The Timeline of Next in the Decade to Come, the World Will Be a Much Different Place, with Some Surprising New Additions

The Timeline of Next In the decade to come, the world will be a much different place, with some surprising new additions. Call it “the perpetually new normal” — always changing in reaction to whatever came just before.

To prepare for what’s ahead, we must consider not just the changes we see now but also the new realities these changes will spawn further out into the future. How will working “The world is before you, and you need not take from home recast the restaurant industry? Real estate? Transportation? The design it or leave it as it was when you came in.” of cities? How will a year of homeschooling reshape the feelings of this generation and the JAMES BALDWIN, NOVELIST, POET, ACTIVIST next about red-throated capitalism?

To formulate answers to these and many larger, more existential questions, we need to think broadly, deeply and linearly and begin building hypotheses about our future. This timeline is one way to do that.

In the midst of the global pandemic, we brought together a group of thought leaders from Cognizant and our partners to extrapolate a vision of the world of tomorrow. In this exercise, we explore the impact of “now” on the future of education, work, economies and life itself.

Page forward and glimpse both what’s next and when’s next. We cite cutting- edge research, invoke hard lessons from the past and envision a reality in which new solutions to big problems will thrive.

While each essay is intriguing on its own, when seen together they convey a visually moving and accurate pictorial of how our world is continuously morphing and progressing over time. By thinking ahead and visualizing what’s in store, we’re looking forward — literally and metaphorically — to what comes next in our personal and professional lives.

3 / Timeline of Next Index

6 20 30 36 54 Living Working Learning Economies About the authors

[ A ‘meet cute’ with technology. ] [ The office will never be the same. ] [ Education is now about breaking the rules. ] [ Time for marketplace makeovers. ]

8 HAL, Samantha and the 22 Virtual Sales Call: Real Results 32 ‘Dear Noah, Welcome to the 38 Surrender to the Rhythm Anthropomorphic Sound of University of Google’ the Future 24 Living at Work 42 Intergenerational War 34 Y ou Say You Want a Revolution? 10 Exploding the Nuclear Family 26 A Heads-Up on the New Office Class Dismissed 44 Capitalism 2.0 12 It’s All in the Mind 28 15-Minute Spaces 48 Not Pie in the Sky 14 Escaping the Matrix 16 Patient, Heal Thyself — Digitally 18 Machines of Loving Grace

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Through the Looking Glass LEWIS CARROLL, NOVELIST

5 / Timeline of Next Living

Working

Learning

Economies

“ Living well is the best revenge. If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” Home is where the heart is, where the couch The Sense of Humor is, where — the screen is? As many of us have clocked more time MAX EASTMAN, writer, poet, activist at home in the past year-plus than ever before in our lives, we’ve also grown more reliant on our devices.

In the coming years, our lives will be defined by what we say to our devices — and what they say back. Our health will be determined by the data we transmit to our caretakers and the guidance streamed back to our apps and virtual assistants. In our dotage, we’ll be grateful for the unflagging support of robots that tend to our every physical and psychological need. As at-home life intensifies, we’ll look beyond the concept of the family unit, to pods, tribes and kinships.

Most importantly, we’ll take stock of our newly intimate relationship with our devices and take steps to right imbalances. Our collective psyche depends on it.

7 / Timeline of Next: Living Soon, the voices won’t be just in our heads – they’ll surround us in every piece of tech we use.

HAL, Samantha and the Anthropomorphic Sound of the Future

There’s a scene in the 2013 In a click or two, Apple and What the future sounds like Or you’ll talk to a George As HAL, the seemingly omniscient sci-fi romantic comedyHer Amazon and Google (and every A world of Samanthas and Siris (Clooney) in the morning and a supercomputer from the sci-fi thriller that captures where artificial other tech vendor worth its salt) and Alexas (and every other old- Nicole (Kidman) in the evening — 2001: A Space Odyssey warned us intelligence-powered virtual will have Samantha-like capabilities fashioned Victorian name you celebrities will, of course, monetize when his cognition differed from his assistants (VA) are heading. Set embedded as their UX, and care to resurrect from the pages of their velvet tones with digital rights human companion: “I’m sorry, Dave. just over the horizon in futuristic digits will be well on their way Dickens and Hardy — “Hey, Charity management deals. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” With Los Angeles, the film chronicles the to becoming superfluous in a more precise algorithmic thinking, Picksniff — order my usual pizza, And then, in a further click or three, lonely life of techno-nerd Theodore digital age. will you?”) may seem unsettling at VAs that can countermand are not Twombly, who makes a living VAs will truly read our minds — too far away. With a smile or a scowl, Clearly, it will take enormous first, but by mid-decade, they will not only finishing our sentences but writing personal letters for people be as normal as ATMs, contactless or a countenance that augments unable to effectively express algorithmic smarts to imbue VAs also proactively anticipating our their purpose and conveys with anthropomorphic fidelity. But payments and in-car head-up every need, want and desire themselves. displays. understanding that transcends the that’s the arms race of 2020-2025. (hopefully, within reason), even spoken word, e.g., in an entirely Twombly acquires a new AI In another click or two, Samantha overruling us, where necessary — anthropomorphic way, their voices operating system designed to act (or Charity) will change on-the- or at least where human intelligence will fill our minds, and our future. as his VA. Depressed and reeling fly depending on our mood, falls short of the mark. Alan Alper is Vice President of from the breakup of his marriage, circumstance and, of course, need. Twombly immediately falls head Cognizant’s Global Thought Leadership Women could opt for male voices, Programs over heels for his VA, Samantha. if desired. Men could keep their “I can’t believe I am having a female VAs with the lilting intonation conversation with my computer,” that rises at the close of each he reveals to Samantha during statement that Siri made famous. their initial rendezvous. To which she responds: “You’re not, you’re talking to me.”

9 / Timeline of Next: Living Exploding the Nuclear Family

Perhaps it does take a village after all.

For 160 years, from the mid-1800s Fast-forward to 2020, and in the With an eerie foreshadowing, David This was great for the economy: Who’s in your tribe? At heart, the family unit will always until about 2011, the average midst of another storm, the number Brooks wrote an article in the March Every new household purchased In the near future, an abundance adapt to economic and social number of people in the average of kids moving back in with their 2020 edition of The Atlantic called, its own furniture, appliances, pots of new family configurations will change. But no family is an island, American and European household parents or parents moving in “The Nuclear Family Was A Mistake.” and pans, and a car (or two, and become mainstream — from familiar and it does perhaps take a village steadily shrunk, whittled down by with their kids went off the charts. In it, he noted that our modern eventually four or five) to motor into variations like the multigenerational after all to raise new generations industrialization, falling birth rates Among the most tangible things domestic arrangements have “no the city center. The explosion of households common in Asia ready and able to withstand the and a cultural shift toward autonomy the coronavirus revealed was how shock absorbers” when something households helped create a more and Africa, to new types of existential shocks of the future. and individualism. In the wake of the fragile family support systems were goes wrong. Of course, in 2020 dynamic and mobile society — even forged households built on what It’s not enough for households to Great Financial Recession, however, for so many people in the day-to- something did go terribly wrong. as critical, invisible and unpaid labor anthropologist Marshall Sahlins cobble together an ecosystem of on- the trend began reversing, with day juggling of work, parenting, play within the household limited career demand, borrowed or outsourced The dysfunction of families calls “kinships,” groupings formed household size growing 50% faster and learning. With the on-again/ opportunities for many women. around shared culture rather than support — we need a pack we can than overall population growth. The off-again nature of schooling,more The concept of the self-reliant, rely on. The pandemic gives us the But now, that invisible labor is very biology. The pandemic-inspired economically insecure (the young, than one billion children globally fell detached nuclear family is, of course, opportunity to redefine what that visible indeed. The choice between concept of “bubbles” created by the unemployed or underemployed, behind their expected development a relatively modern invention, really looks like. working and parenting is stark, families of school-aged children retirees) sought refuge in family timetable, and the mental health only becoming mainstream after especially for mothers. Many parents represent a conceptual foundation Irene Sandler is a Vice President groupings that provided shelter of parents and caregivers began World War II with the development now find themselves assuming dual for household configurations, even of Global Marketing at Cognizant from the storm. to deteriorate. Even those with the of “suburbs” around the leafy edges roles of parent and teacher — and after the pandemic recedes. luxury of working remotely grappled of cities. Between 1950 and 1970, often not performing well in either with the sudden difficulty — and for example, 83% of all population role. moral quandary — of outsourcing growth in the US occurred in the childcare, cleaning and cooking. suburbs. The calculus of a single, detached nuclear family unit doesn’t compute anymore. And out of necessity, comes invention.

