Transcorporates

The politics of scarcity, which evokes feelings of gloom, restraint, behavioral change, and tax-led wealth redistribution, is an emotional non-starter for the human mind. It should be no surprise that fiscal deficits resist austerity despite rising long-term yields, nor that ESG, too often reduced to a degrowth agenda, faces a backlash. Psychologically, the ideology of ‘less’ is a losing proposition.

As Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson argue in ‘Abundance’ (2025), a critique of liberalism in the US, to promote a future of ‘less’ is ‘to court political ruin.’ Instead, marketing abundance is a winning strategy.

The political appeal of protectionism, whether through immigration or trade, lies precisely in its promise to deliver ‘more’ for insiders. However, such policies are usually enacted in response to scarcity: a nation aims to secure a larger slice of a fixed global economic pie. Their sustainability is thus questionable.

To expand the pie, nothing beats innovation. Fortunately, Ray Kurzweil, a renowned scientist, claims progress is compounding toward a ‘singularity’, an inflection where human and machine intelligence merge and technological innovation accelerates endlessly. He places this tipping point in 2045.

Faith in technological progress is not confined to futurists like Mr. Kurzweil. It is capitalized daily, as reflected in today’s tech-heavy US stock market. In a world facing supply-side constraints (labor, natural resources, environmental concerns, complexity), individuals who desire more have no choice but to bet on the ‘law of accelerating returns.’ People put their money where they believe salvation lies.

Mr. Kurzweil categorizes the main vectors of technological change into genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics. Driven by growing computing power, generative AI acts as a catalyst across these areas, ushering in a new era of human enhancement, including physical upgrades, extended healthy lifespans, and augmented cognition, with superintelligence on the horizon.

As humans fuse with technology through brain-cloud interfaces and intravascular nanobots, cyborgs (think ‘Six Million Dollar Man’) and transhumanism become reality. Meanwhile, superintelligent androids (‘Terminator’) simulate – some will argue, achieve – consciousness. ‘Hybrids’, androids downloaded with human consciousness as in ‘Alien: Earth’ (2025), complete the picture.

The extreme dispersion of future scenarios underscores the uncertainty ahead. The economic case is generally upbeat. Global challenges, including poverty, famine, energy shortages, diseases, government over-indebtedness, and environmental concerns, may be tackled. In that sense, there will be more.

But exponential progress, coupled with the rise of the machines, will raise material risks. There may be less employment, free will, freedom, equality, facts, democracy, and control over human destiny.

Change will thus bring both more and less. Governance will ultimately determine the net impact. But rest assured, some things will stay the same: envy, wrath, gluttony, sloth, greed, pride, and lust will continue to shape humanity as long as it exists.

From a management perspective, agility will acquire a new dimension. Value creation will hinge on how quickly a firm safely integrates new technologies into its operating system to become a ‘transcorporate.’

Today, generative AI is the first real test of a company’s ability to assimilate technology at scale.

Suggested readings:

·        ‘Abundance: How We Build a Better Future’ by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, 2025

·        ‘The Singularity is Near’ by Ray Kurzweil, 2005

·        ‘The Singularity is Nearer’ by Ray Kurzweil, 2025

·        ‘AI Impact by 2040: Experts share scenarios’ by multiple contributors (undated)

·        ‘Homo Deus’ by Yuval Harari, 2015 – check chapter ‘The Great Decoupling’