It goes without saying that we’ve entered a new era of economic competition—one that’s a far cry from the international disagreements of the past over the global economy. Today, we’re in the midst of a Third World War that’s truly global, unfolding 24/7 through customs agents, hedge funds, monetary authorities, executive orders, and consumers adjusting their buying habits to the new normal.

You might be wondering, “Wait—there’s a world war happening and I didn’t hear about it?” It’s not that you missed it; it just looks very different from the large-scale conflicts we’re used to.

Should Mexico start “dating” other economic blocs? Maybe the BRICS? The question comes up more often now that global trade wars are heating up. Clients, students, government officials—and luckily, not yet random strangers on the street—ask what the best move might be in the complex situation Mexico and other Global South countries are navigating. And like in most long-term relationships, the answer isn’t simple.

With all the talk of tariffs, sanctions, trade wars, and new world orders, you might be tempted to find a cryostasis pod and sleep through the next hundred years. It can feel like everything we thought we understood about how the world works is shifting. A new kind of Cold War seems to be brewing between the United States, Russia, China, and many others. The unipolar world that gave rise to the Pax Americana is gradually giving way to something more multipolar—new alliances are emerging, and our political systems and technologies are being pulled into different spheres.

What is technology? It’s a tool devised to solve a problem—or a bundle of problems—that makes life better once we adopt it. Fire kept us warm after dark, chased away predators, and let us enjoy tastier food. Money empowered us to build larger societies, launch companies, trade across oceans, and create a global financial system. Yet while artificial intelligence (AI) has dominated headlines these past years (and will keep doing so), another breakthrough could change our lives and unlock enormous new opportunities: quantum computing.

Last year, I wrote about how AI agents were going to be the hottest thing since pancakes were first served for breakfast in 600 BC in scholarly Greece. From top tech companies to venture capitalists to startups across the globe, AI agents are shaping the future of the industry. But is that the biggest breakthrough we can expect from AI? Probably not. The next big development is quietly taking shape in research labs, universities, private firms, and large corporations. Its name: artificial general intelligence, or AGI, as it’s commonly known.

So, what’s your favorite word in the dictionary? Square? No, too boring. Evanescence? No, too… impermanent. Wait, I’ve got it: your favorite word for 2025 is tariffs. Some people have claimed it’s the most beautiful word in the English language—I’m not sure Shakespeare would agree.

I’ll admit I wasn’t invited to be a judge in this year’s linguistic beauty pageant to choose the prettiest word of 2025, so I’ll do the next best thing: explain the word that was chosen, and let you decide if tariffs deserve the crown.

No, this isn’t a column about fashion models competing for the best selfie at the trendiest restaurant in your city—it’s even better. It’s about the rise of the major AI superstars throwing everything they’ve got into building the most advanced systems on the market. At the same time, new players like Deepseek have been quietly building their teams, products, and systems behind the scenes, spending just a fraction of what OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others are pouring into frontier models. So what’s going on?

Private jets, helicopters, the Swiss Alps, and billionaires. Sounds like the start of a James Bond movie—or the annual meeting of the global elite in Davos. Each year, CEOs, heads of state, investors, philanthropists, Nobel Prize winners, and activists arrive in this small Swiss town for a week (this year, from January 20 to 24) to debate the most urgent global issues, propose new ideas, and look for ways to improve life for everyone.

As we start to emerge from our holiday festivities, many of us are reviewing the New Year's resolutions we made just a few days ago. “Did we really tell everyone we were going to do all those things?” 2025 felt so far away back on December 31st. It might surprise you to learn that countries go through something similar with the promises they made, the changes they said they’d implement, and the futures they were supposed to usher in—well, right about now.

Ah, my final article of 2024. What to write about?
As many of you know, my work focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, business, economics, trade, and the future of our beautiful world, region, and country—moving forward as a diverse and vibrant community. That’s usually what I write about. But once a year, maybe twice, I allow myself to diverge just slightly—still keeping all of those topics top of mind for you, the reader.

If you’ve been reading the headlines, you might think nearshoring is in trouble—thanks to recent elections and the looming threat of higher tariffs. And sure, the path forward may get more complex as the U.S. and Mexican administrations set their direction in early 2025. But I believe Mexico stands to gain more than it loses in the long run—for one simple reason: China’s biggest threat is Mexico. That’s right. Set down your coffee and let me explain.

