Strategic leadership and ubiquitous ambient intelligence: A new approach to reconcile exploitation and exploration in the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

We examine how new smart technological concepts such as ubiquitous ambient intelligence (UAmI) can help strategic leaders manage the unprecedented challenges in the informational environment of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). We first recast the assumptions of exploration–exploitation paradoxes in the context of 4IR, highlighting strengths and limitations of traditional approaches in this new informational environment. Then, we introduce new technological concepts that are emerging as centerpieces of 4IR (e.g., UAmI), with the potential to address some of the information-processing limitations faced by boundedly rational strategic leaders. We organize the utility of different approaches in both traditional and 4IR contexts by distinguishing between individual and collective intelligence. Finally, we provide a tentative agenda for future research in this area. Ultimately, our chapter seeks to advance the discourse on the interface between technological (e.g., UAmI) and non-technological (e.g., strategic leadership) requirements for managing continuity and change in 4IR.