Operational Darwinism: Owning Power In A Multipolar World

InnovationOperational Darwinism: Owning Power In A Multipolar WorldByKoray Köse,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)May 19, 2026, 09:00am EDTKoray Köse is a supply chain expert, tech futurist, author, former Gartner analyst and CEO & Founder of KŌSE ADVISORY. gettyWe live in a supposed golden age of technological tools. AI, automation and digital platforms promise unprecedented efficiency and capability. Yet most organizations are discovering a harsher truth: The tools don’t automatically translate into control.A vast majority of enterprise AI initiatives stall out in pilots or never meaningfully scale. At the same time, recent graduates, those widely considered to be “AI-native,” face high rates of underemployment (even in majors such as computer engineering). Entry-level work that once built experience has been automated into extinction. The systems meant to harness talent are failing, despite and because of this boom in technological supremacy.We’re also in a multipolar period of fracturing alliances, weaponized interdependence and supply chains that have become geopolitical battlegrounds. Businesses are scrambling to operate within these polarized supply chains, rapidly evolving technology and shifting regulations; together, these form blocs of access and denial.In this environment, passivity is a one-way ticket to extinction. What succeeds is a methodology I refer to as “Operational Darwinism”: the ability and willingness to continuously reshape one’s operating model—internally and externally—in order to survive and thrive in a turbulent period.Power, By Any Other NameTo understand operational Darwinism in business, it helps to start with geopolitics—because different expressions of power (or lack thereof) are most obvious there.Asymmetric Disruption Versus Structural PowerTake the recent volatility...