Artificial Intelligence & Blockchain: The Path to Generate Value for Companies After the COVID-19 Pandemic PDF Free Download
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Artificial Intelligence & Blockchain: The
Path to Generate Value for Companies
After the COVID-19 Pandemic
Michael Shane Reilly Marulanda and Pablo López Sarabia
Abstract Technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, such as Blockchain
and Artificial Intelligence, have gradually been adopted by all companies that are
including ESG criteria. The financial sector has taken the lead in these two technolo-
gies, but the challenge generated by the COVID-19 pandemic forced many companies
in other sectors to innovate rapidly in order to avoid bankruptcy. The new models in
which companies will compete for market share (using the AI algorithms to extract
value from data), will improve forecasts and strategies to create value for customers
with more personalized products. Finally, DLT Blockchain technology will enhance
product traceability and the development of new business models based on trust and
decentralization.
Keywords Artificial intelligence (AI) ·Blockchain (DLT) ·COVID-19
pandemic ·Digital economy
JEL Classification L24 ·L60 ·L86 ·M13 ·M15
1 Introduction
The 4IR and COVID-19 accelerate the adoption of disruptive technologies in all
economic sectors.
The invention of the steam machine led to the first industrial revolution, insti-
gating a vast amount of changes not only in the economy, but also in society as
a whole. Today we face the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) characterized by
extreme automation & hyper-connectivity, which has been forged by developments
in hardware and software, as well as the creation and improvements of programming
languages such as Python, Java, C, C++ amongst others. Its growth is coalescing
thanks to an expansive array of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence
(AI), Blockchain (BC) or the Internet-of-Things (IoT) (Tan and Shang-su 2017).
M. S. Reilly Marulanda ·P. López Sarabia (B
)
Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe, Mexico City, México
e-mail: plsarabia@tec.mx
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
G. Dávila-Aragón and S. Rivas-Aceves (eds.), The Future of Companies in the Face of a
New Reality,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2613-5_10
185
186 M. S. Reilly Marulanda and P. López Sarabia
These new technologies are opening a pandora’s box of opportunities and solu-
tions, which corporations and small businesses are implementing to solve different
difficulties arising from the present business environment.
The current business environment,which we will call the new reality, has put
pressure on businesses through external and internal factors. External factors are
challenges that the companies face which cannot be controlled, such as generational
changes, pandemics and geopolitical changes. On the other hand, internal factors
are challenges and opportunities which can be influenced by the company, such as
the sharing economy, social demands with ESG criteria, technological innovation,
amongst others. Consequently, our new reality has increased the need for technologies
from the 4IR. Hence, prior to engaging in how the disruptive technologies will forge
the business of the future, it is relevant to understand the current obstacles that
companies will have to face, after the first outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the shortcomings of health institutions
around the world. The lack of a vaccine and treatment forced governments to confine
the population in order to reduce the risk of contagion; but generating a historic
drop in economic growth and high unemployment rates. COVID-19 was expressed
in a supply and demand shock that affected most economic sectors, which had to
innovate and adapt to the new environment to avoid bankruptcy. Governments around
the world face the great test of creating economic recovery policies and programs
focused on the recovery of family income and job creation, but with a cross-cutting
impact that encourages business innovation and adoption of new technologies with
environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.
Surprisingly, the pandemic has not generated a coordinated global response, espe-
cially after the management failures of many countries. This situation could motivate
citizens to punish their governments in the upcoming electoral processes. Transitions
in political leadership come with transformations in policies, taxes amongst others,
which could lead to beneficial or disadvantageous outcomes, not only locally but also
internationally. Even though businesses tend to manage geopolitical changes well,
unconventional events such as Brexit or the US-China Trade war, have created diffi-
cult scenarios for many businesses around the globe, such as vehicle manufacturers
and technology companies.
Companies such as Toyota and Nissan, who invested heavily in Britain, now face
significant disruptions to their supply chains threatening their transactions, logistics
and warehousing costs (Morelli 2020). In relation to technology companies estab-
lished in Europe, some of their operations will be taxed by the governments of the
region, a situation that could limit innovation, according to specialists in exponential
technology. EU countries are forcing the 5G carriers of China to a greater trans-
parency in the handling of information and restricting their participation in support
infrastructure to provide internet of things (IoT). For its part, the US government
announced sanctions against Huawei and operating restrictions to the Chinese video
platform “TikTok”. Although businesses cannot predict these events and, further-
more, cannot manipulate the outcome, they could adopt AI and Blockchain tech-
nologies to mitigate risk. For example, companies could predict electoral outcomes
