In this curious time of trade wars, border disputes and national insecurity where something is made has become more important than how it is used. Pity the poor iPhone. Merely 'Designed in California', its actual provenance will soon be subject to greater scrutiny. But what if the most valuable part of a company is not where it makes its products, but rather the ecosystem it is a part of?

We live in a time of exponentially improving machines. First chess, then Space Invaders, go and most recently poker - our games now seem mere taunts in a struggle for supremacy between humanity and AI. Even in losing, however, we may learn something about what makes us special.

For many companies the Cloud has changed the way they use software. For a fortunate few, it has completely changed the way they do business.

I still can't quite get my head around it, but for some consumers, it seems that the future of technology lies in its past. Ancient feature phones, 8-bit video game consoles and even cassette players are all making a comeback. So is the retro-tech trend just sad Gen X'ers trying to relive the glories of their youth, or something more interesting?

There is a classic trade-off between rules and innovation, particularly if you work in a heavily regulated industry. So how do leaders balance the need for stability, compliance and certainty with a 21st century appetite for adaptability, agility and disruption? One approach is to learn to think a little less like a ruler, and more like a machine.