Key Takeaways:
- The past five years have seen unprecedented technological advancements, with technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and gene editing becoming increasingly prevalent in daily life.
- AI is no longer something we consciously "use," but is embedded in nearly everything we do, and is amplifying human capability and error at the same time.
- Biology has also crossed its own threshold, with protein folding and gene editing becoming computational and lifesaving reality.
- The next five years will strain every society’s ability to adapt to these changes, and will require a focus on efficiency, inclusion, and cost discipline.
- India is uniquely positioned to export a new model of healthcare that blends modern diagnostics with traditional systems, and is leveraging its talent, data, and cost discipline to develop diagnostic technologies designed for scale.
Introduction to Exponential Change
The past five years have been a period of unprecedented technological advancement, with humanity making more progress than it did in the previous 50 years. Technologies that were once considered science fiction have become a part of our everyday lives, and behaviors that were once considered radical have become routine. The pace of change is so rapid that it is difficult to keep up, and it is clear that we are living in a time of exponential change. This change is driven by the fact that technology is no longer something we consciously "use," but is embedded in nearly everything we do, at work, at play, and even while we exercise.
The Rise of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a prime example of this exponential change. Just a decade ago, AI was something that venture capitalists dismissed, and five years ago, it was still considered futuristic. However, today, AI is everywhere, and we no longer turn it "on" – it simply exists in the background, amplifying human capability and human error at the same time. This is the nature of exponential change, and it is clear that we are like frogs in the water while the temperature is rising. AI has become an integral part of our daily lives, and its impact will only continue to grow in the coming years.
Advances in Biology and Space Exploration
While AI has captured most of the attention, biology has also crossed its own threshold. For most of human history, medicine was descriptive and slow, but that era is ending. Protein folding, once a generational bottleneck, has become computational, and gene editing has moved from theory to lifesaving reality, with CRISPR therapies curing diseases once thought incurable. Living systems are beginning to resemble programmable code – editable, testable, and improvable. At the same time, humanity has lifted its gaze back to the stars, with reusable rockets now landing themselves, and spacecraft being designed to carry humans to Mars. Launches that once stopped the world now pass almost unnoticed, and thousands of satellites are stitching the planet together with internet access, reaching even the most remote villages.
The Impact of Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic was an accelerator of technological change, compressing a decade of adoption of remote work, telemedicine, and online education into a single year. Video calls became as common as phone calls, and "working from anywhere" became the norm worldwide, with talent becoming global. Beneath these visible shifts, a quieter hardware revolution unfolded, with sensors becoming cheap, small, and extraordinarily capable. Advances in optics, spectroscopy, and imaging made it possible to continuously measure our bodies, our environment, and our infrastructure, and with cameras everywhere, human existence became data.
India’s Unique Position
India’s recent achievements, including a lunar landing, a digital payments revolution, and a startup boom, are often treated as isolated successes. However, taken together, they tell a more powerful story. India has shown that disruptive technologies do not require western labs or western cost structures, and that population scale, combined with data, can be a decisive advantage. When systems are built for hundreds of millions of people, efficiency becomes mandatory, inclusion critical, and cost discipline the engine of innovation. This matters to humanity because the next five years will strain every society’s ability to adapt to these changes.
The Future of Healthcare
The next five years will see significant changes in healthcare, with AI embedding itself into every system that gathers and interprets data. Healthcare will change from being episodic to being preventative, with AI systems handling first-line triage and treatment recommendations, supporting clinicians and directly helping people where doctors are unavailable. India is uniquely positioned to export a new model of healthcare that blends modern diagnostics with traditional systems like Ayurveda, and shifts care from reactive treatment to prevention, accessibility, and balance. This is the only scalable way to deliver healthcare to billions, and India is already making significant strides in this area.
Building a Better Future
The coming years will see significant advancements in technologies like robotics, brain-computer interfaces, and bionic limbs. Robots will learn to do the work of humans, first in factories, warehouses, and construction sites, and eventually in homes. They will take on routine domestic tasks and assist the elderly, people with disabilities, and patients in hospitals. Brain-computer interfaces and bionic limbs will mature into practical tools that restore function and redefine disability. Even energy, civilization’s oldest constraint, is advancing exponentially, with the costs of clean power and storage dropping rapidly while capabilities continue to improve. The choice before us is to shape these technologies not just to create wealth for a few, but to solve the problems of the many, and to build a future that is both amazing and equitable.