Trends 2020: The Age of the Senses

The year is 2020. We are two full decades into the no longer new, but current millennium. The rate at which we are creating digital data is growing so exponentially, we’re having to make up new names just to quantify it. In the last decade alone, the accumulated digital universe of data grew from 4.4 zetabytes to 44 zetabytes (WEF). Today, 4.68 billion people in the world are instantly connected through a screen they carry in their pocket (Statista). Global automation and machine learning have moved into 26 percent of industrial production and manufacturing (Statista). After decades of rapid growth, change and progress, we find ourselves coming into a new era.

We believe we are entering an age beyond discrete software, devices, digital products or experiences. Rather, 2020 and beyond will be all about bringing it back to humans. Everything we do, make, ship and scale will not be about how far we can advance the technology, but how well we can make it work for the people that use it. We say, no more tech for tech’s sake. Instead, let’s enter a new age of awareness, of value and, of course, new possibilities. Let’s welcome the Age of the Senses—making sense of tech, expanding our human senses and capabilities, and finding our sense when it comes to what matters for people, society and the planet.