11 / Timeline of Next: Living It’s All in the Mind

To keep ahead of artificial intelligence, we need to optimize our real intelligence.

Every day for 10 weeks, professional While few of us will know the Economic anxiety, climate anxiety users’ work/life balance in the With the combination of cultural basketball player Paul George pressures of performing at the and device addiction are all work-from-home world, including a shifts around the subject, resource awoke at 7:00 AM for a daily COVID highest level of our profession combining in various forms to “virtual commute” feature to create allocation and technological screening. This was part of the for a global audience of millions the detriment of our collective mental bookends for the remote advancement, the future of mental National Basketball Association’s of viewers, we can all relate to psyches. As our understanding of workday. It’s also partnering with health services will be more much lauded “bubble” approach the burnout he expressed. The mental health continues to evolve, meditation app Headspace to add a accessible and effective than to conducting business-as-usual in prevalence of such feelings have businesses will increasingly agree new “emotional check-in” feature. ever before. From Chief Purpose the midst of very unusual times. The risen so sharply among young that ignoring it only exacerbates the Planners defining the employee Culligan Water organization’s approach is the best people that some refer to millennials problem. Turning from physical labor has implemented experience to AI-Assisted Healthcare and provides stress we’ve seen thus far for keeping a as the “Burnout Generation.” But it’s to knowledge work places even well-being calls Technicians using real-time management resources to help workforce physically safeguarded not just limited to this demographic. more importance on the mental biometric data from wearables, employees improve resiliency. Virgin from the perils of the pandemic. But According to an October 2020 wellness of the workforce. organizations will design the jobs Trains in the UK what about their mental health? Kaiser Family Foundation survey, advises managers of the future with a thought toward Wellness for mind and body on how to support colleagues in a majority of US adults 18 and older safeguarding and strengthening need and developed an app to By week seven, George admitted (53%) said that worry and stress Companies like UPS have engaged their most valued assets: the minds provide individualized mental the toll that such a regimented life related to coronavirus has had in physical therapy routines and of their employees. health resources. And Johnson & had taken on him. He began to suffer a negative impact on their mental programming for years to alleviate from anxiety and depression under the physical toll that their workers Johnson provides free therapy visits Desmond Dickerson is a senior manager health, up from 39% just a few at Cognizant’s Center for the Future of such restrictive living conditions. It experience on the job. What is for employees. In the future, such months earlier. Work was affecting his mental wellness the equivalent for workers’ mental offerings will be necessary and and his performance on the court. fatigue? Microsoft has announced expected across all industries. new features for its collaboration platform Teams that aim to improve

13 / Timeline of Next: Living Escaping the Matrix

Online all the time? Wired? Detox …

COVID-19 pushed us deeper into The virtual is real Rebalancing act our digital addictions. Internet use Digital acceleration will be good Here are four digital fail-safes that that will become commonplace as we 3. Equip offices with recharge rooms and wellness spaces. During rose 70%, and social media traffic not just for business but also for emerge from the pandemic and enter the next normal: the first wave of the virus, New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital converted surged, in some cases by 50%, the world. It will drive corporate a 3,000-square-foot lab into a series of recharge rooms to help front- compared with pre-lockdown levels. productivity and profits, along 1. Modify the workweek. Organizations have already started to experiment line healthcare workers decompress. These rooms use plants, sunlight, Zooming came from nowhere to with jobs and economic growth. If with a shortened workweek to allow employees to unplug from multisensory experiences and other biophilic approaches to recreate be the word of 2020. Is there any harnessed correctly, it will promote technology. The four-day workweek has been tested by companies like natural settings. Companies will follow this example by rethinking turning back? Are we all just part of sustainability and lead to medical Microsoft Japan, which reported an increase in productivity of 40% when the full-office design to let outside air and nature in, and disease out, the Matrix now? breakthroughs. it gave employees Fridays off for a month. Having employees work fewer while providing greater flexibility for new ways of working. days also reduces company costs, employee travel and carbon footprints. Businesses think so; according to But for companies that neglect Even politicians are getting into the act. The Spanish Más País party, for 4. Improve digital hygiene at the workplace. Companies will need to a recent study we conducted, 60% to protect their staff from digital example, is lobbying for the government to give grants to companies put more of their workers on “digital diets,” helping employees avoid of businesses will accelerate digital overload, it will lead to anxiety, that shorten the workweek. Some companies are going further, replacing excess digital consumption while boosting collaboration and idea- transformation over the next one depression and poor performance. expectations of time spent at work with measurements of work delivered. sharing. Measures will include “no-tech” meetings and electronics-free to two years, 44% will shift physical And for those individuals who rooms where workers leave their devices at the door; apps that enable 2. Encourage employees to disconnect. More companies are helping jobs to digital ones, and 32% will undergo a digital overdose? Well, workers to track their digital use; regular work breaks away from screens; workers to unplug. Front App, a San Francisco-based startup, launched a have more of their staff work from there’s no such thing resources to help staff deal with techno-complexity; buddy systems program to award $200 to any employee who limits their screen time to home. as digital methadone. that allow workers to support each other when detoxing; and workplace less than 14 hours a month. Daimler allows its employees to auto-delete yoga and other activities to build “mindfulness.” messages while on vacation. More companies are prohibiting emails and texts after or before work hours. Regulations, such as the “right to The digital genie isn’t going back in the bottle anytime soon. But disconnect” in France, are reinforcing the unplugging movement. Italy rebalancing the online and offline is the hard work of the future — without and Spain have already created their own laws, and other countries, such some non-digital downtime, minds and futures will be fried. as the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and India, are looking to follow suit. Lou Celi is founder and CEO of ESI ThoughtLab

