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The connected-car era is being driven by new technologies like IoT, AI, wireless, 5G and more. In fact, these technologies are beginning to transform industry after industry. The connected car is just one where we can all relate and take a glimpse into the future. This is an enormous and rapidly growing opportunity for countless companies, employees, executives and visionaries.

The connected car marketplace is new, yet is predicted to reach $35 to $45 billion by the year 2020 and maybe ten times that by 2025. That’s an enormous and powerful growth engine in which many companies, executives, workers and investors see as a pot of gold. So, many are preparing to be a leader or at least a player in this new and rapidly growing space.

Fortunes and careers will be made and lost, over and over again. It’s a matter of choosing the right company, technology and advancement at the right time, when they are on the growing side of the growth wave.

Like in every new space, the specifics will continually change as the next several years pass. What we think we understand today are really just the basics. AI, IoT and 5G will continue to grow and to advance and transform industry after industry.

Automotive Industry Being Transformed by AI, IoT and 5G

This opens new ways for the automotive industry to profit from new ideas, thinking and technology. Remember yesterday when the technology in the car was just an AM/FM radio? We’ve come a long way in the last twenty years with navigation and now Wi-Fi access to screens and technology that let us surf the web, watch live TV, listen to music and lets the car be connected to the manufacturer for automatic updates and much more.

Today, the world of automotive goes far beyond what the average user expects or is even aware of. Today, the connectivity of the automotive industry is just starting to change everything we know about the car we drive and the entire experience will continue to expand.

Many in the auto industry are running hard in this new space, but many others still are sitting on the sidelines. They must jump in before this wave passes them by. Automakers only understand a bit of this huge and growing opportunity that will outpace all of us as the sector continues to grow and speed up.

New Opportunities with One-Time Charges and Monthly Recurring Revenue

There are new revenue opportunities for the auto industry with both one-time charges and monthly recurring revenue for advanced services. Wi-Fi is opening another wave of growth. Ride-sharing, telematics, Internet radio, Internet television and all sorts of new applications are just starting.

You’ve heard of M2M or machine to machine advancements, but what about V2V or vehicle to vehicle. A2A or auto to auto, or C2C, car to car? We have not even named many of the hot new technological growth areas that will lead the way going forward.

This early stage is one of the most exciting points. It’s like the 1990’s when the Internet was just starting. You remember those days when Amazon.com (AMZN) and Ebay (EBAY) started? The same days when Toys.com who competed with Toys-R-Us, and WebVan who delivered groceries. There were many successes and failures back then, and we can expect the same today with AI. It will be a wildly successful place to be, but there will be many different, short growth waves, one after the other.

Can you see past the noise and understand the enormous growth opportunity for every part of the automotive industry? And in fact, can you see the growth opportunity for companies in different sectors like IoT, AI and wireless in the auto industry?

Many New Growth Waves Like M2M, V2V, A2A, C2C

I believe Ford (F) recently said goodbye to its CEO because he wasn’t helping the company adapt and grasp these new opportunities quick enough. That’s a perfect example of the old vs. new thinking in the automotive industry. Every executive, worker and investor are starting to face these same challenges. There will be plenty of this kind of angst going forward as the auto industry and in fact every other industry tries to adapt to tomorrow .

So, where you do stand? The growth wave rises, crests then falls. It has always done this. We know countless companies, who were number one, but who missed the next growth wave and fell like a rock. Companies like Motorola (MSI), Nokia (NOK) and Blackberry (BBRY) are recent examples. Today, leaders in the wireless smartphone space are Apple (AAPL) iPhone, Google (GOOGL) Android and Samsung (SSNLF) Galaxy. The same thing is happening today with the traditional cable television industry.

Individuals, companies and investors must look ahead and see things that are coming. If they continue to just look backwards, they will fail. They need to look forwards to the technology that is changing everything. That’s the opportunity in front of all of us.

Jeff Kagan is an Equities.com columnist. Kagan is a Wireless Analyst, Telecom Analyst, Industry Analyst, speaker and consultant. He follows wireless, wire line, telecom, Internet, cable TV, IPTV, Cloud, Mobile Pay, FinTech and communications technology. Email him at [email protected]. His web site is www.jeffKAGAN.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffkagan