In comic books, there’s a common narrative where regular people put on robotic exoskeletons and suddenly become superheroes. To use one well-known example, Iron Man’s Tony Stark uses a robotic suit to gain superpowers and fight the bad guys.

Although Iron Man is a fictional character, the metaphor is very real. Technology augments ordinary humans so we can do things we never imagined we could do. In the 19th century, we never imagined cars speeding down the highway at 75 miles per hour, much less without a driver. This is a form of automation that gives regular people superpowers.

I see similar changes in cybersecurity as well. We’re in the middle of a shift from individual researchers working on penetration testing and anomaly detection to teams working with automation to streamline the security process. It’s different, but something we should very much be excited about.

Automation’s Moment

Automation’s having a bit of a moment on the TED and Davos circuit. Automation was one of the biggest topics at this year’s World Economic Forum, with economists, business leaders and politicians trying to square the circle on the future changes automation will bring.

Automation will likely first result in incremental improvements to a wide range of industries. A recent World Economic Forum report found that we’re in the middle of what they call a “reskilling revolution,” where technological innovation is changing the skill set for a wide range of blue collar and white collar jobs. As a result, incremental improvements are poised to result in massive efficiency gains.

These changes are largely a good thing. When technology works well — as in the case of improvements in the automobile during the last 100 years — it creates change that benefits those using it. In the here and now, the right software and automated workflows go a long way to doing this.