Many of us face job or even career changes, and it always brings some level of anxiety and uncertainty.  I faced that decision in August of last year when leaving a rewarding 17 year career at EMC and then DELL Technologies to join Achieve One, a regional IT services firm specializing in multi cloud deployments.  During my time at EMC, I had worked with Achieve One for many years as a business partner, so I knew the leadership and their strong reputation in Virginia.  Because of m familiarity with the product line (DELL Technologies), the Achieve One staff, and the clients, the new job anxiety was relieved some.

Wow, what a year and how time flies!  Of all of I have seen and experienced in the last year, the greatest insight is how powerful this industry is.  Information Technology, the cloud and the digital revolution are tsunamis of change unlike anything I have seen in the last twenty years.  Excuse the metaphor, but greenhouse gases are to global warming as mobile devices are to the digital revolution.  Both seem to be causing more tsunamis, hurricanes and epic changes than we have seen in hundreds of years or maybe ever.  The digital revolution is impacting every industry; political and social landscape, military strategy, how we interact with one another and even how we find a partner.  I recently attended a summit where a UK company that makes power panels is leveraging digital marketing and social media.  By 2019, more money will be spent on digital marketing than on TV, Radio, and print advertising combined!

These seismic shifts are creating incredible opportunities, but also fear and anxiety.  Will Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robots take my job, or maybe worse, take over the universe?   My 12 year old daughter fears the world may be run by robots and she might never be able to actually drive a car because the app will drive it for her.

I could go on and on with examples of entire industries being disrupted but everyone knows the stories of Uber and taxis, Netflix and Blockbuster, AirBnB and the travel industry, and on and on.  What does it all mean?  I don’t know!  What I do know is that we need to embrace it, fear it, wonder at it, enjoy it, challenge it, savor it, tackle it, and learn from it.  That is what I have learned this past year, as I like many others wedged between the Baby Boomers and millennials are navigating through the digital universe.