How AI and 5G wireless are impacting every company and every industry

There is a truth that every investor, every CEO and every company in every industry needs to understand and accept. The world they operate in thanks to 5G wireless and AI is currently going through a major and significant transformation. Companies in their industry will operate under a new set of rules. Success moving forward depends on whether you transform or not.

This is a significant growth opportunity and risk for every company and every investor. That means investors need to understand this new world as well. We have to be able to see tomorrow.

Artificial intelligence and wireless are change agents. Today, they are not only transforming every wireless company and smartphone maker in the industry but they are also starting to impact every other company in every other industry or sector as well.

Investors must follow and understand the new directions that are being created today. We face enormous new choices, challenges, risks and opportunities. We will come to many forks in the road, and we must decide which path to take. Some companies will lead the new path. Others will follow the new path. Still others won’t budge and will ultimately fall behind the crowd.

So, are you up-to-speed? You need to be clear. To see the vision of tomorrow and not get confused with the claims of yesterday. The problem is public relations and marketing tend to make quite a bit of noise, and what should be clear becomes confusing and complex.

5G and AI will reach further than just wireless

Wireless has grown and changed many times over 50 years. However, as we move forward with 5G and AI, things are transforming more quickly and more deeply than ever before. This time around it’s more than just a wireless upgrade like we’ve seen in the past with 2G – 3G – 4G. Faster speeds and lower latency of 5G together with AI, IoT and more are creating a new marketplace capable of expanding to new levels.

That means we need to know where to look for growth opportunities. And to understand whether these are short-term or long-term growth opportunities.

First, we must pull the camera back to get a longer-term, historical perspective on the changes which are creating new paths to follow with new technologies.

Example: consider companies like Motorola and Blackberry. They were once dominant leaders in the wireless handset space, until the marketplace changed directions and they did not. They suddenly, they lost their way. Their growth wave quickly crested and collapsed. Suddenly they were sent to the bottom of the list of competitors.

They were warned that there was a cliff ahead. In fact, I was one of many voices who warned them. But they kept going, ultimately right off the edge. Now think of how Uber and Lyft transformed the existing taxi and limousine industry. Expect more of the same going forward.

That’s why every investor needs to understand where we are today and where we are heading in this new journey. We need to understand the changing growth curve. Every industry, company, product and service, rides the growth wave. They are either on the way up, or they have crested, or they are on the way down.

Technology rewards the informed investor

That being said, technology has always rewarded the brave and informed investors. AI and 5G are the next, advanced version of the growth wave we have seen in quite a long time.

Are we ready? The good news is thanks to all this new technology, our world will be very unsettled for years to come. This is a growth opportunity for every company, their customers and their investors. This is also a risk. We should expect to see new ideas with new technology rewrite the rules, time and time again.

That is what AI and 5G are. Moving forward it will advance to other and newer artificial intelligence ideas and technology. It will also continue to move forward from 5G to 6G and beyond.

As AI continues to advance, it will ultimately start to write its own software. This risk and opportunity are something we should keep our eyes open to.

Read more: What we can expect from Apple Intelligence, the iPhone maker’s AI integration