Four years ago, “digital” was either what business aimed to be or transform into. Disruptors and disruptions put industries into crossroads, altering the way people lived for good. It’s the future that serial entrepreneur Winston Damarillo described in his first best-selling book.
Now, in his brand new sequel Ready or Not 2020: The 5 Trends Changing the Landscape of Business, Damarillo shares how established businesses and new startups navigate a market forever changed by the digital imperatives of the last decade. This time, Damarillo looks deeper into the inner-workings of real businesses, fast-growing startups, and how they are struggling to compete regionally.
Many of the game-changing technologies Damarillo wrote about in his first book have in many ways already gone mainstream. E-commerce, fintech, and artificial intelligence, are no longer novel innovations or mere buzzwords; they are now necessary to remain in business.
“As we enter a new decade, it’s apparent that the building blocks of the digital future—that experts and analysts only talked about in books and movies—have now arrived. It’s an exciting and tricky time. Businesses are either in the process of change, or have already changed, as they vie to stay attractive to an increasingly young and digital market. I’ve experienced this phenomenon firsthand here in the Philippines both as an entrepreneur and as an engineer, which compelled me to produce this sequel,” Damarillo shared.
Ready or Not 2020 discusses the omnipresence of e-commerce, the digitization of cash, the granular personalization of biometrics in cybersecurity, the onslaught of artificial intelligence, and the decentralized infrastructure of blockchain. Together, these trends transformed big brands and companies—and gave birth to new startups that spurred the rise of the billion-dollar Internet economy.
As a sought after business strategy consultant, Damarillo also suggests strategies for small businesses and startups to be able to compete in an intimidating playing field. Through his consultancy firm, Amihan Global Strategies, and venture builder, Talino Venture Labs, Damarillo has played key roles in some of the Philippines’ biggest companies as they transformed to compete in the modern age.
Golden ABC Inc., one of the biggest and most established fashion enterprises in the country, has adopted artificial intelligence to optimize marketing efforts as they transform into a more regional brand. The effort has allowed its flagship brand, Penshoppe, to be at the forefront of social media conversations with young shoppers.
In the same vein, the country’s largest microinsurance provider, CARD Pioneer, has integrated a seamless user experience through AI-enabled chatbots into its previously paper-based and arduous processes. The product is housed in their own new startup with Talino Venture Labs called Saphron, which employs chatbots to streamline the onboarding process of its agents and clients, cutting the processing time from days or months, to mere minutes.
Unionbank of the Philippines with its pioneering blockchain adoption, and the important work done by agent-networks like Pos!ble.net in the local e-commerce industry, were also discussed in detail in the sequel.
Adding his signature dose of humor to the book is acclaimed comic book artist Manix Abrera. The inclusion of his comics pokes fun at the ways new tech is changing our everyday lives, taking complex issues like data privacy and cybersecurity and bringing them down to earth. The combination brings forth a narrative that makes Ready or Not 2020 a must-read for both the expert and the uninitiated.
Ready or Not 2020: The 5 Big Trends Set to Change the Landscape of Business is also the first book published by content marketing firm Ambidextr. Ambidextr specializes in communication solutions for tech-driven and innovative enterprises and startups in the Asia Pacific.
“There’s no better introduction for Ambidextr as a key publisher of business titles in the Philippines and in the Asia Pacific than with Ready or Not 2020. I believe there are a lot of stories from Filipino entrepreneurs and Philippine-based enterprises that are valuable to the global business discussion,” shared Ezra Ferraz, managing partner of Ambidextr.
The books are now available for order on https://readyornot2020.com and will soon be available in bookstores nationwide. Use code “READY4XMAS” to get 15% off your order this Christmas season.
About the Author
Winston Damarillo is the chairman of Amihan Global Strategies, a tech enabler for large enterprises, and founder of inclusiontech venture builder Talino Venture Labs, which now has three startups in its portfolio: Saphron, Asenso, and Unawa.
Damarillo graduated with a degree in Engineering at the De La Salle University at the age of 19 before moving to the US. There, he worked his way up at Intel, where he created a software that eventually became pivotal in the development of video calls. After his stint in the tech giant, he built his own startups and sold them to industry leaders: Gluecode, which was bought by Intel; Logicblaze, acquired by Iona Technologies; and Webtide, which was sold to Intalio. Damarillo was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2010.