15 / Timeline of Next: Living Patient, Heal Thyself — Digitally ntering your local medical facility is like stepping back in time. You Emay have gotten there in an Uber (ordered with a couple of screen taps) after having a lunch delivered by DoorDash (with a couple of The healthcare industry is far from healthy. The cure: a bracing dose of next-gen tech. taps) after having been on a Zoom all morning (after a couple of clicks). But walk through the door of your doctor’s reception or ER, and you’re back in 1975, or 1950, or 1910, or 1850 …. Starting soon (not a moment too will incorporate passive sensor Or the agent may prompt us to immune system disorder – treatment tear on our homes and autos. “Please can you fill out this form.” soon), healthcare will be in the technology and 5G connectivity; contact a physician or testing can begin immediately. With the Health coverage will be designed middle of a metamorphosis that once we choose to install a device, facility for follow-up. These will be digitization of technology, we will for catastrophic events and care. In “In triplicate.” by decade’s end will make it as it will operate in the background, as close as our nearest pharmacy receive much of the care in our short, consumers will have much “Can I see your insurance card automatic and frictionless as our and we’ll hardly know it’s there. In or grocery store clinic so we can homes or at the pharmacy. In-home of their care when and where they again?” taxi rides and food services and doing so, we won’t need to build and fit the appointment into a regular dialysis is already available today, want it, with the physical and virtual video calls. Unified virtual and sustain habits to benefit from the shopping trip vs. making it a special and major medical centers are experiences seamlessly intertwined, “Please sign here, here and here.” physical health experiences will technology. event. experimenting with in-home delivery and the data from each readily be the hallmark of future care of complex, high-acuity care. In five available. “Oh, and here.” As healthy as your data lets We will own our personal health data anywhere, with data, gathered years, minimally invasive surgeries you be In 2019, a time traveler from 1919 “We’ll call you when the doctor’s When, 35 minutes later, you’re finally virtually, available in the physical regardless of where it originates. will take place at home. ready ….” admitted to see the doctor, the world (and vice versa). Two or three AI agents within the app’s Apps will generate blockchain- would have been entirely familiar Shopping for health process starts again …. personal healthcare apps supported platform will monitor our data based codes that represent our with the process and experience by on-demand healthcare platforms and immediately flag and analyze permission to share our clinical Whether in-home or in-hospital of going to her local medical “So, what seems to be the problem?” will dominate the market, competing results outside our personal norms, data and track who sees it and how care is required, AI-driven apps professional. By 2029, that familiarity including our sequenced personal they use it. The codes will be as will be fading, and by 2039, gone. “Er, I just filled in a form with all the details.” on experience: the warmth of their will enable consumers to compare artificial intelligence (AI) personal genome. The virtual agent will easy to use as debit and credit card services, facilities and physicians, The healthcare industry will be a “Well, why don’t you tell me again.” health assistants and how easily text — or simply speak aloud — a personal identification numbers and select the ones that meet modernized undertaking — fit, nay, st they help us make informed health personalized recommendation, such (PINs). Recommendations from the their price and quality parameters. healthy for the rest of the 21 century. “OK …” AI agent will guide test selection decisions. as making a specific dietary change Digitization and on-demand care Trish Birch is SVP & Global Practice Leader, based on how we metabolize food. and results interpretation, which anywhere, especially in lower cost Healthcare Consulting, at Cognizant In-home monitoring devices, will upload to our chosen app and settings, will drive down healthcare wearables and even tiny implants will platform. prices. be sophisticated and commonplace, streaming data to the apps so they If the same results indicate a More care will follow standardized continually draw individualized problem is brewing — say, early “McHealth” procedures that are portraits of our health data. detection of colon cancer or trace affordable without insurance, just Many of the streaming devices amounts of antibodies indicating an as we pay for repairing wear-and-

17 / Timeline of Next: Living As we age, nothing is more important than being in good hands. Machines of Loving Grace Increasingly, these human hands will be supported by artificial ones.

As life expectancy continues to rise, As in Robot & Frank, every senior A BFF for the elderly Of course, it’s not just robots that so do the challenges associated could do with an intelligent personal The residents of the Shin-tomi have a big role to play in aging with our growing older population. companion. In the eponymous 2012 nursing home in Tokyo aren’t — with machine-learning-based In the next 30 years, the percent of movie, Frank, a retired thief, is given looking to rob anyone (they want to software, nurses, medical staff the global population over 60 is set a birthday gift by his son — a robot remain residents, not inmates), but and other personnel will have to double. If they’re lucky, these two companion to look after him. Initially they’re very happy with the robots accurate and real-time information billion people will remain capable suspicious, Frank warms up to his that roam the corridors of their via “companion” apps. Next- and independent. If they’re less lucky new pal when he realizes that Robot building, bringing food and laundry gen software will analyze facial — and more typical —they will come (never anthropomorphized with a and doing the dusting, all allowing expressions and subtle patient to rely on the kindness of their family, name) is happy to help him carry the human helpers to spend more movements to better understand or strangers. out one last assignment from his time bedside hearing that anecdote their needs, and provide healthcare former career. Together they commit th professionals with timely information In the US, almost 1.5 million people for the 18 time. a burglary, and in the process, a exactly when it’s needed. With — some live in nursing homes bromance blossoms. Roughly 90% of nursing home smart software and hardware, AI will of which are dreams, and some patients who are able to walk need provide huge benefits when it comes nightmares. The difference lies in assistance or supervision. At 0.001 to better understanding nursing the quality of care — which itself miles per hour, helping an old-timer home residents — improving their rests largely on the number of staff to the bathroom can occupy a mental and physical well-being, employed. In the best-case scenarios, caregiver for half an hour. Let Atlas providing more accurate treatments nursing staff have time to sit and help! Once you can dance this well, and, ultimately, making the golden chat with a resident and listen to it would be a breeze to shuffle along years more golden. th an anecdote for the 17 time. In the with Mrs. Bennet or Tanaka-san to do worst, a meal tray is slapped down the necessary. Surrounded by machines of loving a couple of times a day, and a senior grace, seniors will rest in hands not is left alone to wander through the quite human but more human than windmills of their mind. no hands at all.

Andres Angelani is the CEO of Cognizant Softvision

19 / Timeline of Next: Living Living Working Learning “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine: it is lethal.” PAULO COELHO, novelist Economies

Once we ditched our commutes and uncomfortable clothes, there was no going back. Now that our workplace isn’t confined by a particular place, the idea of work is boundaryless.

Our appearance will be defined by our digital avatars. Our output will be revealed at our augmented-reality-driven meetings through 3D graphics and advanced analytics. When we do head into the office, it won’t be a cubicle farm with a dingy breakroom but a multifunctional space fit for innovating, hosting guests and partying with colleagues.

What we’ve learned is that work isn’t just about work — it’s about collaborating and being collegial, and not just virtually. So even as we slough off the workplace, we’ll also say hello to entirely new spaces that offer the comforts of home, the social interactions of work, the immediacy of nature and a sense of purpose, wellness and belonging.

21 / Timeline of Next: Working Zoom is for amateurs — Oculus Quest 5 is for professionals.

Virtual Sales Call: Real Results

I just slipped on my new virtual each avatar, sharing the individual’s that, and my AI assistant highlights three weeks to boost sales further. reality headset and beamed into latest sales results, projections them with a pulsing ring of color After Carol takes these actions, my 2:00 VR-Zoom meeting with my and any actions they owe me. I’m indicating confidence levels in the confidence level immediately sales team. Today’s meeting is really very surprised to see Bob here. His achieving the projections. We have increases. If the confidence level important given our third-quarter status shows he’s on vacation, and too many red regions, and even slips or has other issues, the AI performance. I need to motivate he’s already ahead of target. But his the Northeast region, highlighted assistant will notify Carol and me them to make a big push for fourth- projected revenue is even higher, in green, is a concern because the immediately. quarter revenue, so I’m wearing my and from his really sharp-looking confidence level is shown as low. most professional avatar. My clothing avatar, I can tell he wants to send Carol, who owns the Northeast, has As we wrap up the meeting, I remind is fresh and pressed, and I make a message to everyone that he’s been making high projections for a the team what success will look myself 10% taller just to show some committed and overachieving. I while now, but this is concerning. like for them. Before we leave, Bob authority. I decide to use a cool send a private message to Bob to switches over to his real image and Instead of having everyone present King Arthur-style roundtable setting thank him for his dedication. location on a beach just to make their status and plans, I turn to our for this discussion so we all feel us all smile. After we end, my AI A multitude of media AI assistant and ask, “Which region equal responsibility to improve our assistant publishes the actions and needs the most focus?” Sure enough, business. I think this is going to be a As the meeting starts, I share the new projections to the entire team it identifies Carol’s region and great meeting for our business. business performance with the so we can track our progress and team through a 3D animation in the presents all the factors that indicate ensure success continuously. As people join the VR-Zoom why there is low confidence for center of the roundtable. Our latest Bret Greenstein is Senior Vice President meeting, I note the avatars they each sales results per region are shown meeting the projection. It also and Global Head at Cognizant’s Data chose. Avatars say a lot about a team colorfully on a map that hovers in suggests that to fix this, we should Practice member’s attitude toward their job front of everyone. I then overlay raise prices 5%, dedicate more time and this specific meeting. As I scan the team’s revenue projections on to clients and launch a promotion the room, a bubble pops up above tied to a major event happening in

23 / Timeline of Next: Working Living at Work

Work’s not a place; it’s a verb.

Spurred by policy changes and Pre-pandemic, we already saw Not the ‘where’ but the ‘what’ Regardless, we do need to plan public health guidance, telehealth “digital nomads” comfortably So will WFH stay as high as 70%, as for major investments in home suddenly became “a thing” in working in cafes in Bali, a WeWork in some companies are reporting, or infrastructure: faster laptops and March 2020, soaring 154% above Lima or on a plane, with 5G, Starlink go down to under 10%? The answer bandwidth, more VPN and Zoom 2019 levels. Even with widespread and WiFi 6 networks in hand, and will vary by industry, by country, by licenses, ergonomic furniture. vaccinations, doctors’ offices may Zoom, Teams, Webex, GoToMeeting, company, by role. Some employees CIOs will have to face up to privacy, never be as busy as they once were. Skype (actually, whatever happened have to be in the warehouse or on security and endpoints in insecure Going to the doctor’s workplace to Skype?) all fired up, no slacking delivery routes. Others have home locations around the world. All of this won’t make sense when a doctor’s allowed, even in a world of Slack. situations where WFH is miserable. will add a level of complexity we’ve work is simply a verb. Some even started prepping with Some are nervous about crowds. Still never faced before. a TV-quality filming studio in the others love that they have traded the And what’s true for doctors will also basement. Sci-fi writer William Gibson famously be true for most other bourgeois, commute for family time. said, “The future is already here — it’s non-place-reliant work. Attitudes have not evolved quite as We’re already diversifying just not evenly distributed.” Unevenly rapidly, though. While “managing by distributed was a good description Writ large, this acceleration into an employees on so many other walking around” worked well in the attributes — we can add a location of remote work 25 years ago. Now, untethered future of work will see past, now, managing by outcomes hundreds of millions of workers and the phrase “working from home” attribute. Besides, we’ve learned is far more effective. Not only does to work differently during the managers have had a taste. It took seem increasingly antiquated — this call for trusting managers and unbelievable acrobatics to get there language from the before times. pandemic. How many software self-driven workers; it also means proposals in the future will include in a couple of weeks. Many are still Soon, work will be work, place eliminating location bias. “Workers getting used to it. So, take it from this will be place, and the two will be multiple people demoing at a at home” have long been considered prospect’s office? 25-year WFH veteran: living at work increasingly independent of the “shirkers at home” — now, that’s is not a bad place to verb. other. dinosaur talk. Vinnie Mirchandani is an advisor, author and blogger covering IT innovation

25 / Timeline of Next: Working A Heads-Up on the New Office

Hint: When you do need to go there, you’ll actually want to.

COVID-19 has shown that “heads- At the same time, though, our Not just a place to work For some organizations, these three The office is not dead, nor is the city, down work” can be done anywhere current COVID-19 interregnum In the future — maybe even the functions of the new office will be but the daily suburban commute to — typing, coding, form-filling, et al. has shown that “heads-up work” is summer of 2021 — an office will play contained within one space, say in a cubicle will go the way of the Dodo This has been obvious to “future still best done face-to-face. While three roles: a showroom, an R&D lab Hudson Yards or Canary Wharf for in the next 24 months, and only of” folks for years — many of whom we’ve all coped with endless video and a party space. those who can (or want to) afford dodos and dodo companies will (namely me and you dear reader) calls and the explosion in email and it. For others, (the majority) they maintain that model. have been working out of our homes instant messaging, we can all sense The showroom will be a prestige will be distributed among different The new office, pioneered by for decades. For the majority of that there is still no substitute for place to impress clients, prospects, spaces — a single (fancy) floor of a WeWork before it blew itself up workers, the forces of custom, inertia, being “in the room” when we want to media and analysts — “check us, townhouse in Mayfair as showroom, through avarice and greed, will be a conservatism and presenteeism create, collaborate and close. we’re playas.” The R&D lab will be a bare-floored brick building in better place to do the heads-up work has kept them stuck in their office where the secret sauce is cooked Shoreditch as lab, and the Porter Given these new facts, the question that needs to be done there. But it’s cubicle. — think Apple’s infamous design Tun at the Brewery rented for the arises — assuming the vaccines no place at all to do the heads-down lab, formerly overseen by Sir Jony monthly get-together. But now, the penny’s dropped, and are effective and we can leave our Ive, where watches and phones work that doesn’t. employees and employers alike homes again one day (inshallah): In the near future, an office that sub- and brain implants are dreamed Ben Pring co-founded and leads have realized en masse that much What’s an office for, and what should of and designed. The party space optimizes these three functions in Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work bourgeois white-collar work can get we do in it when we’re there? (If the will be, well, where the party’s at — one “composite” space — a pretty done from anywhere, and the idea vaccines aren’t effective, and the monthly local social/collaborative ordinary small boardroom for the that it must be done in a cubicle in virus further mutates, and we’re shindigs (rather than the global/ clients/prospects, a beaten-up an office block an hour away from locked down forever, then all bets regional annual ones that many old sofa next to the coin-operated home is not strictly true. are off ….) large multinationals traditionally drinks machine for R&D time, and hold) to develop the “culture,” a cubicle-filled open floor with network and bond. a DJ stuck in the corner for the knees-up (i.e., 90% of current office spaces around the world) — will be regarded as a relic from the before- times. Hardly fit for purpose for our brave new work.

27 / Timeline of Next: Working 15-Minute Spaces

The commute is dead. Good riddance.

