In 2030, the world economy will be underpinned by a frictionless web of billions of linked devices, autonomous agents and accounts that communicate with one another and are constantly maintaining and improving the engine of the information age. The maturation of new technologies, such as generative AI, will present an opportunity for a golden era of global economic growth. 

But this future hinges on making security and privacy fundamental to these new platforms, as cybercriminals will use these advancements to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks. Organized crime, rogue nations and politically motivated bad actors will have honed their skills, creating synthetic identities to commit fraud, complete with personal histories, a web presence, social posts, photos, audio and videos of an invented person. Within moments, AI will let them analyze vast troves of data to determine what information is the most useful to steal and who could be the easiest target. This is an arms race the private and public sectors cannot afford to lose. 

How governments and businesses manage through all these changes over the next five years will determine the trajectory of the global economy, as well as which companies survive and thrive. Businesses' cybersecurity postures will need to be nimble, responsive to unexpected change and always evolving, since the cycle of tech advancement is expected to accelerate far more rapidly.

“Securing tomorrow: Preparing for an always-on, AI-powered future” examines how technologies designed with security in mind will power new services and experiences, and looks at some of the most promising ways that AI, digital intelligence and other tools now rapidly gaining acceptance will transform digital commerce. It also considers how security systems will evolve into more sophisticated, layered and prevention-focused tools to take on a new generation of cyber threats. Finally, it shares how Mastercard is already supporting its customers and the broader ecosystem amid these changes, offering a roadmap to support the work every organization — from government agencies to corner stores — will need to take to prepare for this future.