The upside of disruption Megatrends shaping 2018 and beyond

Today, corporate leaders almost universally see disruption as both an opportunity and an existential threat. Responding necessitates a view that is both wider and more narrowly focused. Generated by the EY global think tank, EYQ, the latest issue of EY’s Megatrends report helps to resolve this apparent duality by exploring the key disruptive trends of the future while explaining where disruption comes from and where it’s headed. We take a look at how human augmentation technologies (artificial intelligence, robotics, AR/VR, blockchain, autonomous vehicles) will reinvent the future of work, consumer engagement, behavioral design and regulation. We explore how technology will reinvent the production of food and enable manufacturing at the molecular scale. And we delve into the changing future of urbanization, health and sector convergence. The report also looks at disruption through a framework that highlights four distinct kinds of change: primary forces, megatrends, future working worlds and weak signals. These elements occur at different times, and with different levels of uncertainty and scales of impact. Most meaningfully for corporate decision-makers, they demand different kinds of responses. In distinguishing between causes and effects, our framework can help organizations prioritize among a seemingly endless set of disruptive forces. Organizations need to be ready to seize the upside of disruption. They need to know where disruption is coming from, where it’s headed and what it means. EY’s 2018 Megatrends report, and our framework for change, can help organizations establish the right baseline for a strategy that can turn downsides into upsides, and threats into opportunities.