You might be skeptical about the future of virtual and augmented reality, having heard about it for a good quarter-century already. That said, 2020 has been a turning point. The pandemic drove demand for VR headsets as an escape from everyday reality. With 5G connectivity and edge AI powering a new generation of lightweight, wireless headsets - we may soon see extraordinary new concepts in everything from retail and gaming to enterprise analytics and data visualization. I say 'may' because the barriers to disruptive XR innovation and adoption are likely to be cultural rather than technological.

The most dangerous phrase in the world right now is 'the new normal.' It is a seductive idea - that out of all the chaos and upheaval unleashed by the pandemic, a new stability might emerge. But what if the new normal isn't normal at all? It is a divisive question. For some, the current crisis is but a brief time out on 'business as usual.' But for others - the rapid adoption and spread of automation, robotics, data surveillance, virtualization, and machine intelligence - is neither temporary nor reversible. It is a one-way trip to an entirely new, Cyberpunk-themed reality. What will it take to survive and thrive in such a world?

The current crisis is not only a test of our resolve and our health infrastructure; it is a test of leadership as well. With many employees working from home, companies are discovering that the challenges of remote work go far beyond just having the right technology and connectivity. How do you reset an entire organizational culture based on the politics and rituals of a corporate head office? This is particularly acute for leaders: what does it take to be an effective leader when there is no one around to lead?

COVID-19 transformed retail overnight. As the vast majority of stores closed around the world, the only way to buy or sell anything was online. The results? Mixed, at best. Supply chains struggled, sites went down, and getting a grocery delivery window was like winning the lottery. It took a crisis to reveal the gaps in digital investment and infrastructure needed for business continuity. Much more will be required if retailers are to reinvent themselves for what comes next.

Robots have long been a source of anxiety for humans. When not terrorizing us as theme park hosts or returning from the future to alter our timelines, they have embodied all our worst fears of work automation and job displacement. The COVID-19 crisis has seen the rapid adoption of robotics in a wide array of industries, from healthcare to logistics, and in doing so, given us a preview of what a mechanized world of a trillion, interconnected bots might be like. It is easy to assume this will be a zero-sum game: robots will replace humans like for like. The reality is more complex and potentially more challenging if we don’t act now to transform the way we think about work.