Industry Leaders Reap All Benefits From AI, Big Data and Robotics. So How Can SMEs Stay Relevant?

Robotics, AI, and Big Data provide great opportunities for startups and agile SMEs, right? According to research the World Economic Forum did with Accenture, the bulk of gains goes to the 20% industry leaders in each industry. Without broader implementation of these new technologies, "an'industry inequality' could emerge, creating a small group of highly productive industry leaders and leaving the rest of the economy behind", with small and medium enterprises in particular at risk. Pepper, a humanoid robot manufactured by SoftBank Robotics, is pictured at the SoftBank Robotics exhibition stand during the VivaTech trade fair (Viva Technology), on May 25, 2018 in Paris. That would be problematic, because these small and medium enterprises that operate at the regional and national level serve as backbones of an economy in many countries.