The Fourth Revolution Will Not Be Televised (But There Will Be a Panel Discussion About It)

The author recaps GenAI Zürich and argues the current AI wave mirrors prior tech hype cycles, but the crucial market issue is adoption — not just innovation. Citing a commonly repeated >90% failure rate for AI pilots, the piece warns that enterprise investments may underdeliver if organisations only substitute AI into legacy processes instead of redesigning workflows. For financial firms, regulatory risks (EU AI Act, GDPR subject-access requests) and agent security are immediate concerns likely to slow deployment and increase compliance costs. Longer term, the writer sees a structural shift: faster prototyping lowers engineering barriers and changes software economics, creating winners among firms that define clear problems and execution plans. Overall, the article signals potential short-term drag from governance and adoption frictions, with meaningful long-run productivity upside for well-governed implementations.