Life After Disruption

There’s a techlash brewing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the future has to be bleak

- Hong Xinyi

The pace of change in the tech sector has always been rapid. But lately, the distance from buzz to bust seems to be shortening at an even more dizzying speed. From ride-hailing platform Uber to messaging platform Slack, some of the most feted tech start-ups have turned in lackluster performances since becoming listed companies this year, prompting discussions about whether the venture capital-funded model of pursuing aggressive growth without prioritizing a realistic pathway to profitability is really sustainable.

Many are also starting to question the disruptions these tech innovations have introduced. Companies that rely on armies of contract or casual workers to make their business model work have come under fire for not providing better wages and meaningful health and safety benefits even as their valuations soar. Those that have grown into behemoths are increasingly asked to account for the consequences of their outsized impact.

Indeed, ongoing calls for more stringent regulation of the tech industry stem from one of the defining moments of this fast-concluding decade. In 2018, the world found out that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested personal data from millions of Facebook profiles without users’ consent, and used it to micro-target voters during political campaigns, including the 2016 US election and Brexit referendum.