systems → Transformation and Trust

• Shift: From CSR “bolt-ons” to embedding purpose into the system of value creation.

• Why it matters: Consumers demand trust, responsibility, and systemic solutions (climate, health, inequality).

• Pet care example: Petco eliminating artificial ingredients, positioning itself around health and wellness for pets and families.

• Other example: Unilever embedding sustainability at scale, linking purpose with product and portfolio transformation.

8. The Leadership Challenge: Orchestration and Purpose

Ecosystem leadership is fundamentally different from traditional brand management. Leaders can no longer rely solely on ownership and control. They must think like orchestrators, convening networks of partners and aligning incentives across complex systems.

But orchestration without coherence risks chaos. This is where purpose becomes vital. Purpose aligns diverse connections and provides the moral and strategic compass of the nexus.

• Unilever organizes its diverse brand portfolio around the purpose of sustainable living.

• DBS Bank aligns its transformation with the purpose of “making banking joyful” — humanizing digital ecosystems.

• Petco aligns its nexus strategy around purpose: better health for pets, people, and the planet.

Purpose allows ecosystems to thrive with clarity and trust.

9. The Future of Nexus for Consumer Brands

The role of nexus will only expand:

• AI will personalize ecosystems in real time, predicting needs and connecting consumers seamlessly across platforms.

• Sustainability imperatives will force brands into circular systems of production and consumption.

• Social and cultural shifts will require deeper commitments to inclusivity, equity, and community engagement.

The winners will be those who choose the right nexus points: where consumer desires intersect with societal needs, where technology enhances human experience, and where ecosystems deliver both growth and resilience.

Tesla’s ecosystem approach to energy and mobility, Tencent’s role in daily life in China, Spotify’s reshaping of cultural consumption, and the pet care nexus of Blue Buffalo, Petco, and Chewy all point to a future where brands thrive not as isolated players but as nodes of connection and meaning.

Nexus as the New Strategy

The age of isolated brands is over. Consumer brands today are orchestrators and participants in dynamic ecosystems. This reality reshapes every dimension of strategy:

• Brand Building shifts from identity to connectivity.

• Product Development shifts from stand-alone products to platforms.

• Consumer Engagement shifts from transactions to participation.

• Financial Performance shifts from sales to system value.

Examples from Amazon, Nike, Spotify, DBS Bank, Unilever, Patagonia, Tencent, Jio, Starbucks, Blue Buffalo, Petco, and Chewy illustrate how nexus thinking transforms possibilities.

The challenge for leaders is clear: embrace systems thinking, orchestrate connections with purpose, and find your place in the nexus of the future.

Luxury is often thought of as timeless—defined by centuries of craftsmanship, exclusivity, and cultural prestige. Yet in today’s fast-shifting world, even the most storied maisons cannot rely on heritage alone. Changing customer expectations, sustainability pressures, and the rise of digital lifestyles are forcing transformation. AI, once seen as incompatible with luxury’s artisanal aura, is now becoming its greatest enabler.

From LVMH’s AI “factory” to Cartier’s precision forecasting and Gucci’s immersive storytelling, luxury leaders are showing how AI can transform not only products and experiences, but also business models, operations, and profitability. The result is a new kind of luxury—one that fuses tradition with technology and demonstrates that reinvention can enhance both desirability and shareholder value.

Understanding markets in real time

Historically, luxury relied on intuition, tastemakers, and exclusivity to anticipate trends. But today, AI can detect market shifts at scale and speed. Natural language processing tracks millions of conversations across social media, forums, and fashion communities, picking up on signals of new aesthetics—whether quiet luxury, digital collectibles, or wellness-driven beauty.

• LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group, has built a centralized AI platform in partnership with Google Cloud. It aggregates data across its 75 maisons to model demand, detect cultural signals, and refine regional strategies. Instead of waiting for seasonal sales reports, executives can now anticipate where luxury appetite is shifting in real time.

• Richemont, home to Cartier, IWC, and Vacheron Constantin, applies AI forecasting to predict demand for high-ticket jewelry and watches. During the pandemic, Cartier used AI to avoid over $280 million in excess stock, protecting margins and brand equity.

For luxury, this is transformative: AI turns the market from a slow canvas of cultural cues into a living system that can be read in real time.

Understanding the changing consumer

Luxury is no longer defined solely by wealth. Modern buyers care about sustainability, wellness, self-expression, and digital identity. AI allows brands to build multidimensional profiles of customers that go far beyond demographics.

• Dior uses AI from startup Kahoona to personalize web experiences, even for anonymous visitors. Conversion rates for audiences that previously ignored the brand’s digital campaigns rose significantly.

• Sephora, owned by LVMH, deploys AI through its Virtual Artist app to analyze skin tones, offer personalized beauty recommendations, and increase shopper confidence.

• Farfetch, the luxury marketplace, applies AI to segment high-value clients and tailor communication, incentives, and offers—maximizing lifetime value.

Generative AI even allows companies to create evolving personas that simulate how Gen Z, ultra-high-net-worth individuals, or Chinese millennials might change their agendas over time. Instead of reacting, maisons can design ahead of expectations.

Engaging audiences in new ways

Luxury has always been theatrical, built on seduction and storytelling. AI makes engagement both immersive and personalized.

• Gucci transformed its Chengdu flagship into a digital theater: 33 LED screens display AI-generated imagery blending Renaissance Florence with Sichuan landscapes. This fusion of culture, place, and brand creates an emotionally charged experience unique to the location.

• Christie’s x Gucci showcased generative-AI art auctions, expanding luxury into the digital and cultural avant-garde.

• Brunello Cucinelli launched Solomei AI, an AI-driven concierge that speaks in the philosophical, humanistic tone of its founder. It guides customers not just through products, but also the brand’s values, turning technology into a custodian of authenticity.

Conversational AI assistants can now act as 24/7 digital concierges, fluent in a maison’s heritage, offering curated suggestions and cultural context. Engagement shifts from static campaigns to living conversations.

Developing and personalising products

Personalization has always been a hallmark of luxury—think bespoke tailoring, monograms, or signature fragrances. AI elevates this personalization to a new dimension.

• L’Oréal’s ModiFace uses AI to scan skin and recommend customized skincare routines, while simulating results in real time.

• Omi, an AI startup in LVMH’s “Maison des Startups,” creates photorealistic 3D twins of products. Guerlain used it for Shalimar perfume campaigns, reducing production time by 30% and cutting carbon footprint by 20%.

• Generative design tools can suggest silhouettes, colors, and embellishments tailored to individual aesthetics. In the future, luxury fashion may combine AI-driven ideation with artisanal execution, producing one-of-a-kind yet sustainable pieces.

By scaling personalisation while reinforcing craftsmanship, AI ensures that exclusivity is not lost but deepened.

Reinventing business models and pricing

AI is enabling luxury to experiment with new ways of creating value beyond the sale of rare goods.

• Dynamic Pricing: Algorithms adjust to demand, rarity, and currency fluctuations while maintaining exclusivity. Tiffany, for example, leverages AI to manage regional pricing and protect margins.

• Membership and Subscription: LVMH is piloting loyalty and membership models enhanced by AI personalization, offering early access to collections, events, and tailored services.

• Resale and Authenticity: Secondary markets are growing fast. Brands like Cartier and Patou use AI plus blockchain (through the Aura and Arianee consortia) to authenticate items, giving consumers confidence while capturing value from resales.

• Sustainable Supply Chains: Genesis, another LVMH-backed startup, applies AI to vineyard soil analysis, enabling Moët Hennessy to pursue regenerative agriculture—a business model rooted in luxury terroir sustainability.

These models diversify revenue, reduce dependency on seasonal cycles, and align with shifting customer values.

Expanding channels and digital presence

Luxury distribution has expanded far beyond Parisian boutiques. AI enables maisons to maintain exclusivity across digital platforms, gaming worlds, and e-commerce.

• Farfetch uses AI to deliver personalized journeys for each shopper, ensuring the platform feels curated, not commoditized.

• Sales Associates in Tiffany or Dior boutiques now use AI copilots to recall a client’s history, propose personalized outreach, and enhance human interactions with digital intelligence.

• Omnichannel Logistics: AI optimizes delivery to ensure “white-glove” precision, from climate-controlled shipments of watches to same-day personalized fragrance delivery.

The challenge has always been balancing reach with rarity. AI helps maisons expand digitally while preserving mystique.

Building authenticity

Counterfeiting is a billion-dollar problem for luxury. AI is becoming the industry’s best defense.

• Computer vision systems can scan microscopic stitching or logos to confirm authenticity instantly.

• Blockchain provenance, reinforced with AI, ensures every product’s story is traceable—from raw material to atelier to boutique.

• Patou embeds AI verification at the point of manufacture to prevent fraud and protect trust.

Authenticity, once invisible, becomes a technologically guaranteed feature, further enhancing brand equity.

Serving and delivering to customers

Luxury is as much about service as products—anticipating needs before they’re voiced. AI enhances this anticipation.

• Predictive models signal when a watch needs servicing or when a client is due for a wardrobe refresh.

• Conversational AI assistants arrange follow-ups, VIP events, or tailored offers.

• Some maisons are experimenting with “luxury as a service” models, where AI platforms manage wardrobes, jewelry, or art collections on behalf of clients.

Delivery, whether digital or physical, becomes part of the personalized luxury ecosystem.

Operational performance and sustainability

Behind the scenes, AI is making luxury more efficient, sustainable, and resilient.

• Richemont applies AI to optimize supply chains, avoiding costly overproduction of materials like diamonds and gold.

• LVMH uses AI to streamline marketing, automate logistics, and even cut emissions from photoshoots by replacing them with digital twins.

• Robotic process automation reduces back-office costs, freeing employees for creative or client-facing work.

These efficiency gains strengthen margins, which is critical as growth slows in certain markets. They also reinforce commitments to ESG and regulatory compliance, increasingly important to investors.

Business transformation, and the impact on value creation

The real story lies in how AI is not just supporting—but reinventing—the entire luxury business model.

• LVMH has outperformed the CAC 40 by over 25% in three years. Analysts attribute part of this to its AI-driven efficiency, personalization, and ability to scale innovations across 75 maisons. Its market cap, hovering above €400 billion, demonstrates investor confidence in its data-driven transformation.

• Richemont, though smaller, has strengthened profitability in hard luxury by applying AI deeply in forecasting and provenance—critical to protecting its high-value products.

• Individual maisons like Gucci, Cartier, and Brunello Cucinelli show how AI can augment storytelling, reduce waste, and build trust while staying true to heritage.

The evidence is clear: AI is no longer experimental in luxury—it is a driver of resilience, growth, and shareholder value.

Craftsmanship for a digital age

The paradox of AI in luxury is that it delivers speed, precision, and scale in an industry built on patience, rarity, and craft. Yet far from diluting luxury, it is reinforcing it.

AI helps maisons understand markets in real time, anticipate evolving customers, craft personalized products, explore new business models, and strengthen authenticity and sustainability. At the same time, it boosts efficiency and profitability, aligning shareholder value with cultural and creative relevance.

The maisons that thrive will not treat AI as a threat, nor as a cold efficiency tool. They will embrace it as a new craftsman—one capable of weaving data, imagination, and heritage into experiences as rare and desirable as the finest couture gown or the most intricate mechanical watch.

In doing so, luxury will not only adapt to the future, but actively shape it—proving that reinvention is the truest form of timelessness.

The Future Book Forum is now in its 10th year, and I will be hosting it again, joined by a live audience, and many more publishers joining online from across the world. 12 years ago Joerg Engelstaedter and I got together to help the book publishing industry reinvent its future. Each year we have progressively focused on crucial issues and opportunities by which we can all innovate and grow.

Back in 2014 we started by envisioning possible futures, which we then tested with consumer insights and emerging business models in the next years. In 2017 we sought to define the DNA of a book – from the physical form, to its content, and limitless deliveries. Growth became a key ananda, particularly smarter growth, fuelled by data analytics, consumer power, and sustainable innovation.

Ecosystem Thinking

Ecosystems proliferate in every sector, typically built around customers rather than products, bringing together multiple partners and technologies, physical and digital, to do more for customers, and help every business to reach further, and grow faster.

Here are some standout examples of industries transformed by ecosystem business models, illustrating both new growth opportunities and enhanced consumer experiences:

Technology: Apple’s Ecosystem

Apple’s tightly integrated ecosystem spans hardware, software, services, and retail. By creating seamless connections between devices like iPhones, iPads, and Macs, Apple ensures that consumers are locked into its ecosystem. Services like the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, and Apple Pay not only enhance user experience but also generate significant recurring revenue streams. For instance:

• Consumers benefit from effortless synchronization across devices and personalized services.
• The App Store provides developers access to millions of users, creating new business opportunities.

Automotive: Tesla’s Energy Ecosystem

Tesla has redefined the automotive industry by expanding its ecosystem beyond electric vehicles (EVs). It includes energy solutions like solar panels, Powerwall home batteries, and charging stations. This ecosystem creates revenue streams through energy products and subscription services. Consumers benefit from:

• Access to sustainable, integrated energy solutions.
• Enhanced EV ownership experience with an extensive global charging network.

Entertainment: Disney’s Brand Ecosystem

Disney leverages its vast intellectual property portfolio across multiple platforms: movies, TV shows, theme parks, merchandise, and streaming services (Disney+). This interconnected ecosystem maximizes revenue potential by cross-selling products and services. For consumers:

• Disney provides immersive storytelling experiences across different mediums.
• Fans enjoy exclusive content and collectibles tied to beloved franchises.

