There are many disruptors in our lives which we witness every day. The way goods and services are delivered to consumers in addition to the value of gathering information to make decisions are a few of the phenomenons in today’s market. There is nothing artificial about artificial intelligence (“AI”). AI is becoming a talking point and strategy in almost every business decision. In this issue of Forefront we expose some new trends in technology. There are also some other disruptors that we keep mentioning as issues like tariffs keep changing the landscape. Many of our clients have seen tariffs as an opportunity. The businesses that learn to pivot in such uncertainty maintain sustainable business strategies. As a firm, we are dedicated to find constructive disruptive strategies for our clients.

Autonomous vehicles averaging a useful life of 350,000 miles, cars by subscription and many other technological advances will change the car industry as we know it. I can envision that I may have bought my last car or will have to repurpose my garage. The last bastion of control, driving a car, may soon be supplanted. This spells smaller and fewer cars on the road. It may alleviate the need for parking garages. The autonomous vehicle may be a smaller version of mass transit. Who knows where this industry is going. Changes are happening quick and it is almost certain that the car market will shrink. Oh wait, that is already happening. Makes me laugh when the supporters of the Gordie Howe Bridge envisioned a 46 million North American auto market by 2035. But that is another story nobody wanted to believe. I guess with the American and Canadian plant closings by GM, this cross-border auto traffic will surely decline. – Patrick O’Keefe

Read this issue of Forefront here.