How have several decades forecasting technology as a journalist and author tuned Santa Clara University professor Michael Malone’s Silicon Valley radar?

Asked what companies and technologies will blow up come 2020, he nearly interrupted Lisa Martin (@Luccazara), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, in an interview at the ACG Silicon Valley U.S. Trust GROW! Awards. (* Disclosure below.)

“I think the hottest companies of the 2020s don’t exist yet. They’re still meeting at Peet’s or Starbucks with their business plan,” he answered.

That does not mean companies currently up and running are not busily sending shockwaves through society with innovations in artificial intelligence and Internet of Things, he revealed. “I do think we’re about to see some really powerful social impacts of all of this — not always good ones,” Malone said.

These technologies that have become so smart will, for better and for worse, put humans out of jobs, according to Malone. Sadly, this will result in many folks having less disposable income, but squint and the silver lining comes through, he added.

“We’re going to be home more, but our home is going to have that wall-sized TV; we’re going to be able to travel the world via drone,” he said, explaining that what we lose in green paper, we will regain in technologies that enable us to do more with less.

Technological advances in medical devices will prove “astounding,” he said. “They’re going to monitor every part of our body 24/7, so we’re going to spot things well before they become a problem,” Malone stated.

Homegrown in Silicon Valley

As a footnote, getting young Americans interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics careers can plug up the coming loss of jobs to some extent, Malone pointed out. Silicon Valley and Santa Clara, particularly, need to do a better job of raising STEM standards in schools, he added.

“We need to take care of our own children here. We’re very good at bringing in people from the outside, but we’re not real good at finding places for our own kids in this town, and we need to work on that very seriously,” Malone concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of ACG Silicon Valley U.S. Trust GROW! Awards. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner at the ACG Silicon Valley U.S. Trust GROW! Awards. The conference sponsor, AGS-SV, does not have editorial oversight of content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE