As I finished a Zoom meeting with my business partners, I could hear my son joking with his classmates in his online chemistry class.
I must say that it is a very strange moment for me: as much I love my family, in normal times, we never spend so much time together. But these are not normal times.
In normal times, governments, businesses and schools would never agree to close everything. My doctor would not normally accept to see me by videoconference.
No one was standing in front of a grocery store, looking down to make sure they were six feet apart. At times like these, decisions that would normally take years are made within hours. In short, the physical world - the concrete reality - has closed. The world still works, but now it works in everyone's house.
This not so normal period reminds me of 2008, the depths of the financial crisis. I sold my BEA Systems company, which I co-founded, to Oracle for $ 8.6 billion in cash. This liquidity event was both the worst and the most exhausting of my career, and the best moment of my career, thanks to the many inspiring entrepreneurs I was able to meet.
They were some of the brightest, hardest working and most demanding founders, and at that time many CEOs showed their true colors. That's when Slack, Lyft, Uber, Credit Karma, Twilio, Square, Cloudera and many others started. All of these companies now have market capitalizations in the billions of dollars. And I was able to invest and collaborate with some of them.
Again, I can't help but wonder what our world will look like 10 years from now. Our way of life. The way we learn. The way we consume. The way we are going to interact with each other.
What will happen in 10 years?
Welcome to 2030. It's been more than two decades since the invention of the iPhone, the launch of cloud computing, and a decade since the launch of popular 5G networks. All the technologies necessary to change the way we live, work, eat and play are finally here and can be distributed at unprecedented speed.
The world's population is 8.5 billion and everyone has a smartphone with all of its daily apps running on it. That was around 500 million two decades ago.
Robust Internet access and communication platforms have created a new world.
The largest school in the world is a software company - its learning engine uses artificial intelligence to deliver personalized learning materials anytime, anywhere, with no physical space required. Similar to how Apple revolutionized the music industry with iTunes, all students can now download information at a very low price. Tuition fees have dropped considerably: there are no more student debts. Children can finally focus on learning, not just education. Access to good education has been equalized.
The world's largest bank is a software company, and all financial transactions are digital. If you want to speak to a banker live, you will start a text or video conference. On top of that, integrated fintech software now powers all industries.
No more dirty physical money. All money flows are stored, traceable and secure on a blockchain ledger. Financial infrastructure platforms are able to manage customers in all geographic areas and jurisdictions, all value exchanges, all types of use cases (producers, distributors, consumers) and all this from the start .
The world's largest grocery store is a software and robotics company - groceries are delivered anytime and anywhere as quickly as possible. Food is delivered via a robot or drones without human intervention. Customers can follow where, when and who is involved in growing and handling my food. Artificial intelligence tells us what we need based on past purchases and our schedules.
The largest hospital in the world is a software and robotics company - all initial diagnostics are done by videoconference. Combined with the patient's medical records, all stored digitally, a doctor in San Francisco and his artificial intelligence assistant can provide personalized prescriptions to his patients in Hong Kong. All the surgeries are done by robots, with the supervision of a doctor of course, we haven't gone completely crazy. And even the doctors go to work at home.
All of our workforce works from home: remember that the main objective of an office is to help employees of companies to do their work efficiently. Since 2020, all companies, and especially their CEOs, have realized that it is more efficient to let their workers work at home. Not only can they save hours of commuting time, but all businesses can save office money and redirect resources to benefits. I look back 10 years and say to myself, "I still remember the days when office space was one thing."
The biggest entertainment company in the world is a software company and all the content we love is digital. All successful films are broadcast directly on video. We can ask Alexa to deliver popcorn to the house and even watch the movie with distant friends. If you see something you like in the film, you can buy it right away - clothes, items, whatever you see - and have it delivered directly to your home. No more tail. No transport time. Pollution reduction. Best planet!
These are just a few industries that have been completely transformed by 2030, but these changes will universally apply to almost everything. We were told that software eats the world.
The saying says you are what you eat. In 2030, software is the world.
Safety and protection no longer just apply to the things we can touch and see. What is precious to all of us is all stored digitally - our email account, chat history, browsing data and social media accounts. And it goes on and on and on. We don't need a home alarm, we need a digital alarm.
Even if this crisis makes the near future bleak, I am optimistic for the new world and the new businesses of tomorrow. I am even more excited about our ability to change as a human race and how this crisis and this technology are accelerating the way we live.
This storm will pass. However, the choices we make now will change our lives forever.
My team and I are proud to build and invest in companies that will help shape the new world; new and impactful technologies that are important for many generations to come, businesses that matter to humanity, something we can all talk to our grandchildren about.
I am hopeful.