Healthcare: Philips Connected Health Ecosystem

Philips employs an ecosystem model to integrate connected health devices, data analytics, and cloud platforms. Their strategy enables better patient care while generating recurring revenue through digital tools and subscriptions. For instance:

• Hospitals and healthcare providers benefit from real-time analytics and connected equipment.
• Consumers enjoy personalized healthcare solutions, such as wearable health monitors.

Retail: Amazon Marketplace and Prime Ecosystem

Amazon revolutionized retail with its marketplace, empowering businesses to sell products to a global audience while building consumer loyalty through services like Prime. Prime members receive benefits like faster shipping, exclusive deals, and streaming access. Key outcomes:

• Vendors tap into Amazon’s vast customer base and fulfillment services.
• Consumers experience convenience and exclusivity through integrated shopping and entertainment services.

These ecosystems show how interconnected networks, innovation, and customer-centric strategies can drive new revenue streams while enriching experiences for participants and users alike

Ecosystems in Book Publishing

Imagine an ecosystem model for the printing and publishing industry that seamlessly integrates technology, sustainability, and collaboration—transforming both the business of companies and the experience for consumers.

1. Business Transformation for Companies:

• Collaboration and Efficiency: Companies could form interconnected networks where data, resources, and expertise flow freely. For example, publishers, printers, and distributors could use shared digital platforms for better communication, leading to reduced production cycles and minimized waste. This enables cost savings and faster delivery.
• Localized Production: Leveraging decentralized, on-demand printing hubs globally minimizes shipping distances and reduces environmental impact. Gelato’s model is a great example of this.
• Digital-First Strategies: Embracing AI-driven predictive analytics helps participants understand consumer trends, optimize inventory, and launch tailored campaigns. Enhanced insights mean smarter decisions and greater market adaptability.
• Sustainability Goals: Companies could align with eco-friendly practices, such as recycled materials and low-energy production, appealing to environmentally conscious consumers.

2. Consumer Experience Revolution:

• Personalization: AI-driven recommendation systems allow consumers to discover books based on individual tastes, habits, or even social context. Snackz.ai’s approach demonstrates the power of personalization in enhancing engagement.
• Interactive Formats: Augmented reality (AR) or enhanced e-book formats could make reading more immersive and enjoyable, blending storytelling with multimedia experiences.
• Speed and Access: On-demand production ensures that consumers can receive their books and publications faster, with access to both mainstream and niche titles from anywhere in the world.
• Community Building: Platforms like Heloola demonstrate how fostering vibrant, global communities of readers can enhance the joy of sharing and discussing content—making reading social, dynamic, and interactive.

This model would create an industry ecosystem that champions innovation, values sustainability, and focuses on delivering delightful experiences to consumers while optimizing businesses.

Examples of Ecosystems in Books

The printing and book publishing industries have seen the rise of several ecosystem models that foster collaboration, efficiency, and innovation. Here are a few examples:

1. On-Demand Production Ecosystems

• Gelato: Gelato connects local printing hubs worldwide to produce and distribute customized products. This ecosystem reduces waste, shortens delivery times, and supports local businesses. Publishers can print smaller runs of books closer to their target audiences, minimizing inventory risks while consumers receive their orders more quickly and sustainably.
• Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP): KDP offers self-published authors access to on-demand printing and distribution networks, enabling writers to sell their work globally without upfront costs. It integrates seamlessly with Amazon’s marketplace, creating a comprehensive ecosystem for authors, printers, and readers.

2. Collaborative Platforms and Networks

• IngramSpark: This platform acts as a hub for authors, publishers, and retailers. It provides printing, distribution, and marketing services within a single ecosystem. Publishers and independent authors can reach thousands of booksellers and libraries globally through IngramSpark’s network.
• Wattpad: Wattpad is a storytelling platform that connects writers, readers, and publishers. Its ecosystem allows writers to share stories, get feedback, and even secure publishing or film deals. Publishers can discover fresh talent, while readers interact with stories in a vibrant, community-driven space.

3. Digital-First Ecosystems

• Snackz.ai: Leveraging AI, brings a tech-driven approach to publishing by optimizing book discovery. Authors and publishers can tap into its recommendation algorithms to increase their reach, while readers enjoy personalized suggestions tailored to their tastes.
• Scribd: Scribd offers a subscription-based ecosystem for accessing digital books, audiobooks, and other media. It integrates publishers, authors, and consumers into a single platform where content is monetized through recurring revenue streams.

4. Sustainable Ecosystem Initiatives

• PaperLabs: Focused on sustainability, PaperLabs integrates eco-friendly printing practices with collaborative supply chains. Publishers and print shops participate in a shared ecosystem that emphasizes reducing environmental impact.
• HP SmartStream Mosaic: This solution supports dynamic, digitally printed packaging and book covers. By connecting designers, printers, and publishers, it creates an ecosystem that enhances creativity and consumer appeal while minimizing waste.

Future Publishing Ecosystems

Book publishers have immense potential to innovate and thrive by adopting connected, intelligent ecosystem business models. Here’s how they could reinvent their operations to unlock new revenue streams and drive profitable growth:

1. Create Integrated Consumer Platforms

• Develop a reader-centric ecosystem that combines personalized book discovery (like AI-driven recommendations), book clubs (digital and physical), author-reader interactions, and exclusive subscription services. This fosters deeper reader engagement and loyalty, much like Amazon Prime.
• Add features like gamification, rewards for reading milestones, or interactive storytelling experiences to capture younger audiences and drive recurring revenue.

2. Form Strategic Alliances Across the Value Chain

• Partner with tech companies for smart publishing solutions that leverage data analytics to optimize production, marketing, and distribution.
• Collaborate with local printers for sustainable, on-demand production, reducing shipping costs and enabling hyper-localized service—similar to Gelato’s model.
• Expand partnerships with independent authors, offering flexible publishing agreements and shared royalties, creating value for self-publishers and diversifying revenue streams.

3. Incorporate Multimedia and Cross-Platform Experiences

• Explore multimedia formats like augmented reality (AR) books or enhanced e-books that integrate soundtracks, videos, and interactive visuals for immersive storytelling.
• Collaborate with film and gaming industries to create cross-platform ecosystems, adapting popular books into movies, games, or interactive apps.

4. Embrace AI and Big Data

• Leverage AI for consumer analytics to better understand reader preferences, forecast trends, and guide editorial decisions.
• Use AI tools to streamline marketing strategies, creating highly targeted campaigns and personalized content.

5. Build Community-Driven Models

• Establish platforms like Heloola that combine social features (online book clubs, discussion forums) with curated content. These ecosystems turn reading into a shared experience, boosting engagement and repeat purchases.
• Promote user-generated content and collaborations between readers and authors, creating a dynamic space where users feel like contributors to the ecosystem.

6. Focus on Sustainability

• Develop eco-friendly publishing ecosystems with recycled materials, carbon-neutral processes, and localized production hubs. Appeal to eco-conscious readers and meet growing sustainability demands.

7. Diversify Revenue Streams

• Offer educational content for schools and universities, such as interactive learning materials and access to exclusive libraries.
• Create tiered membership options, enabling subscribers to enjoy perks like early access to new releases, behind-the-scenes insights, or signed copies.

By creating a well-connected ecosystem, publishers can enrich the customer experience, strengthen relationships with authors and distributors, and seize opportunities to monetize creativity in new ways.

Expanding further on how book publishers can leverage ecosystem business models for transformation:

1. Global Ecosystem Partnerships

Publishers could create a global network of partners, integrating:

• Distributors: Collaborate with platforms like Amazon and local bookstores to ensure books reach a diverse audience.
• Printers: Utilize sustainable, localized printing hubs like Gelato to lower costs and environmental impact while reducing delivery times.
• Tech Innovators: Partner with AI companies for smart tools that optimize marketing, reader engagement, and production.

For example, publishers might form alliances with global e-learning companies to offer curated collections of books for educational courses, opening a lucrative revenue stream.

2. AI-Driven Consumer Insights

Investing in AI could help publishers analyze reader preferences, purchase patterns, and content engagement data. Here’s how:

• Trend Identification: Predict upcoming genres or themes that will resonate with readers.
• Targeted Marketing: Craft campaigns that speak directly to specific demographics, enhancing sales potential.
• Dynamic Content Creation: Generate tailored recommendations or customized book collections based on real-time insights.

This could lead to more meaningful connections between books and readers, boosting satisfaction and repeat purchases.

3. Community-Led Ecosystems

Publishers could foster reader communities to create a more interactive experience:

• Launch digital platforms like Heloola that host virtual book clubs, Q&A sessions with authors, and reader feedback opportunities.
• Offer rewards for community engagement, such as exclusive discounts, early access to upcoming releases, or custom editions.

These communities would strengthen customer loyalty and create advocacy, driving word-of-mouth growth.

4. Flexible Publishing and Distribution Models

• Develop an omnichannel publishing strategy that merges physical and digital offerings.
• Leverage blockchain technology for direct and transparent royalty payments to authors, encouraging talent acquisition and retention.
• Provide new subscription models, like unlimited access to niche genres or curated content bundles.

Publishers could also diversify into audiobooks and multimedia narratives, expanding formats to reach non-traditional readers.

5. Sustainable Practices and Branding

Sustainability is becoming an expectation rather than a choice:

• Adopt green printing technologies, recycled paper, and carbon-neutral processes to attract eco-conscious readers.
• Promote sustainability as part of the brand identity, turning it into a competitive advantage.

6. Ecosystem Monetization Opportunities

Through an interconnected model, publishers can tap into multiple revenue streams:

• Membership Fees: Offer premium tiers for content access and exclusive benefits.
• Data Analytics Services: Monetize anonymized insights from reader data to third-party marketers or libraries.
• Advertising Revenue: Create targeted ad spaces for related industries within digital reading platforms.

These strategies could help publishers evolve from a book-centric model into a value-driven experience provider, ensuring long-term profitability.

Future possibilities for book ecosystems

Here’s a vision of what the future of publishing could look like, powered by advanced ecosystems:

1. Personalized Reading Hubs

Imagine a platform called “LitConnect,” where readers have their own personalized dashboard:

• For Readers: Tailored book recommendations based on mood, interests, and social preferences, powered by AI. Integration with virtual reality (VR) lets readers explore immersive book settings (e.g., stepping into a fantasy world while reading).
• For Authors and Publishers: Advanced analytics show real-time reader engagement data. Authors can host live VR readings, generating revenue through ticket sales and merchandise.

2. Global Sustainable Networks

Picture a scenario where a reader orders a book through a platform like “EcoReads”:

• For Readers: The book is printed in a local printing hub using eco-friendly materials and delivered within hours. The cost is competitive, and buyers can track the production’s carbon footprint.
• For Publishers: A collaborative ecosystem with shared printing facilities lowers costs and allows publishers to maintain a sustainable and scalable distribution network.

3. Multimedia Story Ecosystems

Imagine a publishing company, “StoryVerse,” that specializes in turning books into interconnected multimedia experiences:

• For Readers: Books come alive with enhanced e-book features—integrated audio, visual, and even interactive puzzles. If a user enjoys a novel, they can unlock its companion AR game or an accompanying short film within the same ecosystem.
• For Publishers: Expanded monetization opportunities through subscriptions to the ecosystem and cross-selling formats like games, merchandise, and events.

4. AI-Curated Author Collaborations

Picture a platform called “AuthorSync” that connects authors worldwide:

• For Authors: Writers collaborate on stories curated by AI, which identifies complementary writing styles. These collaborations result in unique novels or anthologies published on-demand.
• For Readers: Fans participate by voting on plot developments or characters, creating a highly engaging, community-driven storytelling experience. Limited-edition copies, featuring fan-contributed artwork, become prized collectibles.

5. Education and Knowledge Ecosystems

Imagine “LearnBook”—a platform integrating books into learning systems globally:

• For Readers: Students and lifelong learners access curated reading lists tied to their educational goals, with interactive elements like quizzes or study groups.
• For Publishers: Partnerships with academic institutions drive steady demand for digital content. Publishers can offer premium access to archives, research tools, or virtual seminars with renowned authors.

These future scenarios illustrate how publishing could evolve into vibrant, tech-enabled ecosystems, making reading more interactive, sustainable, and profitable for everyone involved.

More detailed examples from other sectors

Apple Ecosystem

Core Idea: Seamless integration across products, services, and third-party developers.

• User-Centric Hub: Apple’s focus is on user experience across devices like the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and more. The tight interconnection among products encourages brand loyalty.
• Partner Integration:
  • App Store: Third-party developers build apps for iOS, creating value for users.
  • Media & Subscriptions: Partnerships in content delivery (e.g., Apple Music, Apple TV+).
  • Smart Home Devices: Apple’s HomeKit enables collaboration with IoT device makers.
  • Health Partnerships: Integration with health tech and medical data tracking apps (e.g., fitness companies integrating with Apple Watch).
• Key Technologies: iOS, iCloud, Apple Pay, Siri, and advanced hardware & software interlinking.

Outcome: Apple retains users within its closed but high-value ecosystem. By building sticky user experiences and opening parts of its ecosystem to partners (while maintaining control), Apple has built one of the world’s most valuable business ecosystems.

Google Ecosystem

Core Idea: Use of data and services to create a ubiquitous ecosystem touching personal and professional life.

