SXSW · Video summary

Amy Webb Launches 2026 Emerging Tech Trend Report

Amy Webb unveils convergences – the intersection of trends – as the new framework for strategic foresight, replacing static trend reports with a dynamic storm tracker to navigate disruptive futures.

SXSW · March 14, 2026 · 76-min episode · 7-min read

Amy Webb Launches 2026 Emerging Tech Trend Report

Key takeaways

🎯Static trend reports are becoming obsolete as the pace of change accelerates, making them a 'crutch rather than a catalyst' for strategy and capital allocation.12:38
🚀Adopt a storm tracker mindset, focusing on identifying and analyzing convergences (intersections of trends) rather than isolated trends to anticipate future disruptions.20:25
💡Convergences are systemic, cross-industry shifts where multiple trends interact, creating new realities, redistributing power, and becoming difficult to reverse.23:14
🔧Investigate how human augmentation and unlimited labor trends might impact your industry and workforce, considering the potential for new skill requirements and economic dislocations.40:32
📈Human augmentation is blurring the lines between able-bodied and disabled, physical and cognitive limits, potentially creating a new class divide where 'some humans will be objectively better than others'.41:55
🔍Unlimited labor through agents, robotics, and automated factories fundamentally inverts the economic architecture built on human effort, potentially leading to widespread economic instability and civil unrest.53:54

Chapters

1:59👋 Introduction
8:07📊 The Importance of Trend Reports
10:01🕊️ Farewell to the Trend Report
13:42🔥 Creative Destruction
16:00🌪️ Introducing the Storm Tracker
19:20☁️ Understanding Convergences
24:41🔍 Identifying Convergences
26:23🧠 Living Intelligence
27:07📈 2026 Convergence Outlook
31:01⚡ Preparing for the Future
32:44🛠️ Tools and Frameworks
33:10🚀 First Convergence: Human Augmentation

The digest

Amy Webb, renowned futurist and CEO of the Future Today Strategy Group (FTSG), presents a transformative shift in how organizations and leaders should approach technological and societal change. Moving beyond traditional static trend reports, Webb introduces the concept of convergences—complex intersections of multiple trends that generate new, inevitable realities. This new framework offers a dynamic way to forecast and strategically prepare for rapid disruptions across industries. The report is essential for business leaders, policymakers, and strategists facing accelerating technological, economic, and social upheaval in 2026 and beyond.

High Level Overview

Amy Webb marks the retirement of her influential annual tech trend report after 19 years, signaling a renewal in foresight methodology due to the accelerating pace of change. Instead of predicting isolated trends, Webb's team at FTSG has developed a "storm tracker" that identifies convergences—overlapping trends and forces that collectively create systemic disruptions with outsized impacts. This new approach enhances strategic foresight by enabling earlier, more precise action and mitigating risks of being blindsided by sudden innovation waves. Leaders across sectors must adapt to this mindset to navigate complex futures confidently.

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Structured Deep Dive
Farewell to the Traditional Trend Report and Embracing Creative Destruction (11:00–14:00)
Introducing Convergences and the Storm Tracker (20:00–25:00)
First Convergence: Human Augmentation (30:00–42:00)
Second Convergence: Unlimited Labor (42:00–55:00)
Third Convergence: Emotional Outsourcing (55:00–1:08:45)
Strategic Outlook: Two Possible Futures and the Contribution Credit (1:11:00–1:16:36)
Key Framework: The Rules of Convergences (22:30–24:10)
Practical Implications & Takeaways
Action-Oriented Summary

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