Though additive manufacturing wouldn't exist for another 40 years, the prolific American sci-fi author Murray Leinster penned a 1945 short story featuring a spookily prescient description of what we now know as 3D printing. As Leinster's hero, Dirk Braddick, races to face an alien invader, he instructs a robotic arm to form, layer by iterative layer, a workshop spaceship. "The plastic constructor worked tirelessly," describes Braddick. "It makes drawings in the air following drawings it scans with photo-cells. But plastic comes out of the end of the drawing arm and hardens as it comes. This thing will start at one end of a ship and build it complete to the other end."

While agricultural equipment manufacturer Deere (NYSE:DE) represents a vital cog in U.S. infrastructure, it may also be the most important artificial intelligence (AI) investment right now. Last year, the company introduced an AI-empowered fully-autonomous tractor that can positively disrupt the agricultural industry. Further, Deere offers exposure to practical AI-integrated applications while delivering on its core relevant business. I am bullish on DE stock. During a press conference at the 2022 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show, Deere revealed its autonomous tractor that stood ready for large-scale production.

The technology field is constantly evolving and growing. Yesterday's tech disrupters have quickly become today's industry standards, just as today's innovations will become commonplace in the future. To stay ahead of the curve, we asked the members of Forbes Technology Council to name the biggest tech disrupter they see impacting business and industry in the 2020s. Here are the 14 technologies they believe consumers and businesses should watch as the decade unfolds and how these disrupters might shape tomorrow's standards. Digital voice assistants are at the beginning of their disruption curve.

What do companies like Netflix, Airbnb, Spotify and Lyft know that you don't know? What do these companies have that you might be lacking? Sure, they had an initial idea. But we've all had good ideas. How did each of these new market heroes move from the seed of an idea to the disruption of an entire industry?

Data has always been a problem. Data scientists still spend a lot of time manipulating data. And now that you have more – and more complex – data, how will you deal with it? Intelligent data preparation uses AI algorithms to recognize patterns in data, understand what data belongs together and provide context around data. Right now, training a data set is usually a manual process that requires a lot of labeling.

There is a critically important dialogue going on across the extended global automotive industry about the future evolution of transportation and mobility. This debate is driven by the convergence of a series of industry-changing forces and mega-trends (see figure 1). Innovative technologies are changing how companies develop and build vehicles. Electric and fuel-cell powertrains tend to offer greater propulsion for lower energy investment at lower emission levels.1 New, lightweight materials enable automakers to reduce vehicle weight without sacrificing passenger safety.2 Further breakthroughs are advancing the introduction of autonomous vehicles; increasingly, daily news reports suggest that driverless cars will soon become a commercial reality.3 We have already seen rapid advances in the "connected car--?--innovations that integrate communications technologies and the Internet of Things to provide valuable services to drivers.4

More people now live in cities than at any other time in history, and their number is predicted to increase: 66% of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2050. To house all these people, innovators are developing solutions for smaller, more efficient, and environmentally sustainable abodes that incorporate digital technologies. The house of the future is small and smart. Jeff Wilson founded Kasita, based in Austin, Texas, after spending a year living in a 33-square-foot converted dumpster to experience the challenges of (very) small living for himself. Kasita's homes combine design minimalism with smart home technology that makes new housing efficient to run, inexpensive to own, simple to maintain, and quick to install (in as little as a day).

The growth and success of companies including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Uber which operate on digital platforms raise fundamental challenges for executives of established companies. The digital natives are surfing a wave of massive change, dubbed by some as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and recognised by Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, as change that "is disrupting almost every industry in every country". For established companies to thrive, executives must formulate strategies that drive digital transformation, so their customers' experiences and their costs of operation match those of the disrupters. See also: What is machine learning? Companies that become AI-driven will greatly increase their chance to succeed in these times of change and disruption.

There is a critically important dialogue going on across the extended global automotive industry about the future evolution of transportation and mobility. This debate is driven by the convergence of a series of industry-changing forces and mega-trends (see figure 1). Innovative technologies are changing how companies develop and build vehicles. Electric and fuel-cell powertrains tend to offer greater propulsion for lower energy investment at lower emission levels.1 New, lightweight materials enable automakers to reduce vehicle weight without sacrificing passenger safety.2 Further breakthroughs are advancing the introduction of autonomous vehicles; increasingly, daily news reports suggest that driverless cars will soon become a commercial reality.3 We have already seen rapid advances in the "connected car"--innovations that integrate communications technologies and the Internet of Things to provide valuable services to drivers.4

The focus of Mark Cuban's Q&A at South by Southwest was supposed to be about government disruption, and he was supposed to hype up the Austin-based insurance company The Zebra, one of his newest investments. But Cuban, everyone's favorite love-to-hate billionaire entrepreneur and Shark Tank star, had a few other topics in mind. You might say that the charismatic Cuban disrupted his own session. Here are the five standout anecdotes, stories, and lessons he decided to share. Cuban hates when people compare him to President Trump, but it's easy to see why they do--they are both wealthy businessmen with reality TV shows.