• User-Centric Hub: Free services like Google Search, Android OS, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Maps serve billions daily.
• Partner Integration:
  • Google Play Store: Developers provide apps and games on Android, Google’s open mobile OS.
  • Google Ads & Marketing Tools: Digital advertising partners monetize users across platforms.
  • YouTube Creators & Advertisers: Content creators, brands, and marketers build thriving businesses within YouTube.
  • Smart Tech: Nest products, Pixel hardware, and IoT devices connect with Google Assistant and smart partners.
• Key Technologies: Android (OS), Google Cloud, Ads, and AI capabilities (e.g., Google Gemini).

Outcome: Google connects users, partners, and developers through open platforms while creating sticky ecosystems driven by AI, advertising, and technological accessibility.

Condé Nast Ecosystem

Core Idea: A digital-first content ecosystem with global media brands driving fashion, luxury, and lifestyle culture.

• Content Hub:
  • Platforms like Vogue, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and GQ produce high-quality content in fashion, culture, and lifestyle.
  • Digital transformation enables mobile-first access to articles, video content, and social experiences.
• Partner Integration:
  • Luxury Brands and Advertisers: Luxury fashion houses and brands leverage editorial and advertising collaborations.
  • Fashion Events: Partnerships for experiences like Met Gala (Vogue) and major fashion weeks globally.
  • Creators: Photographers, models, journalists, stylists, and content creators collaborate with Condé Nast.
• Key Technologies:
  • AR/VR-based immersive content for editorial stories.
  • Digital and data tools to create tailored content and advertising for readers.

Outcome: Condé Nast builds an ecosystem that ties together audiences, creators, luxury brands, and immersive content experiences to define fashion and culture globally.

Spotify Ecosystem 

Core Idea: A music and audio platform with tools for creators, advertisers, and users to thrive.

• Content Hub:
  • Streaming of music, podcasts, and audiobooks for listeners worldwide.
  • Discovery tools (like playlists and “Spotify Wrapped”) drive user engagement.
• Partner Integration:
  • Artists and Labels: Music producers, record labels, and independent artists share their music.
  • Podcasters: Partnerships with creators to build an extensive podcast ecosystem.
  • Technology Partners: Integration with smart devices (e.g., Alexa, Apple CarPlay) and tools for creators like Spotify for Artists.
• Key Technologies:
  • Personalization: Algorithms for curated playlists and content discovery.
  • Anchor: Tools for podcasters to create and distribute audio content.

Outcome: Spotify connects content creators (artists, podcasters) to users, allowing for monetization while providing advertisers and technology partners a space to engage users.

Disney Ecosystem 

Core Idea: A vertically integrated content and entertainment powerhouse.

• Content Hub:
  • Disney+: Streaming platform with Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic content.
  • Disney’s vast publishing (books, comics, merchandise) supports film, TV, and IP expansion.
  • Theme parks, theaters, and retail are physical extensions of the content experience.
• Partner Integration:
  • Content Collaborators: Film production studios, animation teams, and IP owners.
  • Licensing Partners: Disney collaborates with fashion (H&M, Adidas), toy companies (LEGO, Hasbro), and publishers for product tie-ins.
  • Tech Partners: Partnerships for streaming tech, AR/VR experiences, and games.
• Key Technologies:
  • Disney+ platform for global content delivery.
  • AR/VR innovation in theme park rides and Disney experiences.

Outcome: Disney’s ecosystem revolves around owned IP (e.g., Marvel, Star Wars), merging content, merchandise, publishing, experiences, and digital platforms into a cohesive business.

Vogue Ecosystem 

Core Idea: Combining fashion, media, and business insights to connect luxury fashion with readers, brands, and partners.

• Content Hub:
  • Vogue Business focuses on luxury fashion insights, sustainability, and consumer behavior analysis.
  • Media platforms deliver reports, articles, and video content tailored to B2B fashion industry professionals.
• Partner Integration:
  • Luxury Fashion Brands: Content sponsorship and campaigns for major fashion houses.
  • Industry Events: Partnerships with trade shows, conferences (e.g., Copenhagen Fashion Summit for sustainability).
  • Fashion Creators: Journalists, photographers, researchers, and designers collaborating for niche fashion content.
• Key Technologies:
  • Data-driven tools to track industry trends (e.g., sustainability, consumer analytics).
  • Multimedia content such as augmented fashion runway experiences.

Outcome: Vogue Business acts as a digital ecosystem connecting businesses, advertisers, creators, and readers with the future of luxury fashion.

Medium Ecosystem

Core Idea: A platform connecting content creators, publishers, and readers in an ad-free environment.

• Content Hub:
  • Medium provides a publishing platform where writers, independent journalists, and organizations post articles and stories.
• Partner Integration:
  • Writers and Publishers: Independent and professional writers create monetizable content.
  • Readers: Subscription models for readers provide a steady revenue stream.
  • Tools and Developers: Integrations for content writing, design, and distribution tools.
• Key Technologies:
  • Paid subscriptions that allow direct creator monetization.
  • AI-driven curation to deliver personalized content.

Outcome: Medium offers a collaborative ecosystem for creators to focus on producing quality content while leveraging readers for engagement and monetization.

Bandcamp Ecosystem 

Core Idea: Empower independent music artists with tools to distribute, monetize, and connect with fans.

• Content Hub:
  • Bandcamp allows musicians to self-publish and sell albums, tracks, and merchandise directly to fans.
• Partner Integration:
  • Musicians and Bands: Direct-to-fan sales without label interference.
  • Merch Partners: Seamless sale and shipping of artist merchandise.
  • Discovery Tools: Curators and bloggers partner to spotlight music on Bandcamp Weekly.
• Key Technologies:
  • Streaming, purchasing, and revenue-sharing tech to empower independent artists.

Outcome: Bandcamp enables an artist-focused ecosystem, giving musicians direct control over their revenue, distribution, and audience connection.

Wattpad Ecosystem

Core Idea: A platform connecting storytellers, readers, publishers, and media partners.

• Content Hub:
  • Wattpad provides a space for writers to publish original stories that readers consume for free.
• Partner Integration:
  • Content Creators: Aspiring writers and creators build audiences on Wattpad.
  • Film/TV Studios: Stories from Wattpad often turn into screen adaptations (e.g., Netflix, Hulu).
  • Traditional Publishing: Partnerships with publishers to adapt Wattpad stories into books.
• Key Technologies:
  • Machine learning identifies popular stories with breakout potential.
  • Social reading features drive engagement between writers and readers.

Outcome: Wattpad bridges the gap between amateur creators and professional media while building an interactive storytelling community.

FBF25 Keynotes and Speakers

King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), one of Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious development projects, aimed at transforming the country’s economy and society in line with Vision 2030.

It is a planned city on the Red Sea coast, about 100 km north of Jeddah. Launched in 2005 by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and developed by Emaar, The Economic City, it was envisioned as a next-generation economic hub.

KAEC is part of Saudi Arabia’s diversification strategy to reduce dependence on oil and create a knowledge- and service-based economy. It is one of several economic cities initiated to:

• Attract foreign investment

• Foster industrial development

• Create private-sector jobs

• Serve as a hub for logistics, manufacturing, tourism, and services

Building a Smarter City

KAEC covers 181 square kilometers and is designed around several strategic zones:

• Industrial Valley – a major logistics and manufacturing hub near King Abdullah Port, attracting global manufacturers in food, pharmaceuticals, packaging, etc.

• King Abdullah Port – one of the top 100 ports globally, positioned to become a leading logistics gateway.

• Business Park – offering office space for regional HQs and startups.

• Residential Communities – including Bay La Sun and Al Murooj, offering high-quality housing.

• Education and Training – with institutions like World Academy and partnerships for vocational training and skill development.

• Tourism and Leisure – with beaches, golf courses, hotels, and entertainment options, supporting Red Sea tourism goals.

KAEC aims to be a smart city, integrating:

• Advanced infrastructure

• Sustainability principles

• Digital services and automation

• Mobility innovations (e.g., driverless shuttles tested in the city)

Challenges and Evolution

While KAEC had ambitious goals (like hosting 2 million residents), progress has been slower than expected. Challenges include:

• Lower-than-forecast demand

• Bureaucratic hurdles

• Shifting national priorities (e.g., NEOM becoming a flagship megaproject)

However, KAEC remains an important part of Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation—with logistics, port development, and light industry leading its evolution.

As part of the Red Sea economic corridor, KAEC’s future may be tied to:

• Increased regional connectivity (land, sea, and rail)

• Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policies to attract investment

• Strategic alignment with Vision 2030 themes like sustainability, youth employment, and high-value tourism

KAEC is a bold experiment in building a future-ready city from scratch. Though it hasn’t yet met its full potential, it plays a critical role in Saudi Arabia’s long-term strategy to create diversified economic hubs beyond oil.

Learning from other smart cities

KAEC is part of a global wave of master-planned cities and special economic zones (SEZs) designed to drive innovation, investment, and economic diversification. While KAEC is unique in its Saudi context, several international developments share similar ambitions — and offer important lessons about what it takes to build successful new cities from scratch.

One of the most closely comparable examples is Songdo in South Korea, a smart city built near Incheon with the aim of becoming a global business hub. Songdo integrated advanced infrastructure and environmental standards, becoming one of the most “wired” cities in the world. However, despite its technological edge, it has struggled to foster the vibrant community and business dynamism originally envisioned. The key takeaway is that infrastructure and smart systems are not enough — livability, culture, and opportunity must be woven into the urban fabric.

In the UAE, Masdar City was conceived as a model of zero-carbon living and sustainability near Abu Dhabi. While it showcased many breakthrough ideas in clean energy and green architecture, Masdar similarly found it hard to attract the critical mass of residents and businesses needed to thrive. Its experience highlights the importance of matching technological ambition with realistic, phased implementation and economic viability.

Closer to home, Neom represents Saudi Arabia’s next-generation megaproject — a futuristic city with bold visions like The Line, focusing on AI, biotech, mobility, and sustainability. Neom has captivated global attention, but also raised questions about feasibility and execution. Its early lessons suggest that grand vision must be backed by phased delivery, governance certainty, and visible progress to sustain investor and public confidence.

China’s Shenzhen is arguably the world’s most successful example of a planned economic city. What started as a small fishing village became a global tech manufacturing powerhouse thanks to its SEZ status, export-driven model, and integration with global supply chains. Shenzhen teaches us that regulatory freedom, openness to innovation, and alignment with national economic strategy are critical factors in scaling up rapidly and sustainably.

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), meanwhile, has thrived by offering an autonomous legal framework, ease of doing business, and a mix of office, retail, and lifestyle spaces — turning it into a destination, not just a business park.

For KAEC, these examples offer a clear set of lessons.

1. People First, Not Just Infrastructure

• Cities succeed when they attract residents, not just buildings.

• KAEC needs a stronger identity, more lifestyle offerings, and grassroots communities.

2. Phased Development with Clear Use Cases

• Songdo and Masdar struggled with overdesign and underuse.

• KAEC should focus on specific economic clusters (e.g., logistics, light manufacturing, education) and build demand gradually.

3. Autonomous Governance and SEZ Policy

• Like DIFC or Shenzhen, KAEC would benefit from greater regulatory freedom to attract global businesses and startups.

4. Integrated Mobility and Accessibility

• Connectivity is crucial. KAEC’s access to the Red Sea port and rail links must be leveraged to create economic gravity.

5. Anchor Institutions and Innovation Ecosystems

• KAEC should invest in research hubs, universities, incubators, and strategic partnerships to become more than a real estate project.

6. Balance Global Vision with Local Relevance

• Adapt smart city ideals to Saudi culture and lifestyle—blending tradition with innovation and fostering inclusive participation.

First, successful cities put people first — not just buildings and infrastructure. KAEC needs to strengthen its identity and community appeal through housing, culture, and services that attract residents beyond business users. Second, development must be phased with clear economic use cases — such as logistics, education, or advanced manufacturing — rather than trying to be everything at once.

Third, governance matters. Cities like Shenzhen and DIFC benefitted from regulatory flexibility that made it easier to do business and attract investment. KAEC could do more in this area by adopting SEZ-like autonomy and streamlined business services. Fourth, connectivity and accessibility must be leveraged — its location on the Red Sea, proximity to a major port, and emerging rail links are valuable assets that should anchor economic clusters.

Perhaps most importantly, KAEC must build innovation ecosystems — with universities, research centers, business incubators, and partnerships — to create value beyond real estate. And it must do all this while balancing global ambition with Saudi relevance, ensuring that its design, purpose, and services reflect local needs and aspirations.

Ultimately, KAEC’s success will depend less on how futuristic it looks and more on how well it functions as a living, breathing city. The best global examples show that long-term success comes from blending flexibility, purpose-driven development, and human-centered design into a city that people truly want to live, work, and invest in.

Where to Start?

To maximise the success of KAEC, development should begin with a focused, demand-led strategy that builds momentum over time — starting with high-potential, high-impact zones that can attract people, investment, and activity. The sequencing and spatial planning of the city are crucial to creating interdependence, ensuring that each zone supports and amplifies the others, and that the city becomes more than the sum of its parts.

Development should start where KAEC has existing advantages and where early success is most achievable. This includes:

1. King Abdullah Port and the Industrial Valley
   These areas already have strategic relevance — located on major Red Sea trade routes with access to global supply chains. By scaling logistics, warehousing, and light manufacturing clusters here first, KAEC can generate early revenue, jobs, and investment, while positioning itself as a regional logistics and industrial hub.

