What is the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0)?

The fourth industrial revolution, also called Industry 4.0, is the fusion of AI, robots, IIoT sensors, data, and 3D printing into 1 automated system that runs research, factories, supply chains, logistics, and trade. Steam powered the first revolution, electricity the second, computers the third. The fourth runs on machines that talk to machines. I gave my first Industry 4.0 predictions on stage in 2000, 11 years before Germany named it Industry 4.0 in 2011. But it is not a technology upgrade. It is a mindset, culture, and DNA upgrade. The winners rely less on advertising and more on innovation and exponential technologies. The whole setup is next level: infrastructure, machines, AI, and data, a complex new backbone for the 21st century. Amazon and Zara already prove it in retail. Advertising may win quarters, innovation wins decades. Industry 4.0, fourth industrial revolution, smart factories, supply chain 4.0, IoT and IIoT, automation and additive manufacturing: see my FAQs on supply chain 4.0 and the difference between IoT and IIoT.