Trends & Signals
Technology & Society
Explore the latest insights, thought leadership, and research from FCAT®
Adaptation and Resilience: Signals from COVID-19 that Matter
March 24, 2021
Over the past twelve months, we have collectively experienced a massive disruption triggered by a tiny pathogen. And in the face of virus-prompted changes, we’ve each had to adapt—as parents of newonline-learners to leaders of teams, businesses, and nations. As the pandemic plays out, we see three areas where meaningful adaptations have taken hold.
New Data Fuels AI Opportunities in a Remote World
March 17, 2021
Now that so many of us are doing almost everything online at home -- shopping, work, doctor appointments, school, financial check-ins, parent-teacher conferences --- you may have noticed some not so subtle behavior changes among those around you. Maybe a colleague has suddenly started blocking her video feed during Zoom calls. Perhaps a customer has started speaking slower, making a lot of spelling errors, or is typing at a different pace. Maybe you’ve noticed a change in the tones of a colleague’s MS Teams or Yammer posts or changes in a customer’s chatbot message style. All of this could be indicative of something important, and AI is an ideal tool to pick up on these changes.
How Communication Impacts Behavior
February 9, 2021
It goes without saying that 2020 has been an unusual and disruptive year. The global COVID-19 pandemic, economic uncertainty, and imbalanced sector performance have wreaked havoc on investor activity. Despite the concept of “buy low and sell high,” the industry continued to see record outflows even as the market approached its lowest levels in over a decade. As the market began a rebound, we saw increased investment activity and speculation. Some investors panicked and abandoned their financial plans.
How We Do Research
February 4, 2021
FCAT Research is a bet on the value of outside-in thinking, a rigorous analysis of external trends that we believe will have a dramatic impact on our business, our industry, and on the lives of our customers and associates. Our goal is to help Fidelity associates reimagine the future of our business. So where do we look for the most promising trends?
Q&A with Andrew J. Scott, PhD, Co-author, “The New Long Life”
January 14, 2021
FCAT hosts an ongoing Speaker Series as part of its mission to “bring the outside in” and share diverse perspectives with Fidelity associates to provoke conversation and action. A few weeks ago, as part of that series, the FCAT Research team hosted a presentation by Lynda Gratton and Andrew J. Scott, authors of “The New Long Life.” Their book suggests that we live in an age where technology has not been matched by the necessary innovation to social structures. After the presentation, FCAT socio-cultural researcher Sophia Mowlanejad caught up with Andrew, a Professor of Economics at London Business School and consulting scholar at Stanford University's Center on Longevity, on steps we can take to improve our financial planning.
Gender Equality Challenges in the Wake of the Pandemic
January 12, 2021
Before the novel coronavirus swept through the world, things were looking bright for women in the US workplace. For the first time in almost a decade, women made up the majority of the workforce; 42% of businesses were women-owned; women with patents went from 4% in 1976 to almost 22% in 2019; at each level in the pipeline, the number of women was increasing. And then the pandemic hit.
Q&A with Dr. Nicholas Christakis
November 13, 2020
FCAT hosts an ongoing Speaker Series as part of its mission to “bring the outside in” and share diverse perspectives with Fidelity associates that provoke conversation. A few weeks ago, as part of that series, the FCAT Research team hosted a presentation by Dr. Nicolas Christakis, author of Apollo’s Arrow – The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on The Way We Live. Dr. Christakis is a physician and sociologist who explores the ancient origins and modern implications of human nature. He directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University, where he is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science in the Departments of Sociology, Medicine, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Statistics and Data Science, and Biomedical Engineering. He is the co-director of the Yale Institute for Network Science, the coauthor of Connected, and the author of the New York Times best seller Blueprint. After his presentation, we had a chance to ask Dr. Christakis a few more questions prompted by his talk, his book, and his work.
Green Fintechs Innovate to Combat Climate Change
November 10, 2020
Just as COVID-19 has inspired a wave of invention across industries, a new breed of green fintechs are tackling climate change via financial innovation in payment, lending, trading, investment, and insurance.
Women in Artificial Intelligence – A Conversation
October 16, 2020
FCAT’s Sarah Hoffman, VP AI and Machine Learning Research, sits down for a far-ranging interview with Haptik’s Burka Gurgenidze-Seinau, discussing the AI field, how AI influences our daily lives, and how it may reshape the future. This engaging video conversation covers a multitude of topics, including misconceptions aspiring professional women may have regarding AI and the AI field, how women are influencing AI development and implementation, as well as the broad impact AI is having across culture, commerce, and daily life. Watch here.
COVID-19: Insights Beyond the Curve
October 7, 2020
Mike Durbin, Head of Fidelity Institutional, discusses new Fidelity research on the implications of COVID-19 with Judy Marlinski, Head of FI Product and Advisory Solutions, and Megan Kelley, Head of Research at FCAT.