2. Business Park and SEZ Governance
   Alongside physical development, KAEC must establish a world-class regulatory environment — a flexible, autonomous zone with digital-first services, fast-track approvals, and dispute resolution mechanisms. This will attract regional HQs, SMEs, and startups, particularly in logistics, clean tech, and digital services.

3. Mixed-Use Residential and Lifestyle Districts (e.g., Bay La Sun)
   Simultaneously, limited but high-quality residential and lifestyle developments should be created to house early workers and attract residents, particularly young professionals and families. Early investment in social infrastructure (schools, clinics, parks, cafés) is vital to build a sense of place.

A three-phase strategy could guide the city’s growth while reducing risk. As an example:

Phase 1: Economic Core + Foundation (Years 1–5)

• Focus: Establish KAEC’s economic identity

• Priorities:

  • Expand port operations and connect to inland logistics networks

  • Develop light industry (packaging, food, pharma, green tech)

  • Launch regulatory sandbox for business zone

  • Build initial housing and mixed-use lifestyle district

  • Create digital backbone (smart utilities, city apps, connectivity)

Phase 2: Urban Integration + Clusters (Years 5–10)

• Focus: Grow city’s critical mass and cluster interdependence

• Priorities:

  • Develop education and innovation hubs (university, R&D, vocational training)

  • Add creative industries and service clusters (media, finance, design)

  • Expand transport and mobility infrastructure

  • Scale housing, recreation, retail and health services

  • Create cultural identity and event programming

Phase 3: Liveable Ecosystem + Global Brand (Years 10–20)

• Focus: Create a resilient, self-sustaining city

• Priorities:

  • Develop tourism and hospitality sectors (resorts, conferences, events)

  • Launch net-zero infrastructure (energy, water, circular systems)

  • Attract global institutions (UN bodies, innovation agencies, think tanks)

  • Position KAEC as a global testbed for urban futures

The spatial logic of KAEC should be based on connected clusters, rather than isolated megazones. Each district must feed and rely on the others to generate a virtuous cycle of productivity and livability.

Key principles will be :

• Proximity with Purpose:

  • Position residential districts adjacent to business and education zones to minimise commutes.

  • Industrial Valley should be near logistics and transport infrastructure, but buffered from residential zones with green corridors.

  • Ensure walkable town centres in each cluster, but also cross-city mobility through smart transport.

• Anchors and Catalysts:

  • Use the port and business park as economic anchors.

  • Introduce a flagship innovation hub or university as an intellectual and social anchor, centrally located to connect business, youth, and civic life.

• Smart Connectivity:

  • Design a central spine or corridor connecting port, industrial zone, education, and residential clusters via autonomous transit or green boulevards.

  • Build multi-modal transport hubs with links to national networks (rail, road, air).

• Green and Blue Infrastructure:

  • Leverage the Red Sea coast for tourism, wellness, and marine research.

  • Integrate green corridors and parks across the city to improve air quality, offer leisure, and increase resilience.

To maximise interdependence, each zone should have a primary function but also support secondary and tertiary roles — e.g., education zones should host research businesses and community events; industrial zones should include training centres and startup labs.

• Economic Interdependence: Firms rely on shared infrastructure, talent, and suppliers.

• Human Interdependence: People live near where they work and study, enjoy public services and culture together.

• Technological Interdependence: Data flows across sectors (e.g., logistics analytics used for retail forecasting or sustainability dashboards).

Urban systems should be designed to fail safely and scale flexibly — through modular development, public-private partnerships, and continuous user feedback.

KAEC’s success depends not on building a “complete” city all at once, but on creating momentum and meaning — starting with economically strategic zones, building liveability from day one, and linking clusters so they reinforce each other. With phased, purposeful growth and a spatial design that encourages interaction and resilience, KAEC can become a thriving, interconnected model for the cities of tomorrow.

From Services Provider to Intelligent Space Partner

Aramark, historically known for its broad range of outsourced services — from food catering and facility management to uniform supply and cleaning — stands at a pivotal moment. As organisations worldwide navigate the shifting terrain of work, wellbeing, and space, Aramark must reimagine its role. The future is not about simply serving meals or cleaning buildings, but about creating intelligent, adaptable, and value-generating environments where people live, work, and connect. To achieve this, Aramark must harness the transformative power of robotics and artificial intelligence, while also rethinking how it defines and activates physical spaces.

1. From Service Vendor to Strategic Partner

To unlock future growth, Aramark must reposition itself not as a cost-efficient contractor, but as a strategic partner enabling the productivity, engagement, and sustainability of the organisations it serves. The key is moving from transactional services to outcomes-based value creation.

This means no longer just providing food, but fuelling performance and wellbeing through personalised nutrition. No longer just cleaning, but maintaining healthy, sustainable, and data-optimised environments. No longer just staffing events or operating venues, but orchestrating immersive experiences that enhance engagement, community, and brand.

By adopting this outcomes-based mindset, Aramark can elevate its relevance to clients’ most pressing challenges — whether boosting employee wellbeing, reducing absenteeism, cutting carbon footprints, or creating flexible and inclusive environments for hybrid teams.

2. Embracing Robotics and Automation

Robotics and automation are essential tools for transforming Aramark’s operations. Automated cleaning systems — from self-navigating floor scrubbers to UV light sanitation drones — can improve hygiene standards while reducing labour costs and health risks. In food services, robotic kitchen assistants can handle repetitive or hazardous tasks, ensuring speed, consistency, and safety.

But automation should not be used simply to reduce headcount. Instead, it should be leveraged to free up human workers to focus on higher-value, empathetic, and creative tasks — like hospitality, customer service, and experience design. Robotics must become part of an augmented workforce strategy where humans and machines collaborate.

Crucially, automation also generates valuable data. Every robotic system becomes a sensor — feeding real-time information on space usage, energy consumption, waste patterns, and user behaviour into a broader intelligent ecosystem.

3. Harnessing AI to Predict, Personalise, and Optimise

While robotics handles the physical layer, AI adds a predictive and personalised intelligence layer across Aramark’s services.

In food services, AI can enable dynamic menus that adapt to individual nutritional needs, dietary restrictions, and cultural preferences — while also minimising food waste by predicting demand with precision. Smart vending and AI-powered micro-kitchens can provide healthy, just-in-time meals without human staff.

In facilities management, AI can predict when maintenance is required before issues arise — using data from sensors and past performance. Smart HVAC systems can optimise air quality and energy use, adjusting to occupancy levels and environmental conditions in real-time. Cleaning schedules can shift from fixed routines to need-based actions driven by usage data and hygiene scores.

Furthermore, AI-driven dashboards can help clients understand how their people use and experience their spaces — offering insights into how to improve collaboration, concentration, comfort, and community. This moves Aramark from operator to advisor.

4. Rethinking the Role of Buildings

Buildings themselves are being redefined. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a global reconsideration of the role of offices, campuses, retail centres, and public spaces. Hybrid work, digital lifestyles, sustainability imperatives, and shifting demographics demand a radical rethink of the spaces Aramark supports.

Offices are becoming collaboration hubs, not rows of desks. Aramark can transform these spaces into environments that foster connection, creativity, and wellbeing. This means more communal eating areas with nutritious menus, wellness zones, activity-triggered cleaning services, and real-time service responsiveness.

Shopping malls are becoming community anchors. As retail shifts online, malls must become destinations for experiences — learning, health, entertainment, social services. Aramark can provide hospitality, event management, cultural programming, and facilities for public value. Think of malls with rooftop gardens and co-working pods, run by smart systems and enhanced by community engagement services.

Universities and hospitals are becoming living ecosystems. These institutions are mini-cities — complex, 24/7, diverse. Aramark can lead the way in developing “smart campuses” with integrated services, sustainability platforms, digital access control, AI-assisted health diagnostics, and personalised food and wellness services.

Homes are becoming hybrid living-working spaces. As more people work remotely, there’s growing demand for services traditionally reserved for workplaces — from nutritious food delivery to remote concierge services, from wellness monitoring to localised community offerings. Aramark could expand into residential services, creating “living packages” that offer modular, flexible support in co-living and hybrid housing environments.

5. Creating Intelligent, Connected Environments

Aramark has the opportunity to become a leader in creating intelligent, connected environments. This requires moving from silos to systems — integrating food, cleaning, maintenance, energy, safety, and experience management into unified platforms powered by data and AI.

For example, an AI platform could continuously monitor occupancy, air quality, noise levels, and user feedback — then dynamically adjust food preparation, cleaning frequency, or lighting to match real-time needs. Predictive analytics could help organisations reduce downtime, improve user satisfaction, and cut costs.

Digital twins — virtual replicas of physical environments — could allow Aramark and its clients to simulate changes before they’re made, test new layouts or service models, and improve performance iteratively.

To support this vision, Aramark must develop or acquire digital capabilities — including IoT integration, machine learning, user experience design, and data analytics. This will likely require partnerships with proptech firms, AI developers, and architectural innovation labs.

6. Becoming a Platform for Wellbeing and Sustainability

The future is not just about efficiency, but about creating environments that support human flourishing and planetary health. Aramark is well-positioned to lead here — through food, energy, cleaning, waste, and social connection.

For wellbeing, Aramark can deliver:

• Personalised nutrition plans linked to employee health goals.

• Active space design that promotes movement and mindfulness.

• Mental health support through calming environments and positive social interactions.

• Accessible and inclusive environments that cater to diverse needs.

For sustainability, it can enable:

• Zero-waste kitchens through AI-driven inventory and portioning.

• Green cleaning technologies that reduce water and chemical use.

• Sustainable sourcing across food and materials.

• Carbon dashboards that help organisations meet net-zero goals.

By making wellbeing and sustainability visible and measurable — and tying them to organisational goals — Aramark can provide a compelling ROI for purpose-driven innovation.

7. Evolving the Business Model

To achieve this reinvention, Aramark must evolve its business model. Instead of long-term fixed contracts for set services, it should explore:

• Platform-based models, offering modular service bundles powered by AI insights.

• As-a-service pricing, such as “cleaning-as-a-service” or “nutrition-as-a-service,” based on usage or outcomes.

• Data monetisation, where anonymised usage and wellbeing data help clients improve productivity or sustainability.

• Innovation labs, co-developing future-ready environments with clients and startups.

This shift also calls for new capabilities — not just in technology, but in strategy, design, analytics, and customer success. Aramark must upskill its people and culture to lead in this new, intelligent service economy.

8. The Future Is Integrated, Intelligent, and Human-Centric

The future of Aramark lies in transcending the limitations of legacy service categories. As the boundaries between work and life, physical and digital, human and machine blur, Aramark must become an orchestrator of experiences — powered by data, guided by empathy, and committed to impact.

By combining robotics and AI with a deep understanding of human needs and spatial dynamics, Aramark can help organisations transform their environments into assets that inspire, heal, connect, and perform.

This is not just reinvention. It is a reimagination of the company’s role in society — from service provider to experience architect, from operator to innovator, from vendor to visionary partner.

• Megatrends 2035: the 6 dramatic forces shaking up every market
• Accelerating Growth: Leading in a world of uncertainty, change, and opportunity
• Next Generation Business Models: redefining value, reinvented with AI

Jio has become the leading mobile services platform, and even lifestyle brand, of India.

Once you’ve picked up your almost free phone, you can start browsing the JioMart online, or get a home delivery from JioFood, sit back to watch a JioMovie, or play JioGames. Your home is connected by JioNet, with JioSecurity, powered by JioEnergy, and paid for by JioMoney.

Jio, of course, is a superapp, and over the last 8 years has become a leading consumer brand in the world’s most populated country today. What’s more impressive is that it comes from Reliance, the Indian industrial petrochemical conglomerate, led by Mukesh Ambani who needs sees his digital adventure as the future of his business empire.

Using telecoms as a platform for additional services is nothing new. It’s 18 years ago since Safaricom launched its local payments service, M-Pesa, in Africa. And then continued to extend its service portfolio, into areas such as healthcare and mobility. Over recent years many other telcos, and other service platforms, have evolved to offer communications alongside almost every digital service imaginable.

And yet, most traditional telcos, like AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, Verizon and Vodafone, have been left behind. Weighed down by outdated mindsets and legacy infrastructure, they try to compete on tariffs and add-ons, but seem increasingly desperate.

The telecoms industry is at a profound turning point.

What once was a utility sector built on selling voice minutes and data plans is now transforming into a collection of technology-driven ecosystems — platform businesses that span sectors as diverse as finance, retail, entertainment, healthcare, education, and mobility.

Across the world, the most forward-looking telcos are embracing a new identity: digital enablers of daily life and business, building superapps, launching banks, creating content platforms, and powering digital infrastructure for industries.

This reinvention is driven by a need to escape the commoditisation of connectivity — and by a massive opportunity to leverage their reach, data, and brands in new, value-added ways.

From communications to everyday platforms

The shift away from traditional voice and data is playing out globally, with innovators building service platforms that turn mobile subscribers into participants in broader ecosystems.

Financial services

Telcos have become critical players in financial inclusion and digital payments, particularly in emerging markets:

• Safaricom’s M-Pesa dominates mobile money in Kenya and beyond, with payments, loans, health insurance, and more.

• STC Pay became Saudi Arabia’s first licensed digital bank, integrating payments into a wider commerce ecosystem.

