In just over forty years since Gates and Allen plotted to put a computer in every home, the world has become massively digitized. Instead of a single computer in every house, there’s a computer in every pocket, wrist, kitchen, bathroom, electronic device, and TV. The Internet of Things (IoT) will connect nearly everything in the future. In fact, it is predicted there will be 30 to 75 billion IoT connected devices by 2025.

Examples of this include artificial intelligence (AI) powered voice-activated bots in our homes; sensors that record our every move; drones that deliver packages; robots that automatically order groceries, and networks of autonomous vehicles at our disposal. All these exponential technologies have become reality thanks to digitization and disruption of the norm. Digital transformation has forced a new norm. The Emerging Technologies Stack shares a viewpoint of the technologies coming to market over the next 10-25 years. As we look out into the future, the timeline may shift, yet innovators are working on every one of these technologies and they all have implications for nearly every industry on this planet.

As Singularity University explains, “Exponential technologies are those which are rapidly accelerating, shaping major industries, and all aspects of our lives.”48 The foundations of exponential technologies are built on computing, networks, search, email, social, and video. The next layer that has accelerated change even more includes AI, data, cloud, mobile, and internet of things (IoT). All technologies that have become pervasive in this century. Thereafter, we move into science fiction with blockchain, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), 3D printing, autonomous cars, drones, and robotics. As new exponential technologies are invented, they begin to stack onto each other, building off the layer beneath it, and thus compounding both their power and impact. This continues to accelerate as each of these ideas (and more) are built on top of each other.

Digitization continues to change how we do everything. People take digital pictures and video of nearly everything and put them online. Arguments can be sorted out with a Google search. Everybody has access to somebody’s Netflix account with infinite entertainment on demand. Amazon Prime has orders at your door in one hour. Grandma has an iPhone, and your youngest cousin just taught her how to use emojis and Snapchat. Your grandpar- ents even use Facebook, and now order delivery meals through apps like Door Dash, Grub Hub and UberEATS.