58 REAL-LEADERS.COM / SUMMER 2022 HOW IS TECHNOLOGY RESHAPING YOUR BUSINESS? Technology has made the world a completely different place in 2030 than it was in the 2020s. For instance, we now bank and shop with just one device. Businesses needed to go beyond just having a website and have provided brick-and-mortar shops once again — because people still like shopping in person for certain things — even though e-commerce increased rapidly over the past few years. Although this future appeared to be more science fiction than reality in the 2020s, the businesses that prepared early did not get left behind when technology started re-shaping how we do business. Sarah Walker, founder, Dog Food Desire FUTURE 2030 A DIVERSE ADVISORY BOARDCAN DRIVE CHANGE In the 2020s, we took bold steps to implement lasting change in social mobility, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion. As an early-stage startup, everything we did (from product design to recruitment) was focused on our corporate values, which continued to form the center of our strategy. We created an advisory board to help us stay close to our mission, consisting of a diverse group of individuals. We sourced their opinion about our product and market launches and made sure their thoughts guided our next steps. By 2030, we were certified as a B Corp, which has given us clear metrics to measure our social impact and enabled us to display our values and commitment publicly. Eloise Skinner, CEO, Eloise Skinner INVEST IN THE FUTURE— IT’S WORTH IT The world has come a long way from where we were in 2022. Back then, we were threatened by a mass extinction, a full-blown pandemic, and on the brink of an international water crisis. We were stressing about oil and gas running out, but here we are living conveniently on natural, renewable resources. Entire cities are powered by solar energy, and cities on the coast are powered by tidal energy. All this is thanks to the impact leaders of the 2020s, who had the foresight to invest in sustainable energy solutions and environmental conservation. I am an AI specialist, the jobs of today are no longer what they used to be, and most manual labor has been replaced by technology and AI. There will be an unemployment crisis for those who didn’t evolve with the times or lacked the education to understand the technology. We also spend a few hours of our day in the Metaverse; it’s the norm now and allows us to manage two worlds’ at once — the real world and fantasy — with two different outcomes and a doubling of opportunity. It was a little far-fetched for many to understand in the 2020s, but those who got involved reaped the benefits of this nascent technology. In 2030, there are no physical workspaces; it’s all online. It was something we looked forward to, and for those who invested in the future, it was worth it. Kyle Kroeger, founder, The Impact Investor
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