• Tigo Money in Latin America supports remittances, microloans, and online commerce for millions of unbanked users.

• Orange Bank offers full digital banking in Europe and West Africa, combining telco reach with fintech innovation.

These services are not side businesses — they are core to the telco’s evolving identity as trusted platforms for digital life.

Content ecosystems

From bundling Netflix to producing original content, telcos are embedding media into their core offerings:

• JioCinema has emerged as a streaming giant in India, challenging YouTube and traditional broadcasters.

• Movistar+ (Telefónica) integrates streaming, football rights, and smart home services across Spain and Latin America.

• STC TV is expanding Arabic-language content and sports rights in the Middle East.

By combining content with connectivity, telcos increase customer stickiness, improve margins, and tap into the booming attention economy.

Superapp lifestyles

The most ambitious telcos are aiming to become “everything apps”, similar to WeChat or Grab:

• Jio combines connectivity, payments, shopping, media, and health under one platform, backed by major tech investors.

• Rakuten offers telecom, e-commerce, banking, and travel services — all tied together by a unified membership and points system.

• Circles from Singapore provides a fully app-based, customizable telco experience with embedded lifestyle perks. Its Circles X platform is now white-labeled by telcos globally.

This convergence turns telcos into daily engagement platforms — not just network providers.

Opportunities in consumer markets

Health and Wellness

Telcos are moving into digital health by bundling:

• Telemedicine services (video consults)

• Mental health and wellbeing apps

• Wearables for health tracking

Safaricom, MTN, and Airtel are experimenting with health platforms linked to mobile wallets. In developed markets, 5G-enabled wearables and home diagnostics are emerging areas.

Education and Skills

With mobile access surpassing school infrastructure in many regions, telcos are delivering:

• Digital classrooms via mobile

• Vocational and upskilling platforms (especially for youth and women)

• Edtech bundles with data plans

Airtel India and Telkom Kenya are partnering with ministries to support hybrid learning in underserved areas.

Retail and Commerce

Telcos are building:

• Marketplaces for third-party goods and services

• QR code-based payments

• Buy-now-pay-later options

This is especially impactful in markets with low credit card penetration, where telco billing systems can power consumer credit at scale.

 

Opportunities in business markets

While consumer platforms are expanding, the biggest commercial transformation may be in enterprise services. Telcos are now entering B2B markets not just as network providers but as digital transformation partners.

Industry-Specific Platforms

Telcos are building specialized platforms for sectors such as:

• Agriculture: Safaricom and Airtel offer crop tracking, weather forecasts, and mobile payments for farmers.

• Manufacturing: Telenor and Vodafone offer industrial 5G and IoT platforms for smart factories.

• Logistics and transport: Telstra and HKT power fleet tracking and real-time asset management.

These go beyond basic connectivity to deliver end-to-end business solutions.

Edge Computing and 5G Services

With 5G rollout and the need for real-time processing, telcos are:

• Deploying edge computing nodes near factories and hospitals

• Offering network slicing for guaranteed service levels in critical applications

• Partnering with hyperscalers (AWS, Azure) for hybrid cloud offerings

This supports real-time analytics, autonomous systems, and mission-critical applications in sectors like healthcare, utilities, and defense.

Cybersecurity and data services

Telefónica Tech, Singtel’s Ensign, and Orange Cyberdefense offer:

• Managed cybersecurity services

• Data privacy platforms

• Threat detection and response centers

As businesses become data-driven, telcos’ trusted role makes them key players in enterprise security.

Small business partners

In developing markets, telcos like MTN and Tigo are creating bundles for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that include:

• Mobile point-of-sale systems

• Cloud-based bookkeeping

• Social commerce integration

These services are digitizing local economies and embedding telcos deeper into the business fabric of society.

Reinventing the telecoms world

The telco of the future will look more like a platform business than a utility — integrating technology, financial services, content, logistics, and cloud infrastructure into one cohesive experience.

What sets the most innovative telcos apart:

• Digital-native platforms (not legacy networks)
• Modular, customizable experiences for consumers and businesses
• Exportable software and APIs for global growth
• Cross-sector partnerships to enter high-growth markets like health and energy

No longer just conduits for communication, telcos are emerging as the connective tissue of the digital economy.

Telcos will evolve into personal operating systems — platforms that integrate every aspect of daily life, securely and seamlessly. Future telcos will offer services like:

Passport to the digital world

For consumers, your telco becomes your passport to the digital world — managing biometric ID, KYC, and secure logins across apps and services – a unified interface for:

• Finances (banking, payments, insurance)
• Entertainment (streaming, games, events)
• Mobility (ride-hailing, transport passes, EV charging)
• Health (wearables, telehealth, remote diagnostics)
• Commerce (shopping, rewards, buy-now-pay-later)

The leads to hyper-personalised experiences. Using AI, telcos can:

• Dynamically adapt plans based on usage
• Curate content and offers
• Suggest wellness or productivity insights
• Bundle services based on moments — e.g., “new job”, “moving house”, or “traveling abroad”

These services won’t feel like telco offerings — they’ll feel like life management tools.

For business, the telco of the future is not just an infrastructure vendor,  it is the digital nervous system powering real-time operations, customer experiences, and innovation.

• Industry-specific platforms: For logistics, agriculture, healthcare, energy
• IoT & 5G orchestration: Enabling smart factories, connected cities, autonomous mobility
• Edge computing & cloud-native services: Latency-sensitive apps, AR/VR, industrial AI
• AI-as-a-Service: Insights from customer data, network intelligence, behavior analysis
• Cybersecurity fabric: Built-in, adaptive, and autonomous protection of enterprise systems

This makes telcos not just partners in digital transformation — but builders of digital ecosystems.

Reinvention or Irrelevance 

From Jio in India to Rakuten in Japan, Safaricom in Africa to Circles in Southeast Asia, and STC in the Middle East — the most innovative players are redefining what it means to be a telecom company.

The ultimate goal: a telco that feels invisible but indispensable.

• Invisible in its ease — no more managing plans, worrying about roaming, or chasing support.

• Indispensable in its utility — enabling your health, wealth, relationships, work, and play.

The telco of the future is not your provider. It’s your digital twin, your trusted companion, and your gateway to a smarter, more connected life.

They are not just keeping people connected. They are reimagining how people live, learn, earn, shop, heal, and growin a digital-first world.

• Download the new “Megatrends 2035” report by Peter Fisk
• Download a summary of Peter Fisk’s CRF Summer Lecture at the Financial Times

In an age of accelerating disruption, every company faces a choice: adapt, transform, or fade away.

The next decade will be defined not by incremental progress but by seismic shifts in how the world works. Megatrends aren’t background noise; they’re the blueprint for what’s next. From AI to aging populations, climate collapse to geopolitical fracture, companies that thrive will be those that reinvent themselves in response to the tectonic forces reshaping society.

In a world of relentless disruption, business leaders need more than strategy, they need a megatrend mindset.

That means looking forward, not back. It means anticipating the seismic shifts reshaping our economies, societies, and technologies, and acting before others do. Leaders must use them to galvanise their organisations, mobilise talent, and reimagine what their business is for. Reinvention can no longer be occasional or reactive, it must become a core capability, a cultural instinct, a superpower.

The future won’t wait. The companies that lead it will be those bold enough to shape it.

So, what is driving the future, and how can you be part of it?

Megatrends are long-term, transformative forces that are global in scope, cross-industry in impact, and inevitable in their trajectory. From climate change and technological convergence to demographic shifts and urbanization, megatrends are not just fleeting headlines—they are the undercurrents shaping the future of markets, societies, and business itself.

Ignoring megatrends is no longer an option. They influence how people live, what they value, how they consume, how they work, and how economies evolve. For businesses, this means rethinking what they offer, how they operate, and why they exist. Companies that spot these shifts early and act boldly are the ones that leapfrog competitors, shape new markets, and earn the right to lead.

We explore six megatrends with a 10-year perspective, already shaking up every market. They are the disruptive forces that threaten your existence, but equally your biggest opportunities, superhighways to future possibilities, driving innovation and growth. And then we consider what they mean for your industry. How will they drive reinvention? What are the critical actions for business leaders, and the broader mindset to adopt? And who can we learn from?

Ultimately, the question is what will you do as a business leader – now – to create a better tomorrow, to shape the future that you want, and in which your business can thrive.

Megatrend 1. Exponential Intelligence … business at the speed of thought

By 2035, AI will be embedded in every business process. Intelligent systems will generate over 90% of digital content.

The line between human and machine thinking will blur. Exponential Intelligence represents the rapid acceleration of AI, and the convergence of technologies – in particular genomics, robotics, blockchains and energy storage – and new capabilities such as quantum computing.

AI’s application are profound, from accelerating new personalised medicines to fighting climate change, and new business models that deliver hyper personalisation.

This megatrend signifies a shift from linear progress to exponential possibility, where machines increasingly augment human decisions, also enabling people to add value in new ways. In the future AI will not just support businesses, it will co-create with them.

Companies must embed AI across every core function, from operations to marketing to finance, and develop proprietary models tailored to their domain. Leading firms are reimagining customer experiences through predictive, hyperpersonalised interfaces and training their workforces for human-machine collaboration.

Why does it matter?

• AI will contribute over $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2035 (PwC).
• 90% of online content is projected to be AI-generated by 2026 (IBM).
• Over 40% of all jobs will be impacted by AI and automation (WEF)

What do we need to do?

• Apply AI models to core business activities to radically transform speed and costs, analysis and development
• Predict and personalise user interfaces to anticipate customer needs and serve them better and faster
• Build ecosystem business models to unlock mutual capabilities that capture the best new opportunities for growth.

Who’s doing it?

• Insilico Medicine: using AI to reinvent the process of drug discovery, development and evaluation, 10 times faster, 100 times cheaper
• Siemens: co-developing self-optimising autonomous factories using digital twins and AWS infrastructure
• Duolingo: Language learning reimagined with GPT-powered conversational roleplay, adapting instantly to user fluency and goals.

Megatrend 2. Generational Remix … older, urban, more different and personal

By 2035, society will be older, more urban, more different and personal — and yet also more connected than ever. Businesses must design for diversity, longevity, and identity.

Generational Remix captures the profound social transformation underway: populations are aging rapidly, cities are expanding, and cultural identities are becoming more diverse, fluid, and personal.

This megatrend is about designing for complexity and individuality – where different generations, values, and needs collide and co-create. It also drives fundamentally different support – older people are living longer with more affluence, for leisure and travel. Pensions will need to last longer, and healthcare costs will inevitably rise. Similarly urbanisation drives the reinvention of many services, from education and entertainment to how communities are built, and the rising power of city states.

Businesses must develop inclusive, intergenerational products and services; personalise offerings based on lifestyle rather than age; and embrace cultural plurality in design and communication. Planners must design cities, homes, and brands for 100-year lives, build inclusive, multigenerational workplaces, and address loneliness, mental health, and community. It is also about embedding cultural and demographic diversity into R&D. This is about treating every customer—and employee—not as a demographic, but as a unique human.

Why does it matter?

• 20% of global population will be over 60 by 2035, more than under 18
• 68% of the world will live in cities by 2035, and more in single homes
• 90% of global population growth to 2050 will be in Africa and Asia (UN)

What do we need to do?

• Develop intergenerational products and services, personalise offerings based on lifestyle and diverse identities
• Urban planning to design cities, homes, and brands for 100-year lives, build inclusive, multigenerational workplaces
• Reinvent urban services, from education and entertainment to how communities are built, and the rising power of city states.

Who’s doing it?

• Philips HealthSuite: Cloud-based health platform for remote care, chronic condition monitoring, and aging-in-place solutions.
• Nestlé Health Science: Investing in personalised nutrition, gut health, and senior wellness—especially in fast-aging markets.
• Toyota Woven City: A prototype smart city in Japan designed for autonomous vehicles, robotic assistance, and aging-friendly living.

Megatrend 3. Asian Century … economic shift to the east, and volatility everywhere

Asia is the gravitational centre of global growth. By 2035, most middle-class consumers will live in Asia. The region will lead in innovation, consumption, and complexity.

The Asian Century represents the rebalancing of global economic power towards Asia and the Global South. These regions are not just growth markets—they are innovation hubs, cultural trendsetters, and geopolitical forces reshaping the future.

While Asia’s huge population with increasing disposable income will increasingly dominate the world’s consumer markets, Asia’s businesses have also dramatically shifted from cheap imitators of western goods, to leaping ahead in their application of new technologies, new business models, and innovations.

Businesses must do more than export to Asia—they must co-create in and for Asia, localising products for fast-rising middle classes in Tier 2/3 cities, collaborating with Asian startups, and embedding cultural relevance into innovation. India, Vietnam, Indonesia are popular locations for global R&D hubs. New digital trade corridors (eg RCEP, BRICS+ alliances) are reconfiguring markets.  Superapps like Jio and Grab provide easy access to markets, through collaboration with their ecosystems. But with growth, prepare for volatility.

Why does it matter?

• Asia will contribute 65% of global GDP growth by 2035 (IMF)
• Over 50% of global consumer spending will be Asian by then.
• 83% of global AI-related patents are filed by Asian companies (Wired)

What do we need to do?

• Seize the Asian market opportunity, finding effective ways to access and compete eg Indonesia, Vietnam, tier 2/3 cities, BRIC trade corridor
• Localise and co-create with local partners, finding cultural relevance and sourcing and manufacturing locally.
• Learn from the best Asian companies, who have leapfrogged the west, and are typically the most innovative, agile and efficient in the world.

