Speaking at DLD’s 20th anniversary, Amazon CTO Werner Vogels reflects on technological changes over the past two decades and shares his predictions for 2025.
First, Vogels anticipates a future workforce that is mission-driven, with younger generations prioritizing purpose over profit. “Current graduates are willing to sacrifice their income in exchange for a job that has true purpose to them”, he says, pointing to a study from Harvard Business School.
Vogels also predicts an increase in technology designed for intentional use, as opposed to technology that overwhelms users. “The continuous cycle of distraction is having a serious negative impact on many of us”, Vogels observes. “We have to remember: attention is a finite resource in your brain.”
Lastly, Vogels stresses the importance of combating misinformation and ensuring the integrity of information in the digital age – particularly in the face of ever more AI-generated content.
“We have a crisis that we as technologists more or less created”, Vogel says. This, in his view, comes with a responsibility to find counter-measures – for example by developing better tools for fact-checking and verification.
“We have to protect the integrity of our information”, Vogel demands. “And that is on us as technologists, to actually start building the tools to do this.”
