Almost all facets of business have been or are being disrupted by tech – which 2-3 sectors represent significant opportunities for technology disruption? 

Manish Nigam: The automotive sector is already amidst the grip of large technology and regulatory-driven changes. A combination of factors are contributing to this disruption: stricter norms for emissions, efficiency and safety; electrification of the drive train; significant progress and development in high-power computing, communication and sensor technology; changing consumer preferences; and the emergence of a shared economy. We believe that consumers and investors alike are going to see several of these changes showing up in the market place within the next couple of years. The gaming industry has seen significant growth in recent years, both in its offline and online formats. Mobile gaming has also been on a strong growth trend. With new display technologies, the evolving 5G infrastructure enabling cloud gaming, and progress being made in the areas of Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), we anticipate that the gaming industry will grow considerably and look significantly different in three-to-five years' time.

What disruptive trends are investors not paying enough attention to and why?

MN: Investors are, to be fair, quite focused on various disruptive trends by now. One could have said a few years ago that they weren’t adequately focused on the likely major changes in the areas of automated driving and high power computing, but these trends are now better understood, though the market might still underestimate the magnitude of disruption that these trends can cause. Among the more recent developments, we believe that foldable displays can open up the path to radically new form factors, and combined with AR/VR, could potentially also lead to new consumer electronic devices. Significant developments in smart voice and facial recognition could also lead to the next era of user interfaces – a move from touch based primary interfaces to gesture control driven devices. Innovations in the area of health-tech could also significantly alter the way that some parts of the insurance and medical diagnostics industries operate.

Is 5G set to be a disappointment? Why or why not?

MN: Actually the answer could be both a yes and a no, depending on the time frame. 5G is unlikely to make a major difference in the market place over the next 12 months. However, over the medium term - say 3 to 5 years - 5G technologies will lead to the development of entirely new revenue streams and disrupt several existing businesses. The biggest impact over the longer term of 5G might be felt in business and industrial applications such as remote robotics / smart factories, surveillance / monitoring, development of smart cities, and of course in automated driving, notably in the area of trucks or cars platooning. Nearer term, we believe that fixed wireless access could be one of the first applications of 5G that should enable high speed / high bandwidth data access to households where fiber connections are not available or difficult to deploy.