Who’s doing it?

• BYD: China’s batteries to EV giant has become the global leader, and in clean energy too
• Xiaomi: Creating consumer electronic products equal or superior to western peers but 90% cheaper
• LVMH Asia Studios: Culturally attuned luxury innovation, where Asian consumer no longer want western goods

Megatrend 4. Regenerative Systems … from climate crisis to net positive impact

Climate change is the defining risk and opportunity of our time. But the frontrunners are moving beyond carbon-neutral to climate-positive and nature-regenerating models.

Regenerative Systems is about moving beyond sustainability as damage limitation toward a model that actively restores, replenishes, and reimagines the relationship between business and the planet. With the climate crisis accelerating and ecosystems under pressure, the regenerative economy is a shift from extractive to circular, from carbon-neutral to climate-positive.

The impact however can be even greater when we look beyond carbon – to other materials and resources – in particular, water and biodiversity. It can be greater still when we embrace social and environmental issues together, as they are often systemically connected.

This is when businesses really can reinvent for net positive impact.

Businesses must transition from compliance to leadership—transforming supply chains into regenerative ecosystems, adopting circular design, and tying executive incentives to sustainability performance. This includes decarbonising supply chains with digital ESG tracking, linking executive pay to sustainability goals, restoring biodiversity and natural capital, and creating planet-positive products and services.

Why does it matter?

• The world’s business systems are still only 6.9% “circular” (IPCC)
• Clean energy will be 60% of the global energy mix by 2035 (IEA)
• Embedding the 17 SDGs is worth $12 trillion, and 380 million jobs (UN)

What do we need to do?

• Develop regenerative business models, going far beyond CSR and ESG, circular and net zero, to create net positive impact
• Think beyond carbon to embrace other challenges eg biodiversity, water, but also social issues eg equality, fairness, etc
• Focus innovation on the big problems, AI to address climate change and disease, to create 40% more food, 50% more energy, in new ways

Who’s doing it?

• Schneider Electric: Helping cities and factories go carbon-neutral through connected, AI-managed energy efficiency platforms.
• Interface: creating net-positive floor tiles that absorb carbon, creating the “factory as the forest”
• Nubank: world’s fastest growing bank from Brazil, targeting the unbanked, building financial literacy, reducing poverty, and building inclusion.

Megatrend 5. Multipolar World … geopolitical tension and the end of globalisation

The old model of seamless globalisation is fragmenting. Economic nationalism, digital sovereignty, and supply chain shocks driven by conflicts and tariffs are reshaping business strategy.

Multipolarity marks the end of the unipolar, globalised world as we knew it. With growing geopolitical tensions, trade fragmentation, and inwards facing economic policies, companies are navigating a world of shifting alliances, digital borders, and regional blocs.

By 2035, over 70% of global trade will occur within regional networks. Data sovereignty regulations will be in place in dozens of countries, and supply chains will be redesigned for resilience, not just cost.

Businesses must nearshore manufacturing, create flexible, modular operations, and navigate complex trade relationships with agility and foresight. The reinvention challenge is to build resilience without retreat—balancing localisation with global ambition.

Why does it matter?

• Global trade as a % of global GDP has declined since 2008 (OECD)
• By 2035, over 70% of global trade will occur within regional networks
• 84% of global executives now rate geopolitical as their top risk (McKinsey)

What do we need to do?

• Redesign supply chains for resilience, agility not cost, nearshoring and partnering closer to customer markets,
• Diversify your global spread of markets and operations, to spread risk and be more responsive to change.
• Address data sovereignty, and other issues such as IP protection, regulation, cybersecurity, with foresight and influence.

Who’s doing it?

• Apple: Accelerating iPhone and chip production in India to diversify away from China, including flagship stores in Mumbai and Delhi.
• Inditex: Strengthening local production in Europe and the Americas to respond faster and reduce geopolitical exposure.
• Flexport: Creating tech tools to reroute and de-risk global supply chains in real-time amid fragmentation and shocks.

Megatrend 6. Humanity Rising … more purposeful, caring and collective progress

The most powerful force in business is the human one. Trust, wellbeing, meaning, and social contribution are now core to business strategy.

Humanity Rising is a movement toward putting people and purpose at the heart of business. It reflects a shift from transactional to meaningful work, from shareholder primacy to stakeholder ecosystems, and from short-term profit to long-term wellbeing.

As automation, and specifically AI, takes on the repetitive tasks of many workflows, business need to redesign human roles for more added value.

Companies must rewire culture around empathy, trust, and meaning; invest in human-centred leadership; and design work for life, not just productivity.

By 2035, businesses that lead on purpose and wellbeing will significantly outperform their peers. Mental health will be a core performance metric, and the human experience of work—flexibility, autonomy, growth—will shape loyalty and innovation.

Humanocracy calls for ”organisations as amazing as the people inside them”. Microsoft’s Satya Nadella recognised this calling for his organisation to be a platform to showcase each person’s unique talents, to let them achieve their ambitions, rather than just being the cog in the works of a corporate machine.

Why does it matter?

• Purpose-driven brands grow 2.5x faster than average brands (WARC)
• 77% of GenZ seek meaningful work, and buy meaningful brands (McKinsey)
• AI augmentation is likely to improve human productivity by 40% by 2035

What do we need to do?

• Create purposeful business strategies, that turn purpose into real action and delivers better progress – profitable growth and positive impact.
• Redesign for human added value so that technology automates processes, releasing people to achieve more
• Build organisations as amazing as the people inside them: empowering, democratic, enabling, caring, dynamic, resilient and daring.

Who’s doing it?

• Danone: Legally binding mission-driven governance (B Corp), in its shift from food to becoming a health business
• Salesforce: Flexibility, purpose, ethics as a platform, mental health through “Success from Anywhere” strategy
• Mindera: Portuguese software “made by humans” … people-first culture fostering innovation through community, autonomy, and trust.

How megatrends drive business reinvention

Every industry is being reinvented.

These 6 megatrends create a perfect storm of technological breakthroughs, shifting consumer expectations, environmental imperatives, and economic uncertainty that are driving radical transformation across every sector. The boundaries between industries are blurring, value is migrating to new models and ecosystems, and the winners of tomorrow are being shaped today.

From automotive to insurance, banking to retail, energy to healthcare, established players face existential pressure to change. Legacy systems, slow-moving cultures, and risk-averse mindsets are being outpaced by fast, bold innovators—companies that use data, AI, and platform thinking to deliver better, smarter, more sustainable solutions. Tesla isn’t just a car company. Amazon isn’t just a retailer. They’re both operating systems for the future.

Disruptors are emerging from every corner of the globe—scaling faster, experimenting more aggressively, and harnessing the power of technology to solve meaningful problems.

These next generation leaders are obsessed with what’s next. They blend purpose and profit, long-term impact and short-term agility. But incumbents aren’t out of the race. The most forward-looking are reinventing themselves, acquiring new capabilities, and unlocking value from their intangible assets—brand, trust, ecosystems, and intelligence.

The next five years will be decisive. Growth will come not from doing more of the same, but from reimagining what’s possible—through smart automation, regenerative design, AI-powered personalization, and bold new business models. The winners will be those who stretch their vision, embrace uncertainty, and build for the future—not the past.

Reinventing Automotive

When Lei Jun unveiled the SU7 electric supercar from his smartphone maker Xiaomi, with comparable features but over 90% cheaper than a Porsche Taycan, we knew the industry was not just being disrupted, but fundamentally reinvented. No longer just about horsepower and design, the future of cars became about software, autonomy, and energy ecosystems. Disruptors like Tesla, BYD, and Rivian are redefining mobility, while incumbents like GM and VW scramble to catch up. The future belongs to firms that can merge electric drivetrains with data-driven intelligence, build direct customer relationships, and plug into renewable grids.

• Key Drivers: EV revolution, autonomy, mobility-as-a-service
• Disruptors: Tesla, BYD, Rivian, Waymo, Nio, Xiaomi
• Incumbents: VW and Hyundai invest heavily in EVs and batteries; GM pivots toward all-electric by 2035
• Future Winners: Tesla remains dominant due to its integrated energy + mobility model; Chinese EV players like BYD are poised to lead on affordability and scale; Apple and Sony may emerge through software-first approaches
• Growth Areas: EVs, autonomous fleets, in-car software, subscription mobility
• Outlook: $5T transformation underway; platforms and ecosystems will define winners

Reinventing Banking

In Brazil, David Vélez launched Nubank to free people from bureaucratic, fee-heavy traditional banks. With nothing more than a smartphone and a smile, customers signed up for accounts in minutes. Nubank now serves over 90 million users. Fintechs are rewriting the rules with embedded finance, AI risk models, and crypto rails. Traditional banks must become platforms, not fortresses. Future leaders will be those who turn trust, data, and user experience into intelligent financial ecosystems.

• Key Drivers: Fintech, AI, blockchain, real-time services
• Disruptors: Nubank, Revolut, Stripe, Square, DeFi
• Incumbents: JPMorgan and DBS investing in AI, APIs, and sustainability-linked finance
• Future Winners: Digital-first, customer-centric, embedded finance providers that turn financial services into frictionless tools
• Growth Areas: AI-enabled wealth tools, crypto custody, sustainable lending
• Outlook: Banking becomes invisible, embedded in lifestyle

Reinventing Construction

Using 3D printing, Icon built a house in 24 hours using a giant robotic arm and a special concrete blend—radically reducing time, cost, and environmental impact. This illustrates the kind of breakthrough needed in a notoriously slow-moving industry. Innovation now means modular, smart, and zero-carbon construction. Giants like Skanska are investing in digital twins and low-carbon cement. Winners will combine automation, green design, and tech-savvy talent to transform how we build the future.

• Key Drivers: Green buildings, modular methods, robotics
• Disruptors: Icon (3D printing), Katerra (prefab), CarbonCure (CO2 tech)
• Incumbents: Skanska, Bouygues, Holcim, and Turner adopting digital twins and zero-carbon materials
• Future Winners: Tech-integrated construction firms that deliver faster, cleaner, cheaper buildings; smart infrastructure providers
• Growth Areas: Smart cities, digital twins, sustainable housing
• Outlook: $1T green retrofit and smart build opportunity

Reinventing Energy

Octopus Energy is disrupting utilities by putting customers at the heart of a clean energy revolution—offering dynamic pricing, transparency, and rapid green energy switching. In an industry long dominated by giant incumbents, it proved agility can win. The transition to net zero, powered by solar, wind, hydrogen, and AI-managed grids, is accelerating. Winners will not just produce energy, but orchestrate energy flows, storage, and demand across intelligent, decentralised networks.

• Key Drivers: Decarbonization, decentralization, storage
• Disruptors: Tesla Energy, Octopus Energy, Vestas, Climeworks
• Incumbents: Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP redefining themselves as energy transition companies
• Future Winners: Companies that integrate solar, wind, storage, and smart grids into unified platforms
• Growth Areas: Renewables, green hydrogen, carbon capture, virtual power plants
• Outlook: Clean energy to dominate mix by 2030; trillion-dollar opportunity

Reinventing Entertainment

When Roblox went public, it revealed that kids were spending more time building and playing in virtual worlds than watching TV. Entertainment is no longer passive—it’s immersive, participatory, and social. New models powered by creators, fans, and algorithms are dominating, as traditional studios play catch-up. Netflix disrupted distribution; now AI and generative content are the new frontiers. Winners will build platforms that blend content, community, and co-creation.

• Key Drivers: Streaming, gaming, AI content, creator economy
• Disruptors: Netflix, Epic Games, Roblox, TikTok
• Incumbents: Disney+ reinvention; Warner Bros. bets on streaming + IP
• Future Winners: Firms that merge entertainment, social engagement, and immersive tech; those who own IP and fan relationships
• Growth Areas: AI-generated content, gamified storytelling, AR/VR
• Outlook: Creator platforms to become dominant media forces

Reinventing Fashion

Pangaia isn’t just a fashion brand—it’s a material science company using seaweed fibers and bacteria-based dyes to reinvent sustainable clothing. Fashion is being reshaped by digital identities, circular design, and transparent supply chains. Fast fashion disruptors like Shein use real-time data and micro-inventory, while luxury players are experimenting with resale and digital fashion. Future winners will merge purpose with personalization, creating garments that are smart, sustainable, and story-driven.

• Key Drivers: Sustainability, digital fashion, circularity
• Disruptors: Shein, ThredUp, Pangaia, DressX
• Incumbents: LVMH and Zara building closed-loop supply chains and digital experiences
• Future Winners: Brands that mix identity, impact, and innovation; digital-native and circular-first businesses
• Growth Areas: Resale, AI design, bio-materials, virtual clothing
• Outlook: Fashion shifts from volume to value, driven by tech + conscience

Reinventing Food and Drink

At NotCo, AI named Giuseppe creates plant-based versions of animal products by analyzing molecular similarities. It made mayo, milk, and meat that taste like the real thing—but aren’t. This signals a shift toward food as software: designed, personalized, and planetary. The food revolution is being driven by sustainability, health, and technology. Giants like Nestlé are investing in alt-proteins. Winners will feed the future with science, values, and delicious innovation.

