We live in an apparent contradiction. Never before has humanity had access to so much technology, so much information, and so many tools to solve problems. And yet, for both consumers and businesses, the sense of uncertainty has never seemed so dominant. It is precisely this paradox that Yuval Harari seeks to explain in his reflections on a world that is simultaneously more developed and more unstable. As always, his perspective is profoundly unsettling. Here, I attempt to build a bridge between those ideas and the business world, particularly marketing and customer relationships.
Technology is evolving at an exponential pace, while institutions, companies, and consumers continue to adapt gradually. The result is a dangerous gap between what we are capable of creating and what we are capable of understanding.
For businesses, this reality represents one of the greatest challenges in recent history. For decades, competitive advantage was built on relatively predictable factors: scale, efficiency, product differentiation, access to resources, or financial strength. Today, the primary competitive advantage has become the ability to adapt.
Artificial Intelligence is perhaps the clearest example of this transformation. Unlike previous revolutions, which primarily replaced physical labor or repetitive tasks, AI is beginning to compete in areas of management that were once exclusively human: content creation, market analysis, decision-making, and even emotional influence.
In this context, companies no longer face only traditional competitors. They compete in an environment where algorithms can generate knowledge, personalize interactions, and influence behavior on a global scale.
But perhaps the most significant impact lies in the relationship between companies and their customers. Societies, like brands, function through shared narratives. They represent not only a logo or a product, but a story that millions of people choose to believe in. The paradigm shift stems from the fact that control over information has now become far more diffuse.
Consumers are surrounded by constant flows of information, algorithmic recommendations, and AI-generated content. Attention is increasingly scarce, and trust has become a strategic asset in a context where any message can be amplified, manipulated, or challenged within seconds. Credibility now carries greater value than visibility.
For marketing departments, this reality represents a structural shift. Traditional marketing sought to capture attention. The marketing of the future will need to earn attention.
Traditional metrics of reach and visibility will remain important, but they will no longer be sufficient. Companies will need to develop new capabilities related to transparency, authenticity, and trust-building. The ability to create communities will become more valuable than simply generating audiences.
For brands, this means that communicating with everyone in the same way will become increasingly difficult. Brands will increasingly serve as platforms for dialogue, agents of trust, and, in many cases, sources of stability.
For executives and managers, the real risk is no longer the automation of tasks; it is the obsolescence of the way we think.
The companies that succeed will not necessarily be those capable of collecting the most data, but those capable of generating the greatest trust. And the brands that lead markets will not be those that speak the loudest, but those that are able to create meaning for themselves in an increasingly noisy world.
Pedro Celeste, Professor at Católica-Lisbon SBE