Kingfisher bird, ChatGPT, Velcro: speed of an idea breaks through industry lines

Hari Abburi explains the “speed of an idea”—how innovation accelerates when concepts jump across industries. From the Kingfisher bird inspiring bullet trains to NASA foam leading to memory mattresses, the world’s biggest breakthroughs emerge through cross-pollination, not specialization. True innovation, he says, isn’t about disruption but reverse disruption—ideas moving faster than industries can adapt. He illustrates this with the leap from search engines to generative AI, where ChatGPT’s debut made Alexa look primitive overnight. The message: in the age of AI, ideas don’t evolve—they explode, rewriting the rules of what’s possible in months, not decades.

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