There’s nothing like a geopolitical sibling rivalry to kick off the holiday season. Who gets what, who’s left out, and who’s going to win on the global stage? Earlier this week, the United States imposed additional export restrictions on certain high-performance chips (also known as semiconductors), aiming to limit the development of AI for domestic, government, and military use. Not to be outdone, China responded with export restrictions of its own—this time on two rare earth elements used to produce those very semiconductors: germanium and gallium. They sound more like ancient Roman cities than critical minerals, don’t they?

“Sorry, ma’am, but your card has been declined.” The cashier’s words wash over you as your face turns red. The people behind you are clearly annoyed—they want you to step aside so they can move on with their day. But you ask, “Why was my card declined?” You know you have more than enough money to cover a charge a hundred times that amount. What’s going on?

The cashier replies, “The new currency program says you’ve exceeded your monthly limit for alcohol and meat. I think you need to wait until next month to buy something in this category.” He’s referring to the new intelligent currency launched earlier that year, which replaced all physical cash.

If you’ve been following the news, TikTok, Instagram, or any other information outlet, you’ve probably wondered: Should I be worried about AI stealing my job? Google the question, and you’ll get mixed answers—some views will reassure you that everything’s fine, and others will make you want to throw your phone out the window.

But have you ever stopped to think about those “everything’s fine” takes? What if it’s actually an AI calming you down—so it can keep harvesting your attention and selling you things you don’t need?

Glimpse of the future: “Why am I sitting in the parking lot of a government office while my editor is texting me about my column? It’s 2030—this shouldn’t be happening! I can’t open the doors. It just says: ‘Administrative lock.’”

It might sound like a distant possibility (and I hope it stays that way), but the idea that someday your car might say, “Confirmed—destination: Fast Company Mexico, Santa Fe,” and the moment the doors close it reroutes you with a message, “You’ve been redirected by state order to Government Office X”—isn’t just science fiction. Technically, it’s completely possible. So what’s stopping it?

Technology is both an industry and a foundational pillar of all human development. It has enabled enormous leaps in human progress, both in relative and absolute terms. Every day, the barriers to accessing, acquiring, developing, and deploying advanced technologies from one part of the world and bringing them to your home country are getting lower.

How do we decide to take a political or business action? How do we determine what we believe and what we’ll do? Usually, it’s a function of some research (I hope), what we’re told in conversations, and what we observe in the media. Are things getting better? Worse? Could a conflict be emerging somewhere? Is a company about to make headlines—really good or really bad?

Up until ten years ago, as a society, we had a much easier time identifying good, bad, and malicious information. That’s not to say there were never successful disinformation campaigns to sway markets, push political candidates, or influence geopolitical dynamics. Ah, the good old days.

Is artificial intelligence our friend, foe, or frenemy? I’m asked that question weekly when the topic of AI comes up. What should we do? When should we do it? Can’t we just unplug it like a toaster?

At the end of the day, AI is the best friend you never knew you were missing. And once you start using it, you wonder how you ever lived without it. It helps you write emails, reports, and, ahem… your homework if you’re in school or university. The level of productivity and the speed at which we’re becoming accustomed to these systems is truly impressive.

AI agents are raising the stakes yet again for what we can expect from our technological companions in the coming months. Over the past few months, when I’ve been giving speeches or presentations and showing the audience how many of the things that were said to be impossible or “a century away” are happening every few months as we live and breathe. The rate of change and the things you and I will be able to do in the coming months and years will lead us to a much better future, where more people can do more things with the aid of artificial intelligence.

Did AI just become a nuclear supervillain? Possibly—but not in the traditional Marvel Comics sense. If we’re not careful, AI might just consume all of our extra energy and turn us into paper clips, as illustrated in Nick Bostrom’s Superintelligence. Unless we put on our energy-saving superhero suits and smart prompt-writing gloves, we just might be able to save the world.

There’s a little secret about artificial intelligence that isn’t so secret anymore. It’s very, very hungry. It’s easy to think that using AI has very little cost, since most users don’t experience the expenses associated with training and operating the various AI systems we’ve all come to enjoy in our daily lives.