• Key Drivers: Health, sustainability, transparency
• Disruptors: Beyond Meat, Oatly, NotCo, Upside Foods
• Incumbents: Nestlé and Unilever invest in plant-based and direct-to-consumer (DTC) platforms
• Future Winners: Brands that align with planetary and personal health; those who digitize the food chain
• Growth Areas: Alt protein, fermentation tech, personalized nutrition
• Outlook: $300B alt-protein industry by 2030; data becomes the key ingredient

Reinventing Healthcare

During the COVID-19 pandemic, BioNTech—once a little-known biotech firm—partnered with Pfizer to deliver a vaccine in record time using mRNA technology. It was a moonshot moment. Healthcare is being reinvented through genomics, AI, and patient-centric platforms. Startups like Tempus and Babylon offer predictive care and digital diagnoses, while incumbents digitize clinical pathways. Future leaders will move from treating illness to preventing it—personalized, predictive, and precision-driven.

• Key Drivers: AI, genomics, personalized medicine
• Disruptors: Tempus, BioNTech, 23andMe, Babylon Health
• Incumbents: Pfizer, Novartis and Roche embed AI across drug discovery and diagnostics
• Future Winners: Companies delivering preventive, digital, and personalized care at scale
• Growth Areas: AI drug discovery, wearable diagnostics, gene therapies
• Outlook: From reactive to proactive care; multi-trillion-dollar ecosystem

Reinventing Insurance

Lemonade turned heads by settling some claims in under 3 seconds, using AI and behavioral economics. It proved insurance doesn’t have to be slow, opaque, or distrusted. Climate volatility and shifting lifestyles demand real-time, proactive coverage. Incumbents like Munich Re are adapting with prevention-as-a-service. The winners will anticipate, not just insure—embedding risk reduction, AI insights, and customer trust into everything.

• Key Drivers: Risk prevention, personalization, AI pricing
• Disruptors: Lemonade, Zego, FloodFlash, Trōv
• Incumbents: AXA and Munich Re building smart risk platforms and climate resilience tools
• Future Winners: Insurers who evolve into risk-reduction partners powered by real-time data
• Growth Areas: Parametric insurance, embedded models, prevention-as-a-service
• Outlook: Reinvention from safety net to proactive value provider

Reinventing Manufacturing

Relativity Space is using 3D printing to make rockets—95% fewer parts, far faster iterations. It’s a symbol of manufacturing’s new age: flexible, intelligent, and software-defined. Automation, IoT, and AI are transforming everything from design to delivery. Legacy players like Siemens and GE are embracing digital twins. The factories of the future will be smart, sustainable, and continuously learning.

• Key Drivers: Industry 4.0, robotics, sustainability
• Disruptors: Relativity Space, Xometry, Vention
• Incumbents: Siemens, GE, and Bosch digitizing supply chains and factory floors
• Future Winners: Agile, hyper-automated, sustainable manufacturers with digital cores
• Growth Areas: Smart factories, additive manufacturing, nearshoring
• Outlook: $1T+ productivity gains from intelligent manufacturing

Reinventing Retail

Shopify gave small businesses global reach with a few clicks—and now powers millions of storefronts. Retail is shifting from stores to ecosystems, driven by social commerce, AI curation, and instant fulfillment. Amazon, Temu, and ThredUp are reshaping expectations. Incumbents must combine digital agility with deep human insight. The next winners will create seamless, personalized, and values-based retail experiences.

• Key Drivers: Omnichannel, AI personalization, circularity
• Disruptors: Amazon, Shopify, Temu, ThredUp
• Incumbents: Walmart and Target investing in AI, last-mile, experiential retail
• Future Winners: Ecosystem retailers blending physical, digital, and sustainable offerings
• Growth Areas: Social commerce, live shopping, AI recommendation engines
• Outlook: Retail = technology; brand trust + data + delivery = competitive edge

Reinventing Technology

When OpenAI released ChatGPT, it stunned the world—and ignited an AI arms race. Technology is the force multiplier of every transformation. AI, quantum, chips, and decentralised platforms are reshaping what’s possible. Disruptors like DeepMind and Anthropic push the frontiers, while incumbents like Microsoft integrate AI into everything. The winners will be ecosystem architects, building the foundations of a superintelligent, secure, and inclusive digital world.

• Key Drivers: AI, cloud, quantum, cybersecurity
• Disruptors: OpenAI, DeepMind, Anthropic, Nvidia
• Incumbents: Microsoft and Google integrating GenAI across platforms
• Future Winners: Platform-native firms owning data, chips, and AI layers
• Growth Areas: GenAI, autonomous agents, AI operating systems
• Outlook: Tech drives all other industries; $10T+ value shift imminent

Reinventing Telecoms

Starlink launched satellites fast enough to beam high-speed internet to war zones and remote villages alike. It showed how agile, hardware-software integrated telecom can leapfrog legacy infrastructure. With 5G, edge computing, and AI, telecom is evolving into a platform for everything—especially B2B. The leaders will connect not just people, but machines, data, and intelligence.

• Key Drivers: 5G, private networks, AI-managed ops
• Disruptors: Starlink, Rakuten Mobile, Helium Network
• Incumbents: AT&T, BT, and Orange reposition as digital service providers
• Future Winners: Providers offering integrated connectivity, intelligence, and cloud-edge infrastructure
• Growth Areas: Satellite internet, B2B 5G, telecom-as-a-platform
• Outlook: Telcos reinvent as enablers of digital society

Reinventing Travel

Airbnb changed not just where we stay—but how we experience the world. It made travel more local, personal, and flexible. Now, the rise of conscious travelers, nomadic workers, and immersive tech is redefining journeys. EcoHotels and digital nomad platforms are growing fast. Future winners will offer sustainable, seamless, and soul-nourishing travel—with data-driven personalisation and low-impact design.

• Key Drivers: Sustainable tourism, remote work, personalization
• Disruptors: Airbnb, Boom, Hopper, Nomadic, EcoHotels
• Incumbents: Marriott and Accor push eco-design, digital concierge, loyalty platforms
• Future Winners: Brands offering flexible, immersive, low-impact experiences
• Growth Areas: Bleisure (business + leisure), digital nomad services, green destinations
• Outlook: Travel reimagined around purpose, data, and experience.

Building a megatrend mindset

What the 6 megatrends share is a combination of inevitability and complexity.

They unfold over years, even decades, but their effects are accelerating. They create new winners and losers, and they require a mindset that is radically different from the one that dominated business in the past.

Traditional business thinking is rooted in linear assumptions, efficiency optimization, and incremental growth. But megatrends don’t follow linear rules. They interact with one another in unpredictable ways. They often create inflection points—sudden, nonlinear changes—that disrupt even the most well-defended industries.

Just consider how the fusion of mobile technology, social platforms, and AI enabled the rise of entirely new business models like Uber, and then TikTok which is as much about entertainment and shopping as networking. And over the last 18 months, AI platforms like ChatGPT have accelerated rapidly to challenge the very existence of the likes of Google.

In this environment, the most dangerous mindset is one of stability and control. The world no longer rewards those who cling to certainty or simply extrapolate the past forward. Instead, it favours those who embrace perpetual reinvention—those who can sense, adapt, and act at the speed of change.

To do that, leaders need to cultivate what we might call a “megatrend mindset”—a deep awareness of the forces reshaping the world, combined with the humility to question assumptions, the curiosity to explore what’s emerging, and the courage to make bold moves before the path is clear.

What Is a Megatrend Mindset?

A megatrend mindset is not just a set of insights or predictions—it’s a new operating philosophy for how leaders think, decide, and lead in uncertainty. It is defined by several key shifts:

• From short-term to long-view thinking: Leaders must look beyond quarterly targets and focus on building future-fit businesses. This means identifying long-term opportunities and investing in capabilities that align with where the world is going—not just where it is now.
• From control to navigating complexity: Instead of trying to manage complexity away, leaders must learn to navigate it. This includes using systems thinking, scenario planning. Strategies become more directional and agile, as embiguity and uncertainty are part of normality.
• From optimisation to reinventing everything: Efficiency alone won’t drive tomorrow’s growth. Reinvention does. Leaders must be willing to rethink their business model, reshape their value proposition, and reimagine their entire organisations and ecosystems for how they deliver impact—over and over again.
• From fixed expertise to dynamic learning: Expertise is becoming perishable. What matters more is learning agility—the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn faster than the pace of change. A megatrend mindset fosters a culture of exploration, experimentation, and continuous growth.
• From reactive to proactive transformation: Waiting for change to hit before acting is a losing strategy. The megatrend mindset pushes organizations to lead change—to shape emerging markets, experiment with new models, and continually challenge their own relevance.

Why This Mindset Matters Now

The world is entering a new era where change is not just fast—it’s relentless.

As technologies compound, environmental pressures intensify, and social expectations shift, the gap between what businesses are and what they need to become is growing wider. Those that fail to evolve will fall behind. Those that embrace change will define the next generation of value creation.

Companies like DSM have learnt to continually reinvent themselves – from Dutch coal mining to chemicals to lifesciences – or Fujifilm – from camera film to medical imaging to cosmetics and personalised medicines.

India’s Jio superapp was born out Reliance, a petrochemical giant seeking to diversify, beyond industrial markets. It built a lifestyle brand, built an ecosystem of connected services, and then a payments platform, to capture the wallets of a billion consumers.

Even legacy giants like Microsoft and Schneider Electric have transformed themselves by aligning deeply with sustainability, cloud, and AI megatrends.

The lesson is clear: Reinvention is not a one-off event. It is a mindset, a discipline, and a continuous act of strategic courage.

A Megatrend Mindset applied to business is in reality a Reinvention Mindset.

How to Lead with a Megatrend Mindset

For leaders looking to build this mindset into their organisation, here are some actions to consider:

• Scan broadly, think deeply: Build a habit of horizon scanning—actively tracking megatrends across sectors, geographies, and disciplines. Then connect the dots to your business.
• Reimagine your core assumptions: Regularly challenge the core beliefs that underpin your strategy. Ask: What if they’re no longer true?
• Build strategic foresight capacity: Equip teams with tools like scenarios, futures thinking, and trend mapping to make uncertainty a source of advantage.
• Invest in transformative innovation: Go beyond incremental improvement. Explore bold ideas, fund experiments, and build partnerships at the edges of your ecosystem.
• Develop future-fit talent: Prioritize skills like creativity, critical thinking, and digital fluency—traits essential for navigating complexity.
• Lead with purpose and resilience: Anchor your organization in a clear purpose that aligns with societal needs, while building the agility to adapt as the context changes.

How will you lead your future?

In a world where megatrends are reshaping everything, the biggest risk is not disruption—it’s irrelevance. The future will not be inherited by the largest or the strongest, but by those who are the most adaptable, visionary, and bold. Developing a megatrend mindset isn’t optional—it’s essential.

For business leaders, this is a moment of truth. Will you merely react to change—or lead it? Will you wait for the future to arrive—or help shape it?

The answer will define not just your next quarter, but your next decade.

Welcome to the age of reinvention.

More from Peter Fisk:

• The Reinvention Playbook: Lamborghini was a tractor company, Samsung was a grocery store
• Future Junkies: Why the best leaders are obsessed about what’s next
• What will they do next?: Anticipating the progress (and performance) of some of leading companies 2025 to 2030
• Music Reinvented: How an industry was reinvented through ecosystem thinking
• Reinventing Business with AI: the best of tech to radically reinvent organisations, and accelerategrowth
• The Net Positive Playbook. Allbirds to Climeworks, reinventing organisations for sustainable growth
• Pioneers and Transformers. Leading Airbus towards a better future, today and tomorrow
• The “Performer Transformer” Leader. Thriving in a world of relentless change

Incredible technologies and geopolitical shifts, complex markets and stagnating growth, demanding customers and disruptive entrepreneurs, environmental crisis and social distrust, unexpected shocks and uncertain futures.

For every business leader, the challenge is about making sense of today’s rapidly changing world, and understanding how to prepare for, and succeed, in tomorrow’s world.

We explore how businesses can survive and thrive, and move forwards to create a better future. How to reimagine business, to reinvent markets, to reengage people. We consider what it means to combine profit with more purpose, intelligent technologies with creative people, radical innovation with sustainable impact.

We learn from the innovative strategies of incredible companies – Alibaba and ASML, Biontech and BlackRock, Canva and Collossal, NotCo and Netflix, Patagonia and PingAn, Spotify and Supercell, and many more. We also take a look at what this means for insurance, and some of the most innovative companies in the field.

Are you ready to seize the opportunities of a changing world? 

How will you – and your strategy, organisation, people and projects – embrace the challenges and opportunities of change ahead of us? Where are your biggest opportunities for innovation and growth? What are your priorities to balance short and longer term? How will you behave as a manager and leader?

We’ve developed a new program for business leaders, managers of companies large and small, to get up to speed with the very latest ideas, tools and approaches to business, learning from companies and experts around the world. It’s called the Executive Management Program, delivered as a hybrid program online and in face to face in Madrid.

It’s like a Mini MBA, but fit for today’s world, where challenges like economic uncertainty and climate change are matched by opportunities like the applications of AI and new business models. It includes an exciting dynamic business simulation, about managing and leading change, plus insights and ideas from the world’s most interesting companies, right now.

In fact it brings together much of the Global Online MBA from IE  Business School, which is ranked #1 in the world, and in particularly for topics such as ESG and sustainability. The faculty is made up of expert professors from IE and beyond, and we spend a number of days in Madrid at IE’s Executive Education campus.