Fighting your way through rush-hour traffic to get to the office Just down the road They’re already becoming a reality. new 15-minute spaces will provide on-time is a feature of the past of work in pre-virus times. We As working from home becomes US startup Reef is on a mission to a welcoming environment that don’t have to trudge between train platforms and bus stations, embedded deeply into our lives, build cities where everything people promotes social interaction and or slowly edge our way forward in bumper-to-bumper traffic and remote office space takes over need can be found within a short breeds a sense of belonging. Even anymore. We move from bed to shower to kitchen for a our home space, where can we walk or bicycle ride. To this end, as employees move from full work- caffeine hit, sit down with our laptop or phone, and BANG!, find our own space? We’re going Reef is transforming its real estate from-home status in the years we’re at work. to need somewhere new — a third network of more than 4,500 parking and months ahead, we’re seeing lots and garages into neighborhood the foundation for a new space But … space outside of the home and the traditional office, where people hubs. It’s partnering with other revolution being built now. The Our bodies may be thanking us for the long overdue break can work and socialize, prioritize players for micro-fulfillment, e-bikes, question is, which 15-minute space from the misery of the commute, but our brains aren’t, now well-being, and be part of the pop-up clinics and urban farming. will you be working in before the that we can work from anywhere/anytime — now that we have decade is out? community without upping our risk of In Saudi Arabia, the LINE is designed to work anywhere/anytime/all the time. contracting the virus. We need these as a 106-mile belt of communities Manish Bahl is a Cognizant Associate Vice spaces to be within a 15-minute walk President who leads the company’s Center Working from home, despite all the benefits, is proving connected without the need for cars or bicycle ride/drive. Many people for the Future of Work in Asia-Pacific incredibly challenging for some. It’s difficult to avoid or roads. The plan is for residents to will use these new spaces to replace distractions – children, chores, pets — at home. It’s easy to have access to nature and all their the social networks previously built overwork, stretching your hours to finish a project with daily needs within a walking distance around the office. These spaces will no one around you to turn off the lights or lock the building. of five minutes. An ultra-high-speed work as refueling centers for our Isolation and loneliness are creeping in, without anyone transit system ensures no journey will minds and bodies as we tackle our to chat with in communal spaces, or to share a coffee with take longer than 20 minutes. workloads. on breaks. As our working lives become more These not-quite-work, not-quite- isolated, these new spaces will home spaces could entail a hotel, a become increasingly important restaurant, a local watering hole, an in creating a company culture. art exhibition, a yoga studio and just Instead of encouraging employees about anything else you can think of. to sit alone behind screens, the

29 / Timeline of Next: Working Living

Working Learning

Economies

Long ago, societies decided that learning took place within four walls. We agreed that curricula should be based on age-old tenets, and that teaching models should be one-way and instructor- led. Somewhere along the way, we bought into the idea of (really expensive) four-year degrees that released highly indebted young talent into the world.

All these models are breaking in the face of today’s realities. As learning has become less classroom- and campus-based, our concept “A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, of it has changed. Sources of funding will shift from endowments and as long as it stays inside the maze.” federal loans, to Big Tech. Yellow highlighters will give way to video The Handmaid’s Tale game-like lessons and AI-driven personalized support. Output will be MARGARET ATWOOD, novelist skills, not degrees. Learning will become more fluid, democratized and flexible, better aligned with a complex and fast-changing world.

As learning itself becomes more about engagement, collaboration, resourcefulness and problem solving, the “classroom” will be life, itself.

31 / Timeline of Next: Learning ‘Dear Noah, Welcome to the University of Google’ Today’s ‘hedge funds with classrooms attached’ will be replaced by skills factories.

In the wake of the pandemic and The goal? To democratize learning. Getting out of the dorm room be the thing — similar to a latter- the pivot to remote learning, many The how? By partnering and co- The coronavirus is galvanizing this day GI Bill enjoyed by their great- colleges are finding themselves in branding with some of the biggest change. The best colleges and grandfathers and grandmothers deep doo-doo. With cash-strapped players in tech, and using state-of- universities will empower lecturers before them. students (and their parents) shelling the-art digital tools. to engage in scaled experiments By making the onramp to higher-ed out first-class fare for cattle-class with online media. Rote classroom pedagogy, university provosts and Welcome to the University of more fair and far more accessible Google (or Amazon, Facebook, activities will give way to a fusion through deep-pocketed alignment presidents are fighting back the of lesson plans with videogame- outraged howls of their “consumers” Apple … TikTok, etc., etc.). with tech, we’ll be better able to like distance learning, all led by grapple with a world awash with with gritted teeth, knowing only too Similar to land grants that launched instructors with captivating online well (as they admit to themselves change (technological, societal, American institutional flagships personalities that foster far better political, ecological) and more in the wee, wee hours) that the like the University of California at student engagement than physical cash-cows of the past are no longer complex and more intense than Berkeley, a “digital grant” will ensue classrooms alone ever did. ever before. In doing so, we’ll open sacred and are in peril. (sourced by a 1% digital sales tax), At the same time, the change 10X new opportunities for personal Spurred on by the iconoclastic, so- underwriting access to the highest education and levels of employment quality distance-credentialing. won’t mean turning the beautiful, tough-you-gotta-love-it tough love of venerable college campuses of for billions, and harness the collective professional pontificators (and part- As this new educational model genius in place to solve the greatest becomes mainstream, it will result yesteryear into an educational “Rust time professors) like NYU’s Scott issues of our time. in more affordable and faster Belt.” On the contrary, with a vastly Galloway, many universities and broadened basis of scaled funding, colleges will use technology to get credentials, tightly aligned with fluid “Go UG! Go UG! Go UG!” employment markets and fine- it will allow those that cross over, with the post-pandemic program Rob Brown is Vice President of tuned across a career(s). In time, post-COVID, to thrive. For those and tear down their walls. Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work skills will become the vernacular of students who want a full on-campus the quad, not the anachronism of a experience, it will still be available degree. (still at a price). But for the vast majority of students, gaining access to a credentialed skill or skills will

33 / Timeline of Next: Learning You Say You Want A Revolution? Class Dismissed Education is no longer by the book.

Ah, 2020, when one of the few things In much the same way that In addition to the bigger changes benefits of parent-driven instruction An active learning model This lesson will be the new hybrid people agreed on was that teachers work has been forever altered, of nomadic families and shifting with those delivered through To excel in this new learning model, schooling mandate: The best don’t make enough money. compliments of COVID-19, so too friendship circles, other more subtle traditional schooling environments. students will need to co-create learning takes place when the has our perspective on education. changes will center around a new Students will be able to socialize with the curriculum and the learning learner takes charge and achieves While we magically discovered our In the coming decade, our views on and improved hybrid schooling their peers on a regular basis, as a sense of personal control. By appreciation for teachers and the experience. With a project-based classic education will be seriously model, informed by our learnings well as access expanded curriculum approach — in which learning reimagining the place and time for role of education, many families challenged, as will the concept of from the post-pandemic era. options. With fewer objections and education, and seeing education in used the global pandemic to try happens in real and relevant the physical school building as a more diverse funding streams, settings — a common purpose can broader terms, hybrid schooling will something new, such as embracing place of learning. The hybrid schooling model will additional families will truly curate prepare tomorrow’s leaders to rule homeschooling or bringing typically split the weekly learning be achieved when teachers and and personalize their children’s students learn together. To get there, tomorrow’s world. back tribal education in the form In the near future, learning cycle into three days at home and education. of podding or teaming up with experiences won’t be limited to two days in school or will evenly the learning environment must be Fausta Ballesteros is Vice President of other families to share childcare, an 8-to-3 school day, in-person divide students’ time between home Perhaps most important, the model designed to foster rich and deep Communications and Marketing and education and socialization duties. classrooms and the occasional and school each day. This model will enable us to prioritize the emotional connections — with Head of New York Studio, Cognizant Softvision museum field trip. Instead, a could help fulfill parental demands development of students’ emotional lots of room for experimentation, As we focus more than ever on student’s time and place of learning that existed even before COVID-19, intelligence to contend with the celebration and sharing. the tools and skills that kids will will include remote destinations such as smaller class sizes, the challenges of learning. Whether actually need for what lies ahead Education visionary and technologist — even living abroad or visits with opportunity to incorporate special- it’s self-awareness, mindfulness Seymour Papert once defined — skills like flexibility, grit, empathy, relatives, wherever they reside. interest coursework centered on or mastering connections with resourcefulness, resilience and the goal of education: “that each religious or cultural preferences, a others, the attributes that hybrid individual will come out with a collaborative problem solving — more focused learning environment, schooling educators can inculcate we’re also rethinking exactly what sense of personal self-respect, less time wasted during the school will form the basis of how we assess empowerment and love for yourself, school is and where learning should day and more individualized their performance, as well as their take place. because from that grows all the other attention for students. ability to shape young people into loves: for people, for knowledge, for positive and contributing members the society in which you live.” Rather than retreating entirely to of society with social intelligence and homeschooling environments, creative thinking as a chief focus. hybrid schools will combine the

