Last September, I had the honour of being the keynote speaker at the Lab2Market Deeptech Expo, where I discussed the current state of deep tech investments and commercialization. A key theme I emphasized is our growing excitement about deep tech. In fact, I would even argue that we are entering the golden age of deep tech.

Why this belief? Reflecting on the significant “platform shifts” over recent decades reveals a pattern: each shift has unleashed waves of innovation. Consider the PC revolution in the late 20th century, the widespread adoption of the internet and cloud computing in the 2000s, and the mobile era in the 2010s. These shifts didn’t just create new opportunities; they fundamentally altered user behaviour, democratized access, and unlocked unprecedented value.

It goes without saying that the primary beneficiaries of these shifts are the 5 billion internet users and relevant businesses. However, these shifts have also been the biggest enablers of what I term “shallow tech.”

Take, for example, the late 2000s. The App Store’s top charts were dominated by simplistic applications — remember those infamous fart apps?

This era marked the beginning of a trend where ease of creation and user experience overshadowed the depth of innovation. Recall Instagram’s initial release as a straightforward photo-sharing app with just a few attractive filters. Similarly, the first iteration of Wattpad on the Motorola RAZR was a simple Java app, supported by a basic LAMP stack backend.

Subsequent early iPhone, Android, and Blackberry versions were only marginally more complex. Over time, both Instagram and Wattpad evolved into deep tech companies, driven by the massive amounts of data they amassed. However, in both cases, it only took months from concept to launch, despite taking years to become substantial businesses.

In contrast, building deep tech companies from the ground up was far more challenging. Years could be spent developing the technology alone, even before considering market readiness or commercialization. This long cycle made it very hard to build companies and secure funding.

In recent years, however, the landscape has begun to shift. The playbook of developing minimal tech, amassing vast data pools, and then creating a defensible moat through network effects is becoming increasingly difficult. The entrenched network effects of incumbents in both consumer and enterprise spaces make it harder for “shallow tech” startups to achieve escape velocity.

Conversely, as we find ourselves in the midst of another significant platform shift – this time centred around AI – AI is revolutionizing how deep tech companies are started and scaled. For instance, robotic designs can now be developed through a few AI prompts. AI is also transforming chip development, allowing for significant acceleration before tape-out. In drug discovery, AI-assisted processes have condensed timelines from years to mere weeks. These are just a few examples. What once seemed like science fiction is now our reality.

While deep domain expertise in fields like robotics, chips, biotech, and other areas remains crucial, AI is now democratizing deep tech. It’s making it more accessible and is accelerating innovation across numerous sectors. We are on the cusp of a new era, one where the depth of technology plays a far bigger role in building successful companies that reshape our world.

The golden age of shallow tech is over. The golden age of deep tech is upon us!

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