Rapid Technological Change Brings New Opportunities To Young Entrepreneurs

Anand Desai, founder and managing partner of DSK Legal, one of India’s leading full service law firms founded in 2001 is also the President of Tie Mumbai. Anand has advised and appeared for clients on most aspects of law, particularly commercial laws. Here he speaks BW Disrupt about technology’s rapid changes and the opportunities it brings to young entrepreneurs and on the upcoming Tiecon Mumbai 2022. Excerpts

TiECON 2022 is happening in March 2017. But why 2022? What’s the idea?
Technology is bringing about such rapid disruptions that we will be living ina “new” world order within the next five years. It’s a great time for entrepreneurs, corporate professionals, start-ups etc. to deliberate on the next big advances in technology, and convert their ideas into significant business ventures. Amongst others, Government initiatives are throwing up huge opportunities for startups and new technologies. At TiECON2022, to be held in Mumbai on 17-18 March 2017, we will talk about key technologies and their potential impact in the next five years.

What are the key technologies areas that you are focusing on at TiECon 2022?
We will be focusing on Artificial Intelligence, Block Chain, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), SpaceTech, Virtual Reality and Machine Learning.

What made you narrow down to these technology areas?
As per KBV Research, Global Artificial Intelligence is estimated to be USD 16,274.0 Million by 2022, at a CAGR of 44.5 per cent from 2016 to 2022.By 2020,  85 per cent of customer interactions will be managed without a human, so artificial intelligence will play a key role in business by 2022.

Three of the most celebrated entrepreneurs of our time, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson are trying to make space travel commonplace. This could be as widespread as the cellular phone revolution soon!

By 2020, there will be over 50 billion connected devices and over 25 billion connected vehicles. Imagine the possibilities of in-vehicle engagement. IoT will clearly be amongst the most popular technologies by 2022.

The global big data market size is expected to reach USD 72.38 billion by 2022. With social media asa base, customer interactions, insights and research data land on big data platforms, which create the fodder for critical business analytics and insights. Big Data and Analytics can separate the great companies from the good ones by 2022.

20 per cent bankers said blockchain could be mainstream in the coming years. 45 per cent say it could put an end to traditional banking very soon. Blockchain is poised to be a critical technology by 2022.

Revenues in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, which finds use in almost all sectors, could be to the tune of $120bn by 2020. There is a huge market in this space that is of interest to all stakeholders at TiE. Hence, we are calling it TiECON Mumbai 2022.

Sounds interesting, who will you invite to attend TiECON Mumbai 2022?
TiE is amongst the largest global entrepreneurial networks, with over 14000 members across the world. We will see participation from budding entrepreneurs, start-ups, investors interested in these technologies and sectors, and large corporate that are in search of the next big ideas.

Is there anything special that would be different from the earlier TiECONs?
Yes, TiE Mumbai has started angel-funding for those with the next big ideas. This unique initiative connects Indian entrepreneurs with the TiE Global network not just for mentoring, but also for funding at an early stage. This unique initiative will provide entrepreneurs with the first Rs 25-50 lakh of funding. This enables a great idea to germinate and flourish into a viable business model.