Bug Future Show: Ten Trends to Watch in the Coming Months

Author: Donatella Pauković

February 2, 2023

Three years after it was last held live, the tenth Bug Future Show, a technology conference organized by the monthly magazine Bug, took place today at the Mozaik Center in Zagreb. Among numerous speakers from the technology world, Tim Stevens, an American technology journalist, and Mate Rimac, CEO of Rimac Group, Bugatti Rimac, and Rimac Technology, stood out the most.

Just before taking the stage for a one-on-one interview with Stevens, Rimac arrived from Paris where the Bugatti Chiron Profilée, the only example of that car, was sold at auction last night for a record price – around 12 million euros including tax. This made it the most expensive new car ever sold.

In a candid conversation, he admitted that doing business in Croatia exposed the company to significant risk and that he is unsure whether it was a good idea to build the campus right there. However, no matter how challenging it was, he emphasized that he is proud to lead his company in Croatia.

– There are a million challenges in building a business. Initially, it was about money, then space, which we will solve by opening the campus. The real challenge is to build a truly sustainable business. Achieving a sustainable profit margin is the hardest thing – Rimac pointed out, adding that he has not changed his mind regarding the capital market entry for Rimac or Bugatti, which will not happen anytime soon.

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10 Important Trends

In addition to having the opportunity to interview Mate Rimac, Tim Stevens also gave a lecture on 10 trends to watch in the next 10 months.

For the first trend, Web3 technology, he emphasized that it should focus on solving specific financial problems for users, rather than the previous criticism of the existing financial system. A significant problem, Stevens pointed out, is exposure to negative news about the war, so he advised limiting exposure time to such news. Additionally, although inflation is still present, there are signs of improvement in global economic uncertainty. The most important thing is to focus on creating value for shareholders and clients.

Travel and tourism are making a strong comeback; however, Stevens predicts nothing less than death for the media. With the emergence of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT that could easily replace journalists, Stevens believes that media should turn to other sources of income such as subscription models, event organization, sponsorships, and premium content. Likewise, a new wave of misinformation threatens us, so multiple verification of information sources will be crucial.

Whether artificial intelligence will win everything depends solely and exclusively on ourselves. In the coming period, it will be important to stay employed, preserve one’s job, simply by asking the question – can AI do my job, and if it can, how can I improve my skills to make it harder for artificial intelligence to replace me, Stevens explained.

Given the numerous trends of layoffs such as great resignation or quiet quitting, workers’ rights will become an increasing priority, and they should unionize, Stevens continued.

Sustainable business is becoming mainstream. To everyone now deciding to open a company and start their own business, Stevens advised putting sustainability at the core of their operations.

And finally, in the war of electric vehicles that is just beginning, along with numerous controversies, Stevens concludes that the best solution would be to reuse and recycle the lithium batteries used in them.

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