Here are the six technological breakthroughs:
The 1960s: The Electronic Calculator
The first electronic calculators emerged in the 1960s when Texas Instruments introduced the ”Cal Tech” prototype, the world’s first portable calculator. In 1975, the American advisory committee NACOME recommended that all students over the ages of 13–14 should have access to calculators in school. By 1986, groups of teachers actively protested this recommendation, and in 2014, the British government went as far as banning calculators from national math exams for eleven-year-olds. However, four years later, research from the Education Endowment Foundation proved that calculators can actually strengthen students’ mathematical comprehension.
Today, a more balanced perspective prevails: calculators are an established educational aid, but students still require a foundational understanding of mathematical rules and core competencies.
The 1970s: The Video Game Breakthrough
Atari was founded in 1972, laying the groundwork for a global gaming industry. By 1974, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had developed Breakout, and just two years later, Atari was sold to Warner Communications for $28 million. Today, according to Statista, the gaming market generates nearly $522.5 billion globally.
This trajectory exemplifies the sheer power of technology: how a simple idea can penetrate almost every household and create entirely new markets from scratch. It required individuals who were willing to break rules, take risks, and back concepts that others could not yet fathom.
The 1980s: Consumer Electronics Take Off
The Walkman, the VHS player, and the personal computer fundamentally transformed everyday consumer life. Yet, the most profound shift was undoubtedly the rise of the mobile phone. On September 21, 1983, Motorola launched the first commercially available mobile handset, the DynaTAC 8000X.
The mobile phone demonstrates how technology can evolve far beyond its original intent. Today, it acts as an indispensable life assistant, granting users total control over their daily routines.
The 1990s: Online Banking
While the concept of digital banking surfaced in the 1980s, it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that Östgötabanken launched Sweden’s very first online bank. With the rise of modern neobanks like Revolut and digital trading platforms, we are still only at the beginning of this transformation.
During my time at McKinsey, a clear objective was to automate and eliminate routine tasks. However, history shows that new technology almost always encounters friction, and the banking sector was no exception. From the introduction of the first ATM, the question arose: can customers truly trust a machine over a human being behind a counter?
This resistance is understandable. Change is rarely comfortable, and concerns regarding security, accessibility, and the loss of personal service are entirely valid objections. Yet, it is precisely at the intersection of consumer demands and producer solutions that technology truly matures. Banks were forced to listen to their customers. They developed better interfaces, robust security protocols, and superior onboarding guidance to reach broader demographics. As a result, digital banking today is universally accessible—even to those who were initially skeptical.
The 2000s: Life-Changing Technology
This chapter of the story is deeply personal. My daughter was born deaf and received two cochlear implants at the age of two. Unlike a traditional hearing aid that merely amplifies sound, the implant converts sound into electrical signals that directly stimulate the auditory nerve. Today, she is a bilingual academic who works and travels internationally, living life to its absolute fullest.
This is a profound example of how embedded medical technology can completely alter human destiny. At Unit4, we witness this impact daily through our work with the public sector, education, and non-profit organizations. Technology gives volunteers and educators the time to focus on the work that truly matters.
The 2010s and 2020s: The Cloud Paves the Way for AI
What defines the past two decades is the maturation of cloud computing—and what that, in turn, has unlocked for AI and autonomous technologies, as well as lowering the barriers to entry for entrepreneurship. We are now at a critical juncture characterized by both justified concern and immense enthusiasm regarding the potential of AI.
In my view, the issue is never the technology itself, but how it is applied. Technology is inherently neutral. It is the presence of a malicious human actor that steers us off course. Regulations and safeguards are necessary, but much like speed limits on a highway, there will always be those who deliberately break the rules.
The past 60 years demonstrate that when new technology adapts to human behavior to support and empower its users, it yields astonishingly positive, life-changing effects—sometimes in ways the original creators never could have anticipated.
Technological change is rarely comfortable. However, if we accept that our relationship with technology is a journey without a final destination, I believe universal access to innovation can deliver extraordinary outcomes: greater equality, inclusion, entrepreneurship, healthcare, and education—the list is endless.
Over the coming decades, technology will continue to empower individuals. A farmer in a remote village gaining insights into crops and yields as effortlessly as an established agribusiness represents a powerful equalizer between those with limited financial resources and those with vast ones. And that is exactly what AI has the potential to deliver.
