*admission: I wasn’t even there. But I haven’t just phoned it in!
The Mobile World Congress rolled into Barcelona again recently – the annual trade show extravaganza for everything technology and connectivity.
Now, as mentioned, I wasn’t even there so it might be unfair to pass judgement on the event, but I’m not posting an AI-generated review as I could have done – I have a wider point to make and if you bear with me I promise I’ll get to it very soon…
So, I wasn’t there this year but a good friend of mine was – he’s there every year actually.
Of course I wanted to know from him what was new this year. About 100,000 people turn up each year to this event so networking is perhaps the best part of MWC (the human side being so much more interesting to me than the technology) however it’s exciting to know what tech was being launched, what the sneak previews were, what amazing innovations were being pushed.
My friend’s face dropped. He said he couldn’t believe the lack of ambition on show at the 2025 edition. What a disappointment!
He described being blown away last year by an incredibly intuitive robot on display at the stand of a major tech outfit (which shall remain nameless here). He was very excited to see what they would come up with this year. The result? The exact same robot but with a blonde female wig on. I kid you not. He was as astounded as he had been the year before…but of course in an entirely different way.
One online review I read suggested this year set a new bar for lack of original messaging or unique positioning from companies at the show. Oh dear!
Let’s Wait For Next Year…
Now, I’m not a techie and I frankly only really know the wider sector from that superficial position that recruiters know everything from, but I’ve always been fascinated by MWC. I do think you can often use it as a mirror for what’s going on with the broader markets and economies.
With AI being the predictable focal point, all other interesting emerging technologies seemed to be drowned out and pushed to the margins. As my friend put it; it was all a bit flat, and there definitely seemed to be a feeling of ‘let’s wait for next year’ - mainly to see how everyone fully implements this AI stuff.
On this front my friend got me thinking; maybe the reflection this year is not through the technology itself but actually that ‘wait and see’ sentiment.
I already mentioned I’m not a techie but I’m no economist either, however it occurs to me that ‘wait and see’ might just apply to the whole economy right now?
We all seem to collectively be holding back. I do wonder what would happen right now if we were all just a little bit less cautious, just a tiny bit braver, just a wee bit more willing to take a big step forward somewhere rather than waiting for someone else to go first?
I’m not even talking about investment in technology or financial investment at all, but better investment of time and brain power. I’m including myself in this too by the way.
Investing in proper messaging. Investing in standing out from the crowd. Making clear why we’re different from everyone else. Demonstrating why someone should invest their own time in you instead of investing it in someone else – or even not investing it at all.
And – perhaps most importantly given the prevalence of AI (see above) – why you should invest in someone rather than something.
Maybe MWC really does reflect the rest of the world; after all, the human side is so much more interesting! It might be up to us as humans to actually remind everyone of that fact now and then.
- Tariq Siraj