CNBC and Singularity University are partnering to present Exponential Finance, a two-day conference in New York City exploring the game-changing technologies poised to disrupt business and the financial world.
Technology moves as fast as the market. If you’re a leader or entrepreneur in most industries, you need to keep a close eye on a handful of related technologies to stay relevant. But finance isn’t most industries. Finance is, in a sense, all of them. Financial professionals invest in the broad economy across countries and sectors. You’re always looking ahead, forecasting the future, and deciding what’s next.
How do you keep a competitive edge sharp in today’s fast-paced markets?
Information is critical, to be sure, but the greatest financial minds have always paired information with something else—a unique and insightful view of the world. Our brains didn’t evolve to comprehend the modern pace of progress. We evolved to think linearly, but information technology moves exponentially.
To forecast the future, and to successfully invest in it, it’s critical to appreciate this concept.
Singularity University is on the cutting edge of understanding technological change, and Exponential Finance will showcase the disruptive new technologies poised to impact how you invest, bank, forecast market trends, and run your business. We’ll look at technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, 3D printing, blockchain/bitcoin, and driverless cars.
Beyond demonstrating how these technologies will upend entire industries—we’ll show you how they’re set to do so much faster than you think. An Oxford study suggests 47% of today’s jobs are likely to be automated in the next decade or two. And finance, an industry dependent on brains over brawn, is not immune. The same study found a 58% chance AI will replace financial advisors over the same period.
In the past, you could see the competition and had more time to prepare. Now, blue-chip slaying ideas and products go from garages to millions of users in a few years or even months. The average lifespan of an S&P 500 firm is down to just 15 years, and some 40% of the index will disappear over the next decade.
Who’s next? The trillion-dollar manufacturing industry is ripe for disruption by the digitization of products, computer-guided fabrication technologies (like 3D printing), and the further automation of industrial processes by a new generation of intelligent robots.
Driverless cars will make commutes easier, but they’ll also take the wheel from truckers and bus and taxi drivers. Insurers will need to figure out how to cover a growing fleet of everyday autos and 18-wheelers when humans no longer drive them.
Virtual reality may well revolutionize entertainment. But how will immersive virtual offices and meetings impact business travel? Might we be able to offer more effective training or help folks suffering from phobias with VR? What entirely new services will appear? And what traditional practices are doomed?
An array of exponential technologies are aimed at finance too.
You’ve heard of bitcoin. The popular yet volatile virtual currency is receiving plenty of attention. But experts say it isn’t about bitcoin—or any one virtual currency—it’s about the underlying blockchain technology. Blockchain may drive technologies impacting banking, payments, contracts, and more.
Crowdfunding allows entrepreneurs to test and fund early ideas with the crowd before seeking angel or venture capital. And equity-based crowdfunding is now available to non-accredited investors. Peer-to-peer lending performs a similar service for more run-of-the mill borrowing.
And even greater change is on the horizon. If the last fifty years were about the automation of factory labor—the next fifty will be about the automation of services.
Intelligent programs like IBM’s Watson are not only getting better at searching huge chunks of information and communicating what they find—they’re learning to learn all by themselves. Next generation AI may increasingly automate services we associate with humans, from medical diagnostics to financial advice.
Discover the latest on artificial intelligence, big data, robotics, 3D printing, digital medicine, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, and nanotech (among other topics) from tech-focused industry insiders and Singularity University’s luminary faculty. Envision the future with keynote talks by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil.
Meanwhile, offstage and in between talks, check out demos from over 40 groundbreaking technology companies and connect with C-level business leaders from leading firms across the industry—including private equity, venture capital, banking, quantitative modeling, insurance, financial advice, and others.
This year’s event takes place at the beautiful Conrad Hotel. Newly opened in 2012, the Conrad’s award-winning, contemporary space is just minutes from Wall Street. CNBC’s Bob Pisani will emcee the event, along with SU’s Peter Diamandis and Salim Ismail, and CNBC will be broadcasting live.
Henrik Thamdrup, IDA Chief Technology Officer, calls Exponential Finance “a must attend conference for finance industry executives who want to see what their business will look like ten years from now.” Join us in New York this June. Together, we can discover and begin to shape the future of finance.
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