35 / Timeline of Next: Learning Living

Working “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” SOREN KIERKEGAARD, philosopher, poet, theologian Learning Economies

Through crisis and calamity, one truism remains: Money still makes the world go around. It’s just that the way it’s done will soon look a lot different.

In the face of growing inequity and mounting debt, capitalism will remain intact but will incorporate mechanisms from other economic systems and labor constructs that address the financial distress of the pandemic and take the pressure off future generations to pay for it. Hard-hit industries like restaurants will adopt new business models that redefine their value proposition and recover lost income. Businesses will find even more ways to turn consumers’ personal data — even their heart rhythms — into profits. And societies will devise entirely new and fungible sources of value, like carbon allowances or personal data exchanges.

As always, there will be money to be made. The systems for making and exchanging it, though, will never be the same.

37 / Timeline of Next: Economies Rhythm Surrender to the RhythmRyhthmRhythmRhythm

Your heart is unique — you always knew that, right?

Facial recognition was a trendy topic about a decade ago. Answer: Project Jetson Going invisible The idea of a machine being able to recognize you, speak What if we could point a laser at a Already, infrared lasers are to you and personalize experiences for you while doing the person — turned sideways, sitting everywhere. During the pandemic, same for every other passerby — it was the stuff ofMinority down, in a jacket — and simply you may have had your temperature Report, Blade Runner, 1984 and 100 other dystopian visions. recognize them? What if their checked from a tablet when walking Strange that we were all so suspicious. body itself was like a fingerprint — into a building. When boarding captured once, identifiable forever? a flight or entering a hotel, an But the land of the machines faced its own disaster when the pandemic attendant might have scanned your Consider that every person in the struck — all these humans were suddenly wearing masks. “Where’s the forehead with a thermometer gun. face?” “Cannot compute.” world has a unique heart rhythm. Both show infrared lasers at work. Combine infrared lasers with a The problems with facial recognition as a biometric identifier go back further vibrometer, a database and an Even the iPhone is a Class 1 Laser than 2020. Beyond the ethical debates, there were a number of practical algorithm built to identify that Product – it has used infrared challenges that simply couldn’t be solved for. rhythm, and you have Jetson, a lasers for years, mostly for facial device that can detect an individual’s recognition. When the iPhone 12 At least as early as 2017, US Special Forces were already hunting for alternative unique cardiac signature with an Pro came out in 2020, LIDAR was approaches to facial recognition. Reliable ID methods were (and are) critical for mission infrared laser, brought to you by the included, and your phone could success. “What if the subject now has a beard?” “What if they put on sunglasses?” Pentagon. suddenly scan the surface of Mars ... “What if they paint their face?” or your bedroom. Either way. The thing about lasers is, distance doesn’t really matter — no Zooming >> required; masks optional. Biometric, perfectly accurate personali dentification based on heartbeat — just another military product that quickly gained non-military uses.

39 / Timeline of Next: Economies We’ve become more and more For the consumer world, though, Hello, CardioID Applications will extend beyond Here’s the thing with biometrics: For all intents and purposes, accustomed to those boring, quiet wearables aren’t an option. In the near future, you’ll be able to retail. It could be used as a secure They’re forever, immutable. This CardioID will take our unique lenses projecting invisible light Companies need to recognize visit a store with infrared systems password system, or marketers means CardioID would be a highly heart rhythms and turn them into onto our world, onto us. As the people walking in the door, know in place, be automatically logged in could gain another metric on secure mechanism for seamlessly something between a password contactless movement continues, their preferences, confirm their and begin having experiences that returning customers — a win for identifying yourself. Couple CardioID and a personalizer — truly a future more uses of that light will be identity and associate all of that with just feel more relevant. Let’s call it the business that consumers would with facial recognition, and you’ve with heart. explored. a bank account. Nobody would put never notice. got true two-factor authentication CardioID. Your signature wouldn’t Clayton Griffith is the Director of Product on a bracelet to make this easier. be referenced against a name or any for walking into a store, grabbing Marketing at Cognizant Softvision Even in 2020, heartbeat Consumers might be wary that what you want and leaving, with identification had already been Thankfully, NASA has made personally identifiable information — such a system could threaten their it’s more like you’d been cookied. payment automated through a in use for a few years by major innovation here a bit simpler, with anonymity; however, in time, the connection with your bank account. manufacturing and research its HeartBeatID patent. Startups and security and privacy implications facilities, though the technology the enterprise alike can easily license could be covered by extending had early challenges. Here, security this technology and build solutions. regulations such as the GDPR — was critical, and constant “by entering this establishment, you So where will that get us? authentication — made possible by agree to ….” wearables — was valued.

In the near future, you’ll be able to visit a store with infrared systems in place, be automatically logged in and begin having experiences that just feel more relevant.

41 / Timeline of Next: Economies Intergenerational War – What Is It Good For?*

The young will pay for the errors of their elders. Or will they?

In the midst of the COVID-19 What to do? What policymakers Our Western “system” only works Thinking of tomorrow, today Need another income source? Boomers had a good run, but they pandemic, anyone who questions usually do – kick the can down the (it will become more and more In the next decade, a world will Perhaps you’ll be able to trade won’t be able to run away from their the economic costs of the lockdown road and expect the next generation obvious) when people feel they emerge in which every citizen your annual flight allowance on bills as they come due. The Roaring is seen as a nutter or an irritant. But to pick up the tab. But, now, not so have a stake in its future. The ideas receives a monthly bitcoin deposit in the carbon offset exchange with Twenties will be the time to remake the question of who will pick up the fast. “Nice try, Boomer. Your mess — that have hardened into modern their digital wallet funded by a digital someone with less time left on our system before a generation feels tab for shattered economies will only you fix it. Not our problem.” capitalist economies — growth, Tobin tax. Stress and health levels the planet (and who will gladly pay entirely locked out — a generation become more pressing as the bug accumulation, investment — imply you for yours). Need more? Trade that the future is in its counting Imagining the young would pay will drop as Universal Basic Income recedes and survivors re-emerge that tomorrow will be better your personal data with brands house, counting on. the price for COVID is increasingly payments cover basic food and from their cribs. Governments than today. While pre-capitalist eager to understand more about unimaginable. Those born after 1980 subsistence costs. People will focus Euan Davis is a Cognizant Associate Vice have eased trillions of dollars into societies looked to the past — to their customers and invest the already face the scariest financial on the work that really matters — President who leads the company’s Center the system to keep people safe the Dreamtime, paganism and old proceeds into the newly established future of any generation since the perhaps building a social enterprise, for the Future of Work in EMEA and economies afloat, but as sure religions – capitalist societies look sustainable futures market. Great Depression. Debt levels are using seed money channeled as night follows day, the ensuing to the future — to new inventions, down from the world’s first global recession will need trillions more. In bound to soar, while homeownership, broader horizons and greater The bottom line is that capitalism decent pensions and “careers” will all automation tax, expressly designed is still the worst economic system the not too far-off future, the debt abundance for everyone. But to kickstart the international looks to grow so huge that it doesn’t become totems from a bygone era, with rising inequality, imminent we have — except for all the others. out of reach for vast swaths of the cooperative movement. No other system has created and bear thinking about. climate crisis and a pandemic, the working population. spread wealth around the world as system is rife for another Bretton well as it has. But it doesn’t work if Woods moment: a new rules- based order that establishes a fair, tomorrow is sacrificed for today. equitable and resilient system fit for young and old in the modern age. *(Absolutely nothing)

