Editorial
We often talk about skating to where the puck is going, but what happens when the puck is moving so fast you can’t even see it?
That’s the reality of innovation today; the pace of change has become so rapid it feels almost invisible. Just as our planet is spinning at more than a thousand miles per hour, technology is moving beneath our feet and around us in ways we barely perceive.
And that’s both our greatest challenge and our biggest opportunity.
We’ve moved beyond disruption into something more dynamic: direction. Innovation is no longer about chasing the next breakthrough, but instead about embracing momentum and learning to shape it.
Table of Contents
- The Invisible Acceleration
- The Economics of Momentum
- From Disruption to Direction
- The Human Multiplier
- Three Ways Leaders Can Move Boldly
- Shaping What’s Next
The Invisible Acceleration
In just a few years, we’ve gone from experimenting with AI to embedding it in everything we do.
It’s been less than three years since generative AI took the spotlight. In that short time, the cost of intelligence has fallen from $50 per million tokens to about one cent, while capability has advanced at an exponential pace. Each week now brings new leaps in multimodal systems, open data and quantum performance.
Yet most of us don’t feel this change. Our organizations and our own biology evolve slower than the technologies we develop. That creates a paradox: we live in an exponential world, but we think in linear terms.
To thrive, we must learn to sense innovation early — when it’s still forming at the edges of data or culture. The most successful companies aren’t the biggest; they’re the most perceptive. They build the muscle to detect faint signals and act boldly before others even see the signals coming.
The Economics of Momentum
All this innovation comes with pressure. Last quarter, U.S. GDP grew 3.8%, with a large portion of this growth coming from data center, AI and tech spending.
That’s both an opportunity and a warning. It shows how growth has become dependent on innovation. As large language models double their training data every six to seven months and compute power breaks Moore’s Law, we must balance speed with sustainability.
Data centers now account for up to 4% of global energy use. That’s forcing a rethinking of how we power progress, from nuclear energy to water-efficient cooling and algorithmic optimization.
This is about both cost and capacity. Our ability to sustain innovation will determine not just which companies lead, but which economies thrive.
From Disruption to Direction
For years, businesses chased disruption. But in a world where disruption is constant, the real advantage lies in direction—the ability to turn volatility into velocity.
That means building organizations that can:
- Sense innovation early by investing in mechanisms to detect subtle shifts in technology, regulation and customer behavior before they become trends. Create feedback loops between your R&D, strategy and frontline teams so signals from the edge reach decision-makers quickly.
- Absorb change faster, through adaptive architectures and agile cultures. Replace rigid hierarchies with modular systems and empowered teams that can pivot quickly when opportunities emerge. Encourage experimentation but couple it with accountability.
- Scale responsibly by defining success in terms of measurable business and human impact. Move beyond proof-of-concept metrics like accuracy or cost savings, and track outcomes tied to growth, trust, and inclusion; in fact, PwC's 2025 Responsible AI Survey (editor's note: the author's company) reveals that 58% of executives say their Responsible AI initiatives already improve ROI and efficiency.
- Balance growth and sustainability so progress benefits both people and the planet. Plan for the energy footprint of AI, the data intensity of innovation and the long-term resilience of your ecosystem. Whether that’s exploring clean compute, rethinking supply chains, or training teams on responsible use, make sustainability part of the innovation equation, not an afterthought.
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The Human Multiplier
If AI is a multiplier of human potential, the question is: what are we multiplying? When technology amplifies our creativity and empathy, it becomes a force for shared progress.
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This points to the central truth that we can’t just simply react to the future, we have to feel it. Feeling the future means creating space for people to connect ideas, challenge assumptions and shape outcomes together. Innovation without empathy is just acceleration, and acceleration without direction leads nowhere fast.
Three Ways Leaders Can Move Boldly
- Reframe AI as a capability, not a category. Don’t isolate it under “technology.” Embed it in strategy, operations and customer experience.
- Shift from pilots to purpose. Move beyond proofs of concept. Define success by transformation, not experimentation.
- Invest in adaptability. Upskill teams not just to use AI, but to question it. The next era belongs to the ones who are curious.
Shaping What’s Next
Innovation is moving faster, and the future is getting closer every day. The question isn’t whether we can keep up; it’s whether we can steer technology and our humanity in the right direction.
I believe we can (and that we must). But the window is closing. So now is the time to use this momentum to our advantage.
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