The Next 10 Years

10 years is an eternity in tech. It’s really hard to understate how far technology can transform our personal and work lives in that time.

Back in 2008, my relationship with technology centered around an early Macbook Pro and an HTC Touch running Windows Mobile. No data plan, so when I wasn’t connected to Wi-Fi, I was truly offline. Going “off the grid” happened many times a day rather than being a special time reserved for hipster vacations. Twitter had a mere 200k weekly active users. Facebook was relatively static — News Feed was in its infancy. Everyone who did have FB open in their browser was probably playing a social game such as FarmVille. Messaging was confined to SMS — no WhatsApp, Messenger, etc. When I purchased an iPhone 3G around Christmas of that year, I finally felt what it’s like to always be connected. But, it wasn’t a dramatic shift. The AppStore had just launched and apps were few. So even though I was connected, there wasn’t really a whole lot to do with an iPhone besides browse the web.

I could continue by reminiscing about 1998 by talking about dial-up modems, failed dot-coms and Windows 95, but I hope you already agree with me: 10 years is an eternity in tech!

So this begs the obvious question: what will our relationship with tech be like in 2028? At this point, it’s becoming clear that the tech industry’s best answer to this question revolves around AI. This is also my best answer. If the last decade was the golden age of mobile and cloud, I think the next decade will be the golden age of AI.

One of the paradoxes I see about this golden age of AI ahead of us is that it will be incredibly transformational yet feel totally natural. I don’t think this age will be defined by a new device form factor like the PC, the phone, or a watch. Nor will it be singularly defined by a new mode of interaction such as voice, or AR, or VR. Instead, much of this transformation will be the world around us becoming simpler, smarter and personalized. The best way I define what 2028 will feel like is Intelligence Everywhere.

My motivation in launching this podcast is to hear from folks across the industry who are shepherding us through this transformation. I hope to talk with people tackling problems in both consumer and B2B realms. In the US and abroad. At big companies, startups and even in academia.

I hope you join me on this journey!