43 / Timeline of Next: Economies Capitalism 2.0

Building back better means building back differently.

The pandemic has brought attention In its ascendency since the fall Cynics sneered. Capitalism’s to many of society’s great divides. of the Berlin Wall, capitalism’s cheerleaders pointed out that no On the moneyed Back Bay side of very legitimacy at the heart of our less an ardent capitalist than Henry one of Boston’s (and the world’s) modern world was, and is, under an Ford raised wages on the principle premier hospitals, residents have a unforgiving spotlight, as its critics that his workers should be able to life expectancy of 89 years. On the and opponents challenge its role afford the products they build. The less affluent Roxbury side? 59. and relevancy for the future. silent majority continued to worry about the end of the month, not the Even before the crisis, it was easy to Capitalism’s high priests offer a end of the system. spot wide-scale dissatisfaction with defense but a muted one, and the status quo. From the gilet-jaunes concede there is much to be done. As the virus recedes and we peek to the Brexiters to the Trump Rump Jamie Dimon, among the highest out of our bunkers to see what is to the students of Hong Kong, faith of the high, released a statement left standing, the great opportunity and belief and trust in the modern in early 2020 as Chairman of the ahead is to craft economic world was crumbling, with the Business Roundtable, committing models that harness the engine of majority of people feeling left behind. its members to “leading their capitalism with the brakes of broadly Fear has supplanted hope, with only companies for the benefit of distributed fairness. 47% of people globally feeling that all stakeholders,” not just the they and their families will be better corporation’s shareholders. The >> off five years from now. “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation” was signed by 181 CEOs (including the CEO of Cognizant).

45 / Timeline of Next: Economies Capitalism, at its core a Darwinian process of finding out what works, needs to once again adapt to thrive.

The midline between two extremes Legislation. Governments will Unions. Many socioeconomic Withdrawal of custom. In our Establish a “people-first” The search for a “third way” between the extremes of the again enact laws that balance the commentators (including Thomas present-day market economy, the business. Others will start up a (Ayn) Randians and (Mahatma) Gandhians has been a Holy playing field between capital and Piketty) date the start of the latest ultimate power is the power of company that does not use AI, th Grail since (Bill) Clinton and (Tony) Blair. In 2021, we’re still labor. In the early 20 century, era of wealth concentration to the the market. As political comedian robotics, automation-based software looking. By 2025, though, a new calculus will emerge that President Roosevelt led the charge collapse of unions at the hands of US Stephen Colbert put it, “Global or other labor-saving devices but, provides a path forward: against US trusts, which in turn President Ronald Reagan and UK warming is real because Al Gore’s rather, favors employing people, created the conditions for what Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. movie made money — the market and then win in the race against the is now widely seen as a golden The notion of unionization remains has spoken.” machine, in the market. age of American expansion and deeply unfashionable among white- If you don’t like the way the world None of these ideas are new or widespread prosperity. In 1945, UK collar workers (although professional is going, and don’t like what weird or utopian or fantastical. They Prime Minister Attlee introduced an organizations for doctors and companies are doing replacing are all tried and tested approaches inheritance tax that defenestrated lawyers that, in effect, work as unions people with software and machines, that have worked in the past, in the British aristocracy, releasing an are perfectly acceptable). But in a don’t buy from them. Buy from countries around the world and for explosion of middle-class energy Newtonian world (where for every companies that are “people considerable periods of time. Soon that generated the Swinging Sixties force there is an opposite and equal first,” not “AI-first.” Some people they will work again. and Cool Britannia. Governments reaction), it’s obvious that “Labor” don’t buy from Walmart because can — and will — bend the arc of the will once again organize to take on Walmart’s low prices knock out local While the future is unwritten, we can moral universe. “Capital.” Unions are starting to show independent competition that can’t say with reasonable confidence that up again at Google and Facebook compete on price. Shortly, a new what worked yesterday won’t work and other stars in the capitalist tomorrow. Capitalism, at its core a firmament, as we write. generation of people will remember this truth or learn it for the first time, Darwinian process of finding out using their purchasing power to be what works, needs to once again the change they want to see. Some adapt to thrive. A future that works is will take it to another level and move at stake. to a town like Portland that has an Thornton May is a futurist, author, artisanal culture of man, not The educator and anthropologist Man, made.

47 / Timeline of Next: Economies Not Pie in the Sky

Software’s eating the world — including eating ….

We all have to eat. You’re not eating; you’re Experiential dining was trendy But it’s by necessity that the cloud experiencing pre-pandemic — soon, it will be markets will arrive. The pandemic has forced each of us to carefully consider whom we spend everything. The restaurants, bars With the prospect of more pre-made Way back in the late 2010s, “ time with, where we go and what activities we engage in. Low interaction and mixed-use establishments ghost meals at the grocery store, more ’’ were gaining popularity. and slowing down for the public good — generally speaking, this is our way. that offer a heightened dining kitchens delivery-only brands, and more As a simple way for wannabe experience will win. But we all have to eat. healthy fast food, why would we go restaurateurs and seasoned vets out? Well, for starters, the experience. So, amid the shutting of doors and laying low, eat we have done — although From ghosts to clouds alike to try out new concepts, these the changes in how and where we access food in the crisis will permanently Dining is more than eating. You A fast lunch in Pompeii, 79AD. Cold shared, rentable kitchen spaces, inform our consumption habits into the future. don’t eat bytes, you don’t drink noodle delivery in Korea, 1768. complete with on-staff delivery virtual coffee, and the always-online Late-night pizza for the queen in drivers, quickly became the talk of As curbside pickup, delivery and fast-food intake exploded, for big tech, an “new normal” is devoid of life’s spice. Naples, 1889. Meals on Wheels the industry. There was no need to opportunity knocked. If the theme of 2020 for restaurants was survival, the Restaurants. The arts. Socializing modernizing delivery during the maintain a storefront or dining room theme post-pandemic will be pick-your-model. with strangers. These things defined Blitz of World War II, 1941. — just make food, build a brand and urban nightlife before the pandemic, send it to people who order. From making food to purchasing so of course they will again. We it, humans have been innovating learned that about ourselves — we how they eat throughout history. By >> like being around one another insight or accident, we seemingly because it makes us more human. find new ways to eat all the time. Those restaurants that remain will compete on an experience level.

49 / Timeline of Next: Economies In the near future, ‘cloud markets’ will own the majority of their menus and dominate urban centers.

