Futurist Chuck Martin Reveals How Aerial Tech Will Reshape Global Commerce

This exclusive interview with Chuck Martin was conducted by Mark Matthews of The Motivational Speakers Agency.

Chuck Martin is a globally recognised futurism speaker whose thought leadership has shaped how businesses and technologists view our digital future. A New York Times Business bestselling author and former Vice President at IBM, he now heads the think-tank Net Future Institute, and publishes widely on the intersection of AI, IoT and business disruption.

Over more than two decades, Chuck has predicted landmark shifts — from the rise of the Internet of Things to the coming of electric aerial transport — and his work consistently challenges corporate leaders, policymakers and innovators to think ahead.

In this exclusive interview with the AI Speakers Agency, Chuck explores how emerging technologies — from cargo drones to digital twin workplaces — will redefine commerce, work and global supply chains, and outlines how forward-thinking organisations can stay ahead of the curve.

Question 1. From your perspective, how will emerging air mobility technologies reshape markets and the movement of goods?

Chuck Martin: Well, if you look at what happens now is you have, uh, say a FedEx or DHL. You’re transporting goods. Uh, this is going to be transporting goods totally differently. These… these, there are cargo drones and these… these fly basically what’s called beyond line of sight. So, you don’t have to see the drone flying if you’re operating it. It actually flies by itself. It’s using AI. It knows where it’s going. Uh, it gets there and it delivers what it delivers.

Some of these drones will carry 3, 4, 500 lb. They self-load and self-unload. So, you don’t you don’t have people involved. Uh, so that changes logistics in a really big way. So what happens is you’re starting to deal with, with basically a two-tier economic situation in a business where you’re dealing with things that are sort of traditional in terms of how you get something somewhere, and then you’re thinking of something: I need something now. Okay, I can get something in literally 10 minutes or 15 minutes.

That’s a totally different thing. It’s not coming by car or by truck. It’s coming by air. And these things, they know where they’re going, they know how to get there. They’ve got anti-collision technology built in. They actually… if they come across a bird, they actually will wait till the bird goes by automatically and then they will come.

And again, these things… these things land straight up, straight down. Uh, it’s a totally different environment that’s coming and businesses really need to prepare for this. They… they have no idea what’s around the corner in terms of if they’re not doing this, their competitors are.

Question 2. Beyond transportation, which areas of business operations stand to be most significantly transformed by this new aerial infrastructure?

Chuck Martin: Yeah. People mis… they misidentify this as thinking it’s just transportation. This really deals with pretty much every aspect of an organisation. You deal with the, uh, the chief… the finance department. Uh, they’re going to say: are we, do we want to pay… have our employees go and take this extra 100-dollar trip to get there somewhere faster? Uh, well wait, we’re going to save an hour and a half in time. Is that more… is that efficient?

So, you’ve got HR departments, you’ve got insurance departments, logistics – uh, how do we move things? Uh, supply chain – uh, how are we going to change our supply chain? So, we’re going to build this into the mechanism of where we… where and how we transport what we sell. Um, how are we going to deal with our customers from this? Our customers are going to be getting deliveries from us this way. If we aren’t delivering it this way, they’re going to get something faster from somebody else.

It’s a really competitive environment. There’s not an area of an organisation that won’t be impacted one way or another by this. Uh, and companies really need to prepare for it. They need to start now. We have a whole blueprint for that, but that’s for another day.

Question 3. As organisations encounter this next wave of technological disruption, what guidance would you offer leaders on how to respond and adapt effectively?

Chuck Martin: They basically need to have a… operate at two speeds. Look at… look at their environment as a kind of a legacy environment, which they’re used to with technology, and then there’s a new environment. This is this new, new high-speed transportation by air environment. And they almost need to have a two-tier organisational structure. So, they keep, keep what they’re doing traditionally, but start to look at something to phase in.

Essentially say: okay, let’s operate totally different. It’s almost like creating self-competition. So, we’re going to compete with ourselves for speed. Uh, and here’s a group over here in the organisation that we’re going to set up, and they’re going to compete with us and they’re going to be faster than we are. Uh, but we’re going to be better than they are. So, we’re going to have internal competition, and that’s a really healthy thing.

Question 4. Looking ahead, what steps should businesses take now to future-proof their organisations amid rapid innovation and evolving technologies?

Chuck Martin: Basically, what I would suggest in your organisation: don’t… don’t jump. Uh, be careful that… don’t jump to the next thing. Uh, this technology is evolving rapidly, but what happens is companies tend to make a mistake. Something comes out and they go crazy with ChatGBT or… or whatever. Uh, they all say: we’re going to go do this. Well, the reality is you don’t have to go do that right now. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Just wait. Don’t jump at that.

Look at the second tier of what this technology is going to develop. So, for example, fly-in flying vehicles. It’s not about moving people efficiently, which that’s going to happen. It’s about moving things – like we can move things to places we couldn’t get before – and all of a sudden that’s a totally different environment. Like we have a new market.

Uh, so basically: be fast but be patient, uh, and be very careful. Don’t jump at the next thing you see. Take a breath, step back. Uh, and also look horizontally. Look outside of your industry, outside of your area. That’s where the innovation is going to come from.

You… you all know your industries really well. Uh, the innovation is going to be somewhere that you don’t know. So, look at industries that you’re not comfortable with, you’re not familiar with, and look at what they’re doing for innovation. And, uh, basically I’ll say copy them, but, uh, take the best practice from them and see how you can adapt it for your environment.