Business Free course · Certificate included
Emerging Tech Horizons: What's Next After Today's AI
Evaluate frontier AI, robotics, spatial computing, quantum and more, then build a three-horizon roadmap for your business
- Intermediate
- 4 h 38 min
- 16 lessons in 7 modules
- 2 h 5 min of video lectures
- Updated Sep 2026
About this course
Leaders are bombarded with claims about the next big technology. This course gives you the judgement to separate signal from noise and turn it into decisions. You will learn to evaluate emerging tech with hype cycles, readiness levels and a practical scorecard, then explore the frontier: reasoning models and agents, multimodal and on-device AI, world models, robotics and embodied AI, spatial computing, digital twins, quantum computing and NIST's post-quantum cryptography standards. You will weigh the energy and compute constraints behind AI, understand synthetic media and content provenance (C2PA), anticipate how AI search is changing the web and how work and skills are shifting, using cautious, sourced evidence. Finally, you will build a horizon-scanning practice, run scenario planning, and produce a three-horizon technology roadmap for a real business. Outlook is framed as outlook, with reasoning.
Tools you’ll use
- NIST PQC standards
- OpenSSL
- c2patool
- Content Credentials
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
- Perplexity
- n8n
- schema.org
Skills
- Technology foresight
- Emerging tech evaluation
- Scenario planning
- Technology roadmapping
- Post-quantum readiness
- AI strategy
- Horizon scanning
What you’ll be able to do
- Assess emerging technologies with hype cycles, readiness levels, ecosystem readiness and an eight-part scorecard
- Explain reasoning models, agents, multimodal, world models and on-device AI, with realistic strengths and limits
- Evaluate robotics, spatial computing and digital twin opportunities with task-level business cases
- Explain quantum computing's real prospects and plan a migration to NIST post-quantum cryptography standards
- Factor energy and compute constraints, synthetic media risks and content provenance into technology decisions
- Anticipate AI search and work changes, and redesign roles task by task with sourced, cautious evidence
- Run horizon scanning and scenario planning, and build a three-horizon technology roadmap with stage gates
Curriculum
Syllabus
- Modules
- 7
- Lessons
- 16
- Reading time
- 2 h
- Assessment questions
- 25
Hype cycles, technology readiness levels, ecosystem readiness and real signals, turned into a practical scorecard with AI-assisted research.
- Hype cycles, readiness levels and real signalsVideo lecture, 8′7 min
- An emerging-tech evaluation scorecardVideo lecture, 8′7 min
Reasoning models and agents, multimodal AI, world models and on-device AI: what works now, what fails, and what to watch.
- Frontier AI: reasoning models and agentsVideo lecture, 8′7 min
- Multimodal AI, world models and on-device AIVideo lecture, 8′7 min
Physical and spatial technologies: embodied AI and robotics, spatial computing and AR devices, and digital twins that simulate real assets for better decisions.
- Robotics and embodied AIVideo lecture, 8′7 min
- Spatial computing and augmented realityVideo lecture, 7′7 min
- Digital twins: simulating the real world for better decisionsVideo lecture, 8′7 min
What quantum computers can and cannot do, how to read quantum news, and how to plan a migration to NIST's post-quantum cryptography standards.
- Quantum computing: what it is and what it is notVideo lecture, 8′7 min
- Post-quantum cryptography: standards and migrationVideo lecture, 7′7 min
The energy, chip and grid limits shaping AI's pace and cost, and how provenance, watermarking and regulation respond to synthetic media.
- Energy, compute and the physical limits of AIVideo lecture, 8′7 min
- Synthetic media, deepfakes and content provenanceVideo lecture, 8′7 min
How AI search is reshaping discovery and the web, and how to redesign work and skills with a grounded, evidence-based view of AI and jobs.
- AI search and the future of the webVideo lecture, 8′8 min
- Jobs, skills and work redesign in the AI eraVideo lecture, 7′7 min
Build a horizon-scanning practice, use scenario planning to handle uncertainty, and produce a three-horizon technology roadmap for a real business.
- Building a horizon-scanning practiceVideo lecture, 8′7 min
- Scenario planning for technology uncertaintyVideo lecture, 8′7 min
- Capstone: a three-horizon technology roadmapVideo lecture, 8′7 min
- Final assessment
Your certificate
Finish with a credential anyone can check
Earn the Certified Emerging Tech Strategist badge: The holder can evaluate emerging technologies with structured lenses and scorecards, explain the realistic prospects of frontier AI, robotics, spatial computing, digital twins and quantum computing, plan post-quantum cryptography readiness, weigh energy and trust constraints, and turn horizon scanning and scenario planning into an evidence-gated three-horizon technology roadmap.
Completed all lessons and scored at least 80% on the final assessment.
- A public verification page
- A PDF certificate to download
- An Open Badge you can share
- One click to your LinkedIn profile
Final assessment
- 25questions drawn from a larger pool
- 40 mintime limit
- 80%pass mark
- 3attempts per 24 hours
Start learning today. It’s free.
Every lesson is free to read. A free account saves your progress, unlocks the final assessment and issues your certificate.