Uber founder Travis Kalanick From their origins as a rentable Health will improve through cloud- famously launched early in this kitchen, basic ordering software and market partnerships with health space. Google Ventures is backing on-staff drivers, ghost kitchens will apps, and wellness will become its biggest competitor. Deliveroo grow into something much more. In more holistic. More so than the old aggressively grew its footprint, the near future, “cloud markets” will fast-food model, cloud markets will funded by Amazon. And when 2020 own the majority of their menus and offer a better option when you need hit, and virtually every brick-and- dominate urban centers. They’ll trial a quick dinner for the family. Oh, and mortar restaurant had to shut its new menu items in early-adopter don’t forget to use your loyalty card. doors, delivery was a lifeline. The markets, license the best menu same people behind these ghost items and recipes from successful In this newer normal, people will demand a mix of experience, kitchens provided the tools to make chefs and syndicate broadly. They’ll convenience and variety in dining, it all work when it had to. Great be not only a source of fresh, timing. authentic and often healthy food — guided by both high-tech analytics and no-tech, in-person ambience. So, they’ll serve as cultural diplomats, But they were learning something, making local flavors accessible, while eating will always be a matter too ... through delivery, to non-local of survival, the ways and means audiences. of how that gets done — as well Using algorithms and analytics, they as where food fits into our culture could monitor demand: What’s Cloud markets will one day be and influences who we are — will proven? What’s selling? Which like a shopping district of vetted continue evolving as much as we do. restaurants (or menus) may work and delicious mix-and-match over there because they work here? Clayton Griffith is the Director of Product meals from less and less familiar Marketing at Cognizant Softvision How much will people pay for an brands — all from an app with a order of tikka masala? Can we 30-minute delivery guarantee (or it’s license the recipe from the chef? yours free). And will people in Austin buy it? (Yes.)

51 / Timeline of Next: Economies We’re not feckless subjects to the timeline of next, helplessly accelerating into tomorrow. Instead, the future is ours to chart — ours to own.

Sure, the exact nature and timing of COVID-19 wasn’t exactly predictable, but unprecedented and difficult-to-manage events will certainly strike again. But, for the most part, what happens next will be patently defined by what we do Time Continues today, and then again tomorrow. This collection of essays lays out a studied vision for tomorrow, based on what we see happening, all around us, today. We’ve presented a hopeful outlook for personal wellness, new models for using the spaces around us and feasible projections for things like identity tracking and society’s safety nets. By pulling the threads of now, we’ve proposed what’s next.

There’s so much more we could cover — the possibilities are infinite and, often, exciting. So, ask yourself: “If this is our new normal, where is it taking us? What can we draw on from the past that proposes a valid vision for the future?” And perhaps most importantly, if we don’t like where we’re headed, what actions should we take — now — to change course? “The past, the present and the future are really one: They are today.” HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, abolitionist, author In the end, all futures are fluid, all trajectories are navigable. What we need is a clear-eyed view of how the changes in the present will ripple into the years ahead. While we can’t predict earth-shattering events that may happen, we can be better prepared for their impacts by always keeping an eye toward the probable nature of our future based on our reactions to the vast changes of today.

53 / Timeline of Next “The Timeline of Next” was conceived and produced by Clay Griffith and Manish Bahl, who worked with About the authors leading thinkers at Cognizant and beyond to create a vision of the post-pandemic world.

Manish Bahl Clayton Griffith Associate Vice President Director of Product Marketing Center for the Future of Work, Asia Pacific Cognizant Softvision and the Middle East Clay Griffith is a key leader in the Manish Bahl is a Cognizant Associate Vice messaging, sales enablement and go-to- Alan Alper is Vice Trish Birch is Senior Desmond Dickerson Thornton May is a Irene Sandler is a Vice President of Cognizant’s Vice President and is a senior manager at futurist, author, educator President of Global President who leads the company’s Center market strategy for Cognizant Softvision’s Global Thought Global Practice Leader, Cognizant’s Center for the and anthropologist Marketing at Cognizant for the Future of Work in Asia-Pacific and software product engineering (SPE) Leadership Programs Healthcare Consulting, at Future of Work the Middle East. A respected speaker and offerings. Working with a global team of Cognizant thinker, Manish has guided many Fortune designers, channel strategists and content 500 companies into the future of their producers, Clay helps bring Cognizant’s business with his thought-provoking software product engineering capabilities research and advisory skills. to life for clients and recruits.

Within Cognizant’s Center for the Future With over a decade in marketing and sales Andres Angelani is Robert H. Brown is Vice Euan Davis is a Cognizant Vinnie Merchandani of Work, he helps ensure that the unit’s enablement leadership, and with roles in the CEO of Cognizant President of Cognizant’s Associate Vice President is an advisor, author Softvision Center for the Future of who leads the company’s and blogger covering IT original research and analysis jibes with both B2B and B2C environments — from Work Center for the Future of innovation emerging business-technology trends and startups to enterprise — Clay brings Work in EMEA dynamics in Asia Pacific, and collaborates an important breadth of experience with a wide range of leading thinkers to to Cognizant SPE. He’s a man of many understand and predict how the future hats and passionate about finding new of work will take shape. He most recently solutions to old problems. Clay has a served as Vice President, Country bachelor’s degree in English literature and Manager with Forrester Research in India. a minor in business from the University of Fausta Ballesteros Lou Celi is founder and Bret Greenstein is Senior Ben Pring co-founded is Vice President of CEO of ESI ThoughtLab Vice President and Global and leads Cognizant’s Texas at Austin. Manish can be reached at Communications and Head at Cognizant’s Data Center for the Future Marketing and Head Practice of Work [email protected] Clayton can be reached at of New York Studio, [email protected] linkedin.com/in/manishbahl Cognizant Softvision @mbahl linkedin.com/in/austin-marketing/

55 / Timeline of Next About the Center for the Future of Work About Cognizant Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work™ is chartered to examine how work is changing, Cognizant (Nasdaq-100: CTSH) is one of the world’s leading professional services and will change, in response to the emergence of new technologies, new business companies, transforming clients’ business, operating and technology models for the digital practices and new workers. The Center provides original research and analysis of work trends era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build and run and dynamics, and collaborates with a wide range of business, technology and academic more innovative and efficient businesses. Headquartered in the US, Cognizant is ranked 194 thinkers about what the future of work will look like as technology changes so many on the Fortune 500 and is consistently listed among the most admired companies in the aspects of our working lives. For more information, visit Cognizant.com/futureofwork, or world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at www.cognizant.com or follow contact Ben Pring, Cognizant VP and Director of the Center for the Future of Work, at us @Cognizant. [email protected].

World Headquarters European Headquarters India Operations Headquarters APAC Headquarters 300 Frank W. Burr Blvd. Suite 600 1 Kingdom Street #5/535 Old Mahabalipuram Road 1 Changi Business Park Crescent, Teaneck, NJ 07666 USA Paddington Central Okkiyam Pettai, Thoraipakkam Plaza 8@CBP # 07-04/05/06, Phone: +1 201 801 0233 London W2 6BD England Chennai, 600 096 India Tower A, Singapore 486025 Fax: +1 201 801 0243 Phone: +44 (0) 20 7297 7600 Phone: +91 (0) 44 4209 6000 Phone: + 65 6812 4051 Toll Free: +1 888 937 3277 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7121 0102 Fax: +91 (0) 44 4209 6060 Fax: + 65 6324 4051

© Copyright 2021, Cognizant. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission from Cognizant. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Codex 6523