Investing in new technologies is non-negotiable — and has been for centuries, whether corporations as we now know them were involved or not. This newsletter didn’t set out to explore the ramifications of that business maxim in 2024 but that’s roughly where we landed while scanning the Endeavor landscape for possible stories. For example:

• At a storied manufacturer, putting money into new product development for its most famous brands means other divisions might be divested

• One of the country’s largest utilities is asking regulators to approve a new pricing plan for power-hungry data centers so that costs aren’t unfairly pushed onto other customers

• The growth of data-driven priorities has, writes one contributor, made it more important than ever to retain a focus on the people who run the data-spewing equipment

Handling these stresses will take open-hearted and sometimes difficult conversations as well as compromises. Good thing we can still handle those better than the machines.

— Geert De Lombaerde