Eight technologies will redefine
business – together

A single technology breakthrough no longer carries the weight it used to. It will now take no less than eight emerging technologies, working together, to shift the gears of the global economy.

That is the premise of the World Economic Forum’s new Technology Convergence Report, released in Geneva this week. It outlines how artificial intelligence, “omni computing”, engineering biology, spatial intelligence, robotics, advanced materials, next-generation energy, and quantum technologies will converge to drive the next wave of systemic transformation. Rather than isolated innovation underpinning change, it will occur through intersection, overlap, and mutual acceleration of these emerging disciplines.

The report proposes a model of combination, convergence and compounding, termed the 3Cs, as a framework for understanding how technologies interact. The result is not simply additive, but exponential in impact. For example, when AI advances in tandem with robotics and spatial computing, the outcome goes beyond intelligent automation to cognitive robotics. This will usher in an era of robots being capable of adapting in real time to dynamic environments, with applications from factory floors to surgical theatres.

When quantum capabilities are merged with classical systems, they create hybrid computation platforms that already show promise in financial modelling, drug design and complex optimisation.

The combinations multiply further. Sensor networks coupled with AI and real-time modelling have turned “digital twins” – computerised versions of physical entities from bodies to buildings – into integrated ecosystems. This means it is possible to simulate and test anything from drugs in a body to aircraft engines to city-wide transport flows.

In materials science, AI accelerates the search for novel compounds through virtual simulation, compressing the research cycle and generating breakthroughs that previously relied on months of physical testing.

“Rapid advances across multiple technology domains are creating an undeniable shift in industries,” says Jeremy Jurgens, managing director of the WEF. “The Technology Convergence Report gives leaders a clear model to harness what is coming next.”

The report makes it clear that none of these leaps come from a single breakthrough. They emerge from cross-pollination between domains that once operated independently. The difference now lies in speed, scale and the absence of silos. In this environment, the technologies do not mature in parallel, but collide with each other.

Across sectors, the result is a redefinition of what it means to operate, optimise, and compete. In healthcare, converging advances in AI, biosensors and digital twin technology enable personalised diagnostics and continuous remote monitoring.

In transport, spatial intelligence combined with robotics will create autonomous systems that adapt to real-world complexities without requiring explicit human input. In energy, intelligent grids will incorporate quantum-informed optimisation and edge AI to balance supply and demand in milliseconds. While these are future scenarios, early implications and use cases are already unfolding.

Aiman Ezzat, CEO of consulting firm Capgemini, which developed the report with the WEF, said that the question was not about whether technology convergence will reshape industries.

“That journey has already begun,” he said. “The real challenge is how companies can position themselves to be champions of convergence.”

Underpinning the report’s narrative is the idea that industries must shift from tech adoption to ecosystem orchestration. It calls for leaders to develop strategies that account for the maturity and interoperability of multiple technologies simultaneously.

 This includes building infrastructure that supports convergence, developing workforce capabilities that can move between domains, and rethinking regulatory frameworks that often lag behind the speed of technological fusion.

The report identifies 23 high-impact technology combinations drawn from over 230 individual components across the eight domains. It ranks these both by technical readiness and by their compounding impact: how they reinforce one another to generate new value chains, business models and categories of products and services.

There is little space in the report for utopian promises or dystopian fears. Instead, it offers a practical challenge: those who can understand and integrate across domains will lead. Those who treat each new technology as an isolated upgrade will struggle to keep up.

A Capgemini survey cited in the report shows that companies already working with convergent tech combinations are seeing faster returns on investment and deeper integration across departments. Their competitive edge comes from being able to rewire entire workflows, value chains and customer experiences.

The report urges the public sector to move beyond the governance of standalone innovations. It argues that regulatory silos undermine the capacity to respond to systemic change. Instead, it proposes the development of convergence-ready policy frameworks that anticipate the combined impact of emerging technologies, rather than reacting to them one by one.

• The full report can be downloaded here: https://www.weforum.org/publications/technology-convergence-report-2025/

* Arthur Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI”.