For more info, contact me directly: peterfisk@peterfisk.com

Module 16: Futures Symposium, The Future of Danish Business

Denmark has long been admired for its blend of economic dynamism, social trust, and environmental leadership. It boasts a globally competitive business environment, world-class infrastructure, a highly skilled workforce, and a culture of innovation. But like every nation, Danish business now faces a future shaped by disruption: climate imperatives, digital transformation, demographic shifts, geopolitical uncertainty, and new global economic models.

The future of Danish business will depend not just on adapting to change but on leading it. Reinvention—not incremental improvement—will define the next era. This transformation is already underway across Denmark’s industries, startups, and corporate boardrooms.

Sustainability as a Danish Strategy

Denmark has long been a global pioneer in green energy and sustainable practices. With companies like Ørsted, Vestas, and Rockwool setting the global standard for climate innovation, sustainability has moved from the periphery of business to its core.

Ørsted’s transformation from a fossil-fuel-heavy utility to the world’s leading offshore wind developer is now a business school case study in reinvention. The company shed its oil and gas assets and bet its future on renewables—gaining global market leadership and multiplying its market value in the process.

This kind of transformation is not just ethical; it’s economic. Investors increasingly favor ESG-aligned companies, global supply chains demand low-carbon operations, and customers expect brands to act on climate.

The future of Danish business lies in leveraging sustainability as a competitive advantage—not just meeting targets, but creating new value through circular models, clean tech, regenerative agriculture, and climate adaptation solutions.

Digital Denmark: From Technology Adoption to Technology Creation

Denmark ranks high on digital adoption, with strong infrastructure, digital public services, and a tech-savvy population. But the next leap forward will require moving from technology adopters to technology creators.

While Copenhagen’s startup scene has gained momentum—with unicorns like Zendesk, Unity, and Pleo—there is still untapped potential to scale Danish innovation globally.

The future lies in deeper investments in AI, quantum computing, biotech, and green digital solutions. Initiatives like Digital Hub Denmark, partnerships between academia and business, and EU-aligned research missions will help accelerate this shift.

Established players like Maersk are also evolving into digital-first businesses. Maersk is building digital platforms to optimize supply chains, track carbon footprints, and reduce shipping inefficiencies—turning a legacy logistics giant into a digital ecosystem.

Biotech, Life Sciences, and Health Innovation

Denmark’s life sciences sector is a powerhouse—accounting for over 20% of exports. Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck, and Leo Pharma are global leaders in diabetes, CNS, and dermatology.

Looking ahead, the convergence of biotech, AI, and personalized medicine will reshape health innovation. Novo Nordisk’s success in GLP-1 treatments is just the beginning. Future value will be created through precision health, genomic technologies, AI-driven diagnostics, and preventive care platforms.

Denmark’s world-class research institutions, data infrastructure, and public-private trust position it well to lead in this space—especially if it can integrate patient-centric innovation with strong ethical governance.

SMEs and the Next Generation of Value Creation

Denmark’s economy is powered not just by large companies, but by thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These businesses are now facing intense pressure to digitalize, decarbonize, and innovate in order to survive and grow.

The future of Danish SMEs lies in their ability to:

• Embrace digital tools and data to boost productivity

• Innovate through collaboration, including ecosystems and open innovation

• Integrate sustainability into their value proposition

• Attract and retain next-generation talent through purpose and flexibility

Platforms like the Danish Export Association, Innovation Fund Denmark, and GreenLab Skive offer critical support. But future success will depend on shifting mindsets from risk-averse incrementalism to bold reinvention.

Green Manufacturing and Advanced Materials

Traditional manufacturing in Denmark must also evolve—toward smarter, greener, and more globally connected models. Denmark’s industrial base, known for quality and craftsmanship, is increasingly embracing Industry 4.0: automation, robotics, digital twins, and data-driven supply chains.

Companies like Grundfos and Danfoss are leading this transition, combining energy efficiency with advanced engineering to serve global infrastructure needs. Others are exploring additive manufacturing, smart materials, and circular design.

Denmark has the chance to become a hub for clean industrial innovation—producing the technologies that others will need to decarbonize their own economies.

Financial Innovation and the Rise of Fintech

Danish banks and insurers face growing disruption from digital-native financial services. At the same time, fintechs are gaining scale and legitimacy, with Copenhagen-based Lunar, June, and Pleo leading a new wave of user-friendly, mobile-first platforms.

The future of Danish financial services will be defined by:

• Embedded finance in platforms and commerce

• Sustainable finance and ESG-aligned capital allocation

• Blockchain and tokenization for trust and transparency

• AI and automation to personalize and optimize services

Collaboration between regulators, incumbents, and startups—backed by strong consumer data protection—will be essential to shape this next chapter.

Culture, Collaboration, and Global Mindset

One of Denmark’s greatest assets is its culture of trust, equality, and collaboration. This enables agile decision-making, flat hierarchies, and a strong sense of purpose in work—qualities that are essential for innovation.

The challenge ahead is to combine this cultural strength with global ambition. Danish companies must build beyond the Nordics, expand to new growth markets, and act with the scale of global challengers. That means embracing diversity, building international teams, and navigating global complexity with speed.

What the Future Demands: Reinvention as a Way of Life

In a world that changes faster than any strategy, Danish business leaders must move from planning to piloting, from certainty to adaptability, and from optimizing today’s business model to inventing tomorrow’s.

The future will not be shaped by those who maintain efficiency—but by those who create new forms of value. That means:

• Moving from products to platforms

• From ownership to access models

• From supply chains to value ecosystems

• From profit-centric models to impact-driven business

The next wave of iconic Danish companies will be those that understand how to scale technology, solve systemic problems, and embed purpose into the core of value creation.

Denmark as a Model for Sustainable, Innovative Capitalism

The future of Danish business is not just about economic resilience. It’s about setting a global example for what modern capitalism can look like—one where sustainability, innovation, equity, and purpose converge.

If Denmark can build on its existing strengths, embrace technology and reinvention, and scale its impact globally, it can become not just a leader in business—but a blueprint for the next era of business itself.

Incredible technologies and geopolitical shifts, complex markets and stagnating growth, demanding customers and disruptive entrepreneurs, environmental crisis and social distrust, unexpected shocks and uncertain futures.

For every business leader, the challenge is about making sense of today’s rapidly changing world, and understanding how to prepare for, and succeed, in tomorrow’s world.

We explore how businesses can survive and thrive, and move forwards to create a better future. How to reimagine business, to reinvent markets, to reengage people. We consider what it means to combine profit with more purpose, intelligent technologies with creative people, radical innovation with sustainable impact.

We learn from the innovative strategies of incredible companies – Alibaba and ASML, Biontech and BlackRock, Canva and Collossal, NotCo and Netflix, Patagonia and PingAn, Spotify and Supercell, and many more. We also take a look at what this means for insurance, and some of the most innovative companies in the field.

Are you ready to seize the opportunities of a changing world? 

How will you – and your strategy, organisation, people and projects – embrace the challenges and opportunities of change ahead of us? Where are your biggest opportunities for innovation and growth? What are your priorities to balance short and longer term? How will you behave as a manager and leader?

We’ve developed a new program for business leaders, managers of companies large and small, to get up to speed with the very latest ideas, tools and approaches to business, learning from companies and experts around the world. It’s called the Executive Management Program, delivered as a hybrid program online and in face to face in Madrid.

It’s like a Mini MBA, but fit for today’s world, where challenges like economic uncertainty and climate change are matched by opportunities like the applications of AI and new business models. It includes an exciting dynamic business simulation, about managing and leading change, plus insights and ideas from the world’s most interesting companies, right now.

In fact it brings together much of the Global Online MBA from IE  Business School, which is ranked #1 in the world, and in particularly for topics such as ESG and sustainability. The faculty is made up of expert professors from IE and beyond, and we spend a number of days in Madrid at IE’s Executive Education campus.

For more info, contact me directly: peterfisk@peterfisk.com

Module 15: Making your Case, Business storytelling and strategic persuasion

In a world of relentless change, bold ideas and visionary strategies are not enough. To make transformation happen, leaders must make their case—powerfully, clearly, and persuasively. Whether you’re a founder pitching investors, a CEO aligning your board, a transformation leader rallying teams, or a product lead convincing stakeholders to back a new direction, your ability to structure and communicate your message will determine whether your vision moves forward or stalls.

In business today, where attention is scarce and skepticism is high, how you frame your argument is as important as the substance of your idea. To make your case effectively is to lead.

Why clarity and structure matter more

Most major change initiatives fail not because the strategy was wrong, but because the vision wasn’t understood, the need for change wasn’t clear, or the plan didn’t feel credible. A strong message:

• Creates urgency and builds the case for why change is necessary.

• Inspires belief in a better future and builds emotional engagement.

• Instills confidence in the plan by showing that it is thought through, practical, and actionable.

In a world of competing priorities, making your case is how you win time, resources, and commitment. It’s how you move ideas off whiteboards and into real change.

Start with the end in mind

One of the most powerful frameworks for structuring ideas is Barbara Minto’s Pyramid Principle, which begins with the end in mind. Rather than building up to a conclusion, you start with your main message and support it with a logical structure of arguments and evidence. This helps your audience quickly grasp your point and follow your reasoning.

At the heart of the Pyramid Principle are three levels:

1. Top-level message (the answer, or big idea)

2. Key supporting points (reasons why it’s true or important)

3. Supporting evidence (facts, data, examples, or logic)

This format is especially useful in executive settings, where time is short and clarity is prized. For example:

We must pivot from product-centric sales to customer-centric solutions
– because it drives growth through higher lifetime value
– because customer expectations have fundamentally changed
– and because our competitors are already doing it
Each of these reasons is backed by specific data and examples.

By stating your key point upfront, you command attention, establish relevance, and make it easy for others to engage.

Frame the message around change

In making a case for business transformation, you must build a narrative that covers three essential elements:

1. Why we need to change

2. Where we’re going

3. How we’ll get there

This structure mirrors the classic storytelling arc: problem, vision, and resolution.

1. Why We Need to Change

This is your burning platform. What’s broken, unsustainable, or at risk? Use data, trends, and external realities to show why staying the same is not an option. Create urgency, not fear.

Examples:

• “Customer acquisition costs have doubled over the past 18 months.”

• “Regulatory changes are making our current model unsustainable.”

• “Digital-native competitors are capturing our future growth segments.”

This part of your case must feel real and non-optional.

2. Where We’re Going

Paint a compelling picture of the future. What could the business become? What new value will we create? This is where emotion, vision, and ambition come in. Help people imagine the opportunity and believe it’s possible.

Examples:

• “We will become the most trusted wellness platform in our category.”

• “We will reinvent insurance as a proactive partner, not just a claims payer.”

• “We will create a marketplace that makes every small business globally scalable.”

This is your North Star—the ‘why’ that inspires belief and commitment.

3. How We’ll Get There

Now connect the dots. What are the key strategic moves? What’s the roadmap, the operating model shift, the cultural change? People want to see that you’ve thought things through.

This part of your message should cover:

• Key initiatives or programs

• Enablers (e.g., technology, partnerships, capabilities)

• Phases or timeline

• Risks and how you’ll manage them

• What success looks like

Borrow from startup pitch decks

Startup founders are trained to pitch big, bold ideas in tight, structured formats. Many of these formats translate well to any change or transformation initiative. The classic pitch deck structure often includes:

1. Problem – What’s the pain or challenge?

2. Solution – How are you solving it?

3. Market – What is the opportunity?

4. Product / Approach – What are you building or changing?

5. Business Model – How will it create value?

6. Go-to-Market – How will it reach and impact the market?

7. Traction – What progress or validation exists?

8. Team – Who is delivering the change?

9. Ask – What do you need (investment, support, resources)?

If you’re making a case inside a large organization, modify this to suit internal transformation:

• Strategic context instead of market size

• Operating model changes instead of a product demo

• Impact metrics instead of revenue forecasts

• Capability or culture shifts as part of your execution plan

Telling a credible, compelling story

Great business storytelling blends logic and emotion. It helps people believe in the future and see themselves in it. Here’s how to do that effectively:

• Use contrast: Show the gap between where we are and where we could be.

• Bring data to life: Use simple visuals, analogies, and comparisons.

• Make it human: Include voices from customers, employees, or partners.

• Speak in outcomes: Focus on results, not just activities.

• Rehearse and refine: Clarity comes from iteration, not inspiration.

Avoid common traps like being too abstract, too tactical, or too internally focused. The best cases for change are anchored in external reality, inspired by purpose, and grounded in practical steps.

Getting others on board

Making your case is not a one-time event. It’s an ongoing conversation. You may need to tailor your message for different audiences: the board, the frontline, finance, marketing, operations. Each has different concerns and motivations.

• For executives: Focus on strategic fit, financial impact, and risk.

• For teams: Emphasize purpose, clarity, and what it means for them.

• For skeptics: Bring evidence, examples, and answer objections respectfully.

Repetition matters. So does consistency. A well-structured core message—aligned across presentations, meetings, documents, and communications—builds momentum.

This is leadership

Making your case is not just about communication. It’s a form of leadership. It’s how you turn bold ideas into collective action. It’s how you connect people to purpose. It’s how you win support, build alignment, and drive change.

In today’s world, the ability to envision the future and articulate it with clarity and conviction is what separates those who dream from those who deliver.

Because ultimately, transformation doesn’t begin with a strategy. It begins with a story—one worth believing in.