Against a backdrop of a global pandemic, rapid climate change, rising food prices and the spiralling cost of living in many parts of the world, today's digital marketing technologies must evolve to meet very different demands to those of just two years ago. We've seen the concentration of what would usually be a decade's worth of development into just 24 months. The increasing use of automation and AI has, to a large degree, driven this lightning-fast progress, but brings a significant danger too. The role for humanity in digital marketing has never been more pressing. Yes, technology's ability to scale, respond rapidly and deliver messaging more effectively are all plus points, but the marketing industry must also focus on the primary reason for digital engagement: human response.

Artificial Intelligence ("AI") applies intelligent algorithms in a manner that enables machines to perform tasks that generally require human thinking. Needless to say, AI is viewed as "the way of the future" and it is expected that consumer experiences will soon be driven entirely by AI. While the development of AI has already changed the way brand owners interact with their consumers, it still has a long way to go. The rise of AI will undoubtedly make significant impacts on an entity's branding and trademark practices. Brands are akin to a company's "personality" and a brand's value is connected to the relationship it builds with its consumers – namely, how well consumers relate to it and come to trust it.

The year 2019 seemed to be the year of unpredictability, not the least of which was the seemingly ever-changing foreign trade policy of major world economies. Interestingly, it's that same unpredictable nature of foreign trade policy that serves as a springboard for supply chain predictions for 2020. Here are the top five predictions that will have a major impact on the world's global supply chains. Historically, digital transformation of the supply chain has taken place by targeting various functional silos within their own walls. This approach lacked the ability to evaluate the interconnected nature of supply chain decisions.

The volume of data being generated by a spectrum of devices continues to skyrocket. Now the question is what can be done with that data. By Cisco's estimates, traffic on the Internet will be 3.3 zetabytes per year by 2021, up from 1.2 zetabytes in 2016. Traffic on the busiest 60-minute period in a day increased 51% in 2016, compared with a 32% growth in overall traffic. Figure 1: Historical and projected growth of data.