Fact reserves, agentic labor, and land reshuffles
April 11, 2025
Welcome to this 152nd issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”.
Each week, I personally sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, take the time to send me a note and introduce yourself, I love to understand who is reading.
You can subscribe to this (roughly) bi-weekly newsletter here to get it directly by mail.
I have prepared this newsletter this week from Winnipeg, Canada. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
Twenty of the top 100 VPN apps available on the Apple and Google mobile app stores were found to have links to Qihoo 360, affiliated with the Chinese military. The backdoor to your dog. 3 Ways AI-Driven Search Is Transforming Patient Discovery.
Strategic blindspots and business models
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots. This section also is about the risks we miss.
Amazon’s moving inventory shelves. Wealthy Americans are now looking to build or move into homes free from the technology. Luxury automakers like Lincoln, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are turning their cars into wellness retreats. Slate Auto, quietly backed by Jeff Bezos, is planning to start production on a low-cost pickup truck that grows with your budget. Weightwatcher bankrupcy. The Washington Post is having active talks about using micropayments to expand access to its journalism
Our future
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter and Bluesky.
The need for a strategic fact reserve. Kawasaki made a robot horse called “CORLEO” that people can ride. Historians weigh in on viral AI history videos. Being Human in 2035. Where will the middle class eat?
Weak signals
Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?
The NFL is considering multiple bids to set up both a women’s and men’s professional flag-football league, which could debut as early as next year. Canada's 1st full-scale, 5-day-a-week free grocery store in Regina. More than 400 analyst notes included the word “chaos” in the week. Colossal Biosciences says dire wolves, which went extinct 10k years ago, are back. A California-based prison used VR on prisoners placed into solitary confinement as part of a general population reentry program.
Book a speaking engagement about weak signals and emerging trends.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that led me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors: “A rabbit hole is not a distraction. A rabbit hole is your brain trying to tell you to pay attention to something you’re curious about. Ignore algorithmic rabbit holes” ( by are.na):
This week, I explored the newsletterverse.
Unpacking AI
This is a new section. Clients have asked me to dig into the impact of AI for their organization, industry, or their own work. I will add in this sections tools, or angles of interpretation that I find relevant to our community of curious minds:
Citi Sees AI Displacing More Bank Jobs Than Any Other Sector. From analog labor to agentic labor. The fog of AI. AI-powered mobile clinics take to the streets to serve New York’s ride-share drivers. A ‘great reshuffle’ of the land is underway. The AI romance factory. Trend-to-product.
On our radar
I have a keynote coming up in Calgary in Canada for the members of boards of trustees of Alberta Schools. I have been digging into where education is heading: The Future Of Education: Will AI Be The Great Equalizer? The future of learning. It’s 2050 and schools look like… Future of Education and Skills 2030/2040. A Vision Guided by Kurzweil’s Prophetic Insights. The End of School as You Know It. Work in 2050.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths.
How do you design a Museum of the Future? Reimagined laundromats in Singapore signal the rise of community-first businesses. Automated strategy. Researchers Achieve ‘Absurdly Fast’ Algorithm for Network Flow. The cost index.
Significant numbers
36%- a third of Americans have side hustles
100bn- India has been the second-biggest market in the world for IPOs and related block sales and share placements
11.3m- The amount of square feet leased to defense and aerospace companies in 2024, up from 7.1m in 2022.
Feeling good
Try these alternative time markers. The earthquake map. How to design a Swiss passport. Shakespeare and the monkeys. Very banal everyday objects as props.
Share your favorite issues of the newsletter, or send friends - or random strangers…
And do not miss the next issue:
Thanks for reading Weak signals and other trends! Subscribe to receive new posts and support my work.
Contact me at Competia with your feedback or ideas. Thank you for reading.