Happy New Year My Dear Friends and Colleagues!! ??????(and a short summary of the last year, and predictions for 2024)

May 2024 be the most extraordinary year - in the good way - marked by success in business and happiness in our private lives.

Last year was a mixed bag, at best, with many conflicts starting or continuing around the world, and advances in AI bringing a lot of anxiety about the safety of our human jobs and the risk of disruption to many businesses.

A tsunami of lay offs was continuing across the tech & start-ups world, with high borrowing costs and PE / VC investments at a decade-low. Dark clouds were gathering on the horizon for our economies. In the UK Brexit continued to deliver its damaging effects. Extreme weather events continued in many places around the world. The world order and balance of power continued to shape in ways that are reminiscent of periods preceding the darkest events in human history.

There were also some positive developments, with the rate of inflation rapidly dropping and democracy returning to some European countries (this was a massive and unlikely win for Poland & EU). Ukraine held strong against the Russian aggression and was offered a EU candidate status. Some form of (week) agreement was reached on fossil fuels. Despite all the worries, financial markets performed extraordinarily well.

This year will not be easy or straightforward. The pace of progress in AI, robotics, and biotech - among many other fields - is guaranteed to continue to accelerate with consequences that are impossible to predict. The democratic values, human rights and freedom will continue to be threatened.

Will this be a year when humanoid robots intelligent enough to replace humans in some physical jobs become viable? Will we see the end of Russian war on Ukraine, and eradication of terrorism in places such as Gaza? Will elections in the US strengthen democracy or undermine it? Will the unholy coalition of Russia, China, Iran and other anti-democratic nations weaken or strengthen further? Only time will tell.

To all of us I wish that the world becomes more open and not closed, connected and not divided, more equitable with less extreme concentration of wealth, more friendly and less hostile - and that more people all around the globe decide to (and are given the right conditions to) work towards peace and harmony, and a better future for humanity and all inhabitants of our beautiful planet.

Regardless of all the (many) challenges one thing remains my firm belief: that if we respect and understand each other, and use our hearts to overcome the fear and greed & reach across the divisions to work together for the common good, we can build a world in which every new year will be welcomed with anticipation of the good things, and less anxiety about the unknown.

This wont happen overnight, or in any single year.

I wish that 2024 will be a year in which we make a solid progress towards that vision.

Happy New Year!!