A Game Plan for Anticipating the Future
Baseball legend Yogi Berra once said that “the future ain’t what it used to be.”
Yogi was right, even though he wasn’t a futurist by profession.
We decided to tap an actual futurist for perspectives on how the foodservice distribution industry can think about what’s ahead.
Business futurist Jonathan Brill, Executive Chairman of the Center for Radical Change, will keynote a September 29 session at the IFDA Solutions Conference called “Win the Next Five Years.” He is the author of the book “Rogue Waves” on future-proofing businesses.
Brill recently told us that understanding more about the future isn’t magic. It’s about recognizing shifting developments that are already becoming apparent.
“It’s about seeing what’s right in front of us,” he said. “But it’s hard to do that, because we often assume the future will be like the past.”
As a case in point, he said the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities will create a future that is quite different than the present.
“What happens when your employees have tools that are 30 times better than those of today?” he asked. “That is the world we’re moving into in five years. Most companies aren’t considering that world in planning for transportation/logistics, real-time ordering, menu issues for restaurants, and the food supply chain. Everyone will have a world-class analyst in their pocket.”
How can business leaders take action to position their companies for rapidly emerging technology and its impact on the future?
One approach is to start making a list of things humans can’t do, shouldn’t do or won’t do, he said. Leaders can then monitor accelerating technological capabilities over time to determine how it can support these needs.
Brill’s session at the Solutions Conference will explore how AI, economic shifts, demographic trends, and geopolitical changes are unlocking new opportunities in foodservice distribution — and he will identify actionable success strategies.
- Article authored by freelance writer David Orgel.
