Innovation and Data Sciences
The era of globalization as we’ve known it for the past 40 years is dead. The historical period that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall has come to a definitive end. During the last four decades, we believed in the inevitable convergence of all nations towards a single economic and social model: liberal democracy and capitalism. During this time, the world was viewed as one integrated market – with complex global supply chains and a trend of outsourcing to cheaper locations. This is no longer true.
We overlooked a key factor: the major drivers of power in the 21st century – capital, talent, and technology – are inherently accumulative. This means that they would concentrate in the hands of a few individuals, regions, and corporations. Rather than a homogeneous world, we now see a landscape dominated by those who control disruptive technologies, including artificial intelligence. This control goes beyond business interests: those who control disruptive technologies will also have better healthcare systems, better energy and food systems, and hegemony in cybersecurity and defense.
The world is fragmenting horizontally and vertically. Horizontally, with two competitive blocks in the West and East (America and China), and vertically with a handful of huge corporations at the top, and the rest of the companies relying on technologies developed by these giants. Never before has such vast technological and financial power been accumulated in the hands of so few corporations and nations.
Among the ten corporations with the highest market value in the world, nine are technological (Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Tesla, Broadcom, and Taiwan Semiconductors). Most did not exist or were insignificant in 2000. Their aggregate financial value is greater than the GDP of the European Union. We are already living in the middle of a Second Cold War, a war that will be fought in the field of high technology.
The strategic response by countries and large corporations to this new situation is a massive investment in R&D. The future will be defined by hyper-competitive technological races. ChatGPT, or the recent events involving the Chinese startup DeepSeek, are the vanguard of a vast number of disruptive technologies that will come into our lives in the coming years.
As business leaders and executives, we must know how to take advantage of this situation for our own benefit. This avalanche of disruptive technologies will offer great opportunities for new business models, scientific developments, and social innovations. We must be ready to seize them.
Esade is the supporting sponsor of the 4YFN25 Green Tech Programme. To